Morning Glory,
an enchanting vine with white, pink, blue, mauve, or multi-colored flowers
with dew-kissed blooms that glitter in the morning son.
Once established, this vine is self-seeding,
and its rapid growth can easily take over a garden
attaching to trellises and any other support structure to hold it up.

We stop to admire the sight of these dew-kissed flowers primping with faces full in the sun.
We exclaim,
take pictures,
post on social media,
so that others can also applaud with admiration of their glory.

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. (Philippians 2:3, KJV)

Vainglory sounds like a flower name, to me. It is an old-timey word: “vainglory.” In modern terms, it is translated “selfish ambition” or “vain conceit.” The literal translation from Greek (kenodoxia) is “empty glory.”

Vainglory is a habit of pursuing applause,
becoming addicted to the bright lights shining on us (or ours) in admiration of
our glorious colors,
appearance,
reputation,
achievement.

It feeds off the limelight, and self-propogates,
filling more and more of our spaces with the applause of others,
creating a need to
spread the vine,
show off more flowers.
It soon entwines and takes over the structures of our ego,
and our self-image relies on applause to stay strong.

Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Galatians 5:26, NIV)

Beautiful Morning Glories have a sinister side—as a poisonous and invasive plant. Although carefully blended concoctions of its leaves can be used medicinally, the seeds are highly toxic, causing hallucinations and deep illness.

A favorite trick of the devil is to dress up something toxic in beauty, in glitter, and such is vainglory.
A habit,
that creates an addiction,
a need for the applause of others,
not just once in a while,
but all the time.
It becomes the structure that you live on,
that you can’t go a day without,

Vainglories control their image on a trellis of applause,
as weak as its weakest link,
as a passing fade,
as a fading pass,
as one exposed sin.

This glittering illusion has a corresponding fruit of the Spirit: humility.

Don’t do anything only to get ahead. Don’t do it because you are proud. Instead, be humble. Value others more than yourselves. None of you should look out just for your own good. Each of you should also look out for the good of others. (Philippians 2:3-7, NIV)

*** A special thanks to Darin Wogin, whose sermon instigated these thoughts.