Young’s new sermon series has already been interpreted, critiqued and scrutinized by bloggers on the internet. Pastor Young is no stranger to controversy as previous sermons have seen him roll in a Ferrari car unto the pulpit as a prop for a relationship message. Sermon series like “Leaving Lust Vegas” has garnered Pastor Young with a unique following, and starch critics.
Young states, “You’ve seen it on the street. You’ve witnessed it in the office. You’ve been there when it walked into a room, and everyone immediately knew. It is the unmistakable presence of swagger—not arrogance or pride, but true swagger. The truth is that God wants us all to experience a life of swagger. It’s not something that is reserved for the few. Yet, somewhere along the way, our swagger is hijacked, taken, stolen. And as a result, our everyday confidence is shot. Where did it go? Can we get it back? And once we do, what does a life a swagger really look like?”
Many feel the secular word has conflicting meaning to Jesus’ teaching of humility and servitude.
The Urban dictionary.com defines swagger as:
How one presents him or her self to the world. Swagger is shown from how the person handles a situation. It can also be shown in the person’s walk.
Another definition says, Swagger is to move with confidence, sophistication and to be cool. Swagger is to conduct your self in a way that would automatically earn respect. To dress in a very stylish and quirkily fashionable way would suggest one has swagger.
Upon further research I found many definitions for the word swagger, but all referenced a persons walk as being confident. Me personally, I would rather have confidence in my spiritual walk of faith. I’m not sure Ed Young meant this as an analogy or a declaration. The analogy used as an illustration may help us understand walking in the spirit, but a declaration may feed into the social stereotypes of today’s fame seekers. As an analogy one could could conclude that if the enemy has damaged our walk “swagger” it will show in how we present ourselves to the world. Hanging our heads in guilt and shame can be caused by the enemy getting us to focus on the past. Again as an analogy having spiritual swagger can be powerful. But declaring your swagger to the world may make us of the world. We all know the scripture tells us to be in the world but not OF the world.
Pastor Ed Young does discourage pride in his sermon series, instead saying we should have God-fidence (a play on the word confidence).
What do you think? Can Christians have swagger without being full of pride? Is it a characteristic that one should strive to have, or be attracted to? Is it biblical? You can listen to Dr. Young’s “Swagger Jacker” series on podcast by clicking here. And take a look at the hilarious Swagger Jacker song below.
