Vainglory : The Forgotten Vice

All about the vice you didn’t know you had – and what to do about it

Julia Roberts on the red carpet at the Oscars. Lady Gaga singing “Applause” to worshipful fans at one of her sold-out concerts. And you and me in our Sunday best in the front row in church. What do we have in common?

Chances are, says Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung, that we all suffer from vainglory – a keen desire for attention and acknowledgment. Because it saturates our culture, we recognize it in ourselves and others, but we’ve forgotten how dangerous it can be – so dangerous that it was one of the original seven vices. How can we resist it?

In Vainglory DeYoung splendidly illuminates this vice from its ancient origins to its modern expressions. She explains how, then and today, a wrongheaded search for recognition and glory can damage our relationships with God and others. After exposing the many ways in which vainglory can rear its ugly head, she explores the spiritual practices that can help us resist it and the community practices that can help us handle glory well.