The Character Crisis

I was reading a sermon by John MacArthur the other day that explored this very dilemma. I began thinking about what he meant and what so many wise men in the past had meant when they made comments like, "Oh, young man, character is worth more than money, character is worth more than anything else in this wide world." (Moody),
"Character is always lost when a high ideal is sacrificed on the altar of conformity and popularity." (Spurgeon), "Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested." (Chambers). I began wondering why it was so important and what it even meant to have strong character, how you got it and how it is again manifested in your daily life...and what I began to see was quite encouraging.

Character encompasses many aspects of who one is; it is your morals, your values, your way of living and your portrayal of yourself to the world. It is your integrity, your 'above-reproachness' so to speak, and your character is tainted by one thing...sin. Romans 1:21-32 describes the spiral downward of a culture drowned in sinful passions and that is our culture today. What is worse, our cultural has now effected the body of believers. We look around and we see Christians living very much the same as the world. There seems to be little or no distinction between the two because the Christian has creeped so close to what he or she believes the "line" is. The question is now "how far can I go". Several decades ago we saw something drastically different. The role models, the ones in leadership and many in society (whether saved or not) were men and women of character...there was a standard. That standard has now been eliminated. Relativity is rampant and therefore you can do and say just about whatever you wish and that is considered acceptable. You are to "be who you want to be".

What does God have to say about all of this? What did God intend, even after the fall for His kids? " According to the Bible, God designed us to be men and women of exemplary character. He repeatedly commands us to pursue what is virtuous and shun what is evil. From cover to cover in Scripture, iniquity is condemned and virtue is exalted." (MacArthur). Exemplary character? That seems to hard to achieve...but what is our standard? Holiness.

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 "Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil."
That means that we are to test everything. We are to evaluate everything we take part in, everything we say and everything we consider doing to see if it meets the standard of holiness and being above reproach in the eyes of good. It is pretty clear here that we are to avoid EVERY kind of evil. That doesn't just mean blatant sin, that means anything that could even appear as sin or lead you to that. That means we watch what we watch, what we say, who we hang out with etc. There can be no compromise!

Obviously culture is not helping us develop this character that Christ has demanded of us, but the Bible is chalk full of qualities that the Christian should develop...lets look at just a few:

2 Peter 1:5-8 "For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Goodness:uprightness of heart and life, goodness, kindness
That means that we are living a life that is upright, above reproach in all areas, it is good. Can God look at your life and say well done my good and faithful servant?

Knowledge: moral wisdom, such as is seen in right living
Are we wise morally? Do we think before we act and speak or do we do what we want? Are we living rightly?

Self-Control: controlling desires
Do we control our flesh? Can we say no to temptation and sin or do we easily give in when times are tough or when we really want something?

Perseverance:persistent determination
Are we determined to finish this race strong? To we press on no matter what and throw off everything that hinders us?

Godliness: reverence, respect towards God
Are we a good reflection of Him?

Kindness:love of brothers and sisters
Do we love the Body of believers? Are we spending time investing in them?

Love: Do we love self-sacrificially? Do we love wanting nothing in return? Do we love those whom are easy to love and those whom are hard?

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 " Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.

Patient:Are we patient? Or do we get anxious and tend to not spend time in prayer and wait on the Lord.

Doesn't Envy: Do we covet? Do we envy those around us for what they have or who they are?

Doesn't Boast:Are we prideful? Cocky? Think we have it all together?

Not Rude:Are we inconsiderate, demeaning or discouraging?

Not Self-Seeking:Do we seek our own agenda deep down? Do what we want until we get it?

Not Easily Angered:Do we get angered easily when things don't go our way?

Forgives:Do we forgive unconditionally like Christ did us?

Rejoices in the Truth (not evil):Are we truth bearers? Or do we compromise to get the approval of people or to make ourselves look better?

Protects:Do we protect those who love in the sense of from the enemy directing them rather towards the Lord?

Trusts:Do we trust the Lord?

Hopes:Where is our hope found?

Matthew 5 and Galatians 5 are other great resources to find great character qualities.

So the truth is character comes with maturity in the Lord, John MacArthur said it perfectly, " Truly excellent character is actually a reflection of the moral nature of God Himself. For that reason, all virtues are interdependent and closely related. And all of them are the fruit of God’s grace. As you study biblical virtue, may you perceive the true beauty of Christ’s character and desire to see it reproduced in your own life."