Character ALWAYS counts!

Posted by Jennifer Baldwin

Friday, January 21, 2011

These are not “super-Christians”. They are not “different than us”. When you first read the text, you may find yourself responding…

• As when hearing Jesus speak out on the permanency of the marriage vow and its subsequent relationship, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry!” Matthew 19:10
• Or like the 12 when hearing that rich guys have a harder time entering the Kingdom than camels have difficulty getting through needle eyes, “…they were very astonished and said, ‘Then who CAN be saved?’” Matthew 19:25
• And the apostle Paul in describing the impact role a Jesus-follower has in his square mile of influence, “…who is adequate for THESE things?!?” 2 Corinthians 2:16

Men above reproach…Men who live with such integrity that no charge thrown at them will stick. Men who, in their personal lives, increasingly display the transforming graces of God’s spirit by the way they are loving their wife and shepherding the hearts and lives of their children. Men who in public are “lights in the darkness” simply because they relate in kindness and grace and generosity and selflessness toward those with whom they work, live near, and walk before. 

Read the list of leadership qualifiers again:

• Not always demanding his own way
• Not touchy, but easy to be around
• Not a slave of any controlling substance
• Not quick to start arguments
• Not bowing at the altar of wealth and riches
• Practicing generous living with all he has
• A champion for those things deemed to be “good”
• A man of sound judgment and reasonableness
• More concerned about what is right than about winning
• Authentically pious
• A man of controlled passions
• Radically committed to Biblical truth
• Strong in explaining and defending Scripture, but with gentleness and grace

Wow…you read that list and you think, “Who IS adequate for these things?  Must be the calling of a few ‘super-Christians’!”

But the reality is…these are just Christian men…average, normal Christian men who are being daily remade by the tenacious and relentless working of the Living Spirit who changes a man from the inside out. This is the kind of man God appoints to leadership.

So why this long list of identifiers? Because character counts.
Character ALWAYS counts!



See you Sunday, Church!
Pastor Tom