Character Should Matter

Recently if you have not read any newspapers, online journals, TV, internet sites, etc... you may have noticed that several high profile politicians have been caught cheating, fathering a child (not from their wife). Rep. Anthony Wiener, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the indictment of John Edwards for using funds to help, etc...

I would love to sit back and say that the church is doing better, but it isn't.
_Anyone remember the Jim Baker Scandal of the 80's?
-Or who can forget the Ted Haggard sex scandal?
-Eddie Long's sexual encounters with young men

I am saddened constantly when reading about another pastor involved in a sexual scandal, or some sort of moral failure. Or some family that now is torn apart because of the moral misgivings of a father, a husband, and a pastor. We are called to live differently!

Character should matter. Now of course, we are taking into account that all of these people could confess and repent of their sin and be forgiven. In no way are we to sit back and judge as we have all been in the same predicament (maybe not the same situation) but we all know what it feels like to be in a place where you have dishonored and sinned against God. (Remember we ALL fall short of God's glory). The point I am making is that we seem to in our society honor appearance, impressive accomplishments and competency OVER character. Character should matter a lot more to us.

The Bible addresses character from cover to cover. One of the main evidences of actually know Jesus as Lord and Savior is that your character is different from that of the world. Meaning that you do not pursue the things of the world, you choose to be "set apart" (hagios=holy) in your life, marriages, jobs, families, to your children in regards to your character.

Scripture tells us that "we are to be imitators of God...(Eph. 5:1). It goes even further for leaders, laying out an extensive list not of accomplishments, or gifts or talents but a list of characteristics a leader should have: to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (1 Tim. 3:2-5)
The only competency listed is that a leader must be, "able to teach". This same notion goes for deacons and deaconesses---character is from the top down.

I have always heard it said that accomplishments, success, and organizations gets you to the top, but character keeps you there. I believe this in ministry, as I have worked with several different people and found the ones I loved were competent (we need competent people or else we would never get anything done) but their character made me want to follow them.
Dave Kraft wrote a wise book for leaders and makes this statement that has resonated with me:

"Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are."

Be Blessed