Are you a person ‘worth watching’ – for all the right reasons?

Glen Scrivener’s article in the July 22 issue ‘Blokes worth of en, watching’, has helpfully generated much discussion regarding evangelical church cultures.

A related theme concerns how much our churches embrace ‘personality’ culture. Personality is a term which evokes a range of semantics; it is a heavily loaded word. What does it bring to your mind? Some might immediately think of personality inventories prevalent in society today or the common measures they show. Alternatively, we might find ourselves thinking of well known ‘evangelical personalities’ almost akin to the celebrity culture that grips our world.

Personality is not a term found in Scripture, yet we all know the power personality has. The impact personality has on us, or on others, suggests Christians cannot simply dismiss it as something reserved for psychological textbooks. We need to engage with personality Biblically; there are dangers to the church when we don’t.

Romans 12:2 tells us: ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will’. Church culture can only be transformed by renewing the minds of the believers which create those cultures. We need to seek a Biblical understanding of personality and a Christ-centred application of it.

We are each fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps.139), image bearers of our Heavenly Father. As such, we have been given abilities, preferences and character traits to uniquely serve and glorify our Lord. Together, they combine to make us ‘distinctly us’. They determine how we impact others relationally, for good or for ill. So, a Biblical understanding of personality combines all three components: abilities, preferences, and character, about which we see much in Scripture.

As we consider ourselves, or those around us, some have the ability to teach, others don’t. Some have strong relational preferences, others don’t. Some cultivate characters that are humble, compassionate, patient, gentle, loving, faithful and self-controlled, others don’t.

This understanding of personality presents a significant challenge, especially in church or parachurch leadership. Abilities and preferences are visible and often on show. The can be easily adapted for short periods of time for a specific context. At Bible colleges, ‘preaching with a view’, assessments or interviews, abilities and preferences are sought and identified; vital decisions are based on them. We wrongly believe if someone has ability and preferences that are a good fit for ministry, they must also have a godly character. Sadly, this is not always the case; character is too often eclipsed by ability and preferences.

We read in 1 Samuel 16:7: ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’

God looks at the core us. He wants to change and remould our character and its sinful allegiance to self. He desires to reorient it towards him. Our character underpins all we do; it reveals our covenantal leanings, to Christ or to self. Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3 reveal the importance of identifying the character of those with responsibility for others. If character is lacking in godliness, the ability to craft an engaging sermon, or to relationally magnetise an audience must never blind us to character growth. Perhaps one of the most prevailing characteristics of our Lord and Saviour is His humility (Phil. 2:1-11), the opposite of pride. Everything He did was for the glory of the Father and the good of others. That’s the direction humility takes us, away from self and towards God and others.

Jenny-Lyn De Klerk (The Gospel Coalition) writes: ‘Augustine taught that humility was central to the Christian life. In a letter to a student, he wrote: “I wish you to prepare for yourself no other way of seizing and holding the truth than that which has been prepared by [God] … in that way the first part is humility; the second, humility; the third, humility.” ’

The ability to teach is transformed when it is done with humility, not pride. Extraverted preferences encourage others into the spotlight when used for kingdom good. If Christlike character is not the foundation on which ability and preferences are based, ministry motivation will be for self, not Christ. Others will likely be harmed.

Character is much harder to discern than abilities and preferences, it is also harder to fake! It is vital for character to be our primary focus in personal sanctification, discipling others and especially selecting those for positions of responsibility. Titus and Timothy focus on conduct at home. It is here, with family, where public persona is dropped, and character most clearly seen. The wholeness of integrity is the opposite of masked hypocrisy. Nurturing integrity closes the gap between our public facade and private self behind closed doors.

Our character determines how our abilities and preferences are used, and for whose glory. Pride is frequently at the root of the misuse of power, the desire for control, the pursuit of success, the acquisition of knowledge and our moral conduct. All will be revealed in tiny micro-moments of self-service at home.

Jesus’ strongest words were reserved for the Pharisees. They wore masks, they manipulated others to believe they were using their abilities and preferences for God. In reality, they pridefully used them for their own glory. Augustine says ‘pride will wrench from our hand any good deed we do at the very moment we do it’.

The Pharisees lacked integrity; they put on a mask in public. What would we have seen if we could have observed them with their families? Their proud, impatient, harsh, unloving, unfaithful, reactive, quick to anger characters would have shown. They crushed those in their care; they killed Jesus so their kingdoms could prevail. Our loving and faithful God will one day judge all hypocrisy. In Proverbs 6:16-19 He speaks of how detestable He finds the behaviour present when someone pridefully pursues personal gain. How much pain, harm and trauma could have been mitigated if we all focused on character as much as God does?

Our God-given abilities and preferences are important. But not ahead of character. As we grow in our knowledge and understanding of who Jesus is, what He is truly like and all He promises those who are precious in His sight, our character changes. As Biblical truth moulds our beliefs and desires, we grow in our love for Jesus, we deepen our trust in Jesus and we live lives of integrity in obedience to Jesus. Our abilities and preferences are used sacrificially and with humility out of gratitude and for his glory. So:

• Let us determine to close the gap between our outer public self and our inner private self.

• Let us love one another enough to gently speak truth when we see persistent character failings.

• Let us humbly listen when someone draws attention to our failings.

• Let us become more self-aware concerning our motives and desires and the ways our heart is deceitful, confessing, repenting and asking forgiveness when we fail.

• Let us seek accountability, be transparent in community, and take full responsibility for our actions

• Let us fix our gaze on Jesus whose humility and integrity underpinned all he did. May His Spirit help us put to death lusts for power and control

Whoever we are, however we serve, let us be ‘worth watching’ because Jesus’ character flows out in all we do. May humility and integrity direct every area of our lives, whether in public or private, for His glory, not our own.