Character: What It's Not

Introduction

On tour - plain yogurt

Character - what it is

closing the gap between who we are and who we are in Christ

put off the old and putting on the new

What it’s not - not being who we say we are - inauthenticity and hypocrisy

And this can be true while doing the right things

Proverbs 10:9 ESV

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.

On one hand, as we looked at last week, in our search for authenticity and integrity we can say well that’s just who I am.

But as a follower of Christ, if something in our life is not in line with who we are in Christ, then we are not walking in integrity rather in sin

On the other hand, It seems to me that we have bought into the idea that it is about what we do and what we stand for and against, more so than who we are (character).

So let’s work a bit more on what character is and isn’t.

1 Corinthians 13 ESV

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Paul is clear here that we can do the right things and do them for the wrong reasons

And this was a large problem in the church in Corinth

So let’s look at what he says.

I. What It’s Not

A. Gifts

tongues - languages - glossais

These were supernaturally produced languages

Paul says if someone has this gift but does not love is a bunch of noise

Ch 14 - seems to indicate that this gift, while still a gift from God, with out interpretation can become a self building gift

And perhaps a gift used for personal gain

This brings up a number of misuses of the gift of tongues but there is a broader point.

If we have been given gifts and yet in their use and in our lives don’t show love they are useless.

This has been a problem in Evangelicalism and probably seen more so in the more charismatic side of it.

The celebrity and tv pastors continue to show this

Bethel Church in Redding, California, Benny Hinn many of who use their gifts or proclaimed gifts to supposedly help others but really are just taking from them.

While we say well that doesn’t include us...

B. Knowledge

the gift of prophecy is the proclamation of what God says

preaching/teaching

and with that the gift of knowledge - knowing all mysteries

This gift has been highly elevated to the exclusion of love/character has been a large blight on the evangelical church in recent years

pastors and leaders who are intelligent, charismatic and gifted preachers/teachers are celebrated while ignoring large areas that lack character

ie. Mark Driscoll (Rise and Fall of Mars Hill), Bill Hybels, Ravi Zacharias, Hillsong etc.

Paul says if we are this but don’t show love -I am nothing

C. Faith

faith that can move mountains - do the impossible

Here we could see God do amazing things through us as we trust him but have no love/character - we are nothing

D. Good Works

If we do good works (give to the poor, sacrifice for Jesus) but have no love/ no character - I gain nothing

Gord - preach the gospel and helped refugees but talked unlovingly to his wife

Paul’s point it’s more about who we are than what we do.

II. Love

We use this section of this passage at wedding and probably good picture of what love should be in marriage

But Paul has the church in sight here (particularly in Corinth who were living out these very things that Paul has described in the first verses)

Here is how he defines love:

A. Treat other right - vs 4-5

proper balance between self and others

we tend to want to put others down so we build ourselves up

love others as we love our selves, treat others more important, quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger

B. Just - “does not rejoice in wrong doing, but rejoices in truth”

We tend to look at this in light of morality and this is partially true - our immorality is lived at the expense of others (self fulfillment)

If we live out only what we want and how we want it means others cannot live out theres or we will live in conflict

- the use of authority, influence and prominence to mistreat or gain from others

The truth then Paul is pointing to is rejoicing when the truth of a situation is revealed and justice is restored

C. Endures

It is not fleeting and lost because someone or something is not convenient or desirable to us

bears all, believes all, hopes all, endures all (things)

This is not God’s love for us

and there fore the opposite should never happen in the church

And so to use our gifts, knowledge, faith or do good works without love they are really meaning less because they do not bring about life as God intended it and they are not being used out of who we are in Christ

By the way notice that love is the ultimate compilation of and living out of character

The fruit of the Spirit are described in this description

2 Peter 1:5–7 ESV

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

This is character and the more we grow in character the more we show love

III. Growing until Eternity

And so Paul says Love never ends

There is a day when the perfect comes - Jesus returns

vs 12 - we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face

Ever tried to look in a mirror in poor light?

Then the need for tongues, gifts, prophecy, knowledge will end because we will be with Christ and we won’t need these things to be built up into Christ.

Paul lays out also, as important as faith and hope is to us now, the only one that will be forever is love.

And so our ultimate pursuit is become people who love(character)

The beloved become those who love - through kindness, gentleness etc

2 Peter tells us as we add these things we will be kept from being ineffective and unproductive believers

James 4; I Peter 3 - so that our prayers will not be hindered

John 15 - thrown away and wither

It is a matter of prevention and victory in the battle

Ephesians 4:25–32 ESV

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

And so Jesus and the Apostles knew that the pursuit of love/character was of utmost priority

Conclusion