Of the three C’s, character is the last, and quite probably the most important, it being the engine which drives our conduct and conversation.

Across history many have spoken about the value and importance of being upright in our character, most importantly for those in leadership or are leadership hopefuls. If you go online there are literally thousands of books, articles, meme’s, quotes, short and long winded speeches about character. The truth is, God considers character so, so important, He has associated it with trust, reliability, kindness, patience, faithfulness, honesty, transparency, self-control, and loyalty to name a few. Yep, those are all things of Galatians 4 concerning the fruit of the Spirit, and yep, it’s a really big deal.

Jesus said, “Follow me”, which means “accompany I AM”, meaning, walk like me, talk like me, believe like me, trust the Father like me. Additionally, when Jesus said, “follow me” it also means, you and me together, walking together, talking together, not just you over there and me over here, but we’ll go together as a team, you and me. Rubbing shoulders with God builds us into the person He’s interested in using, and part of our upright character is not being an actor, but honest, accountable, and transparent. Everyone has a public face, or what i call a “presentation face”, but the Lord calls each of us to be instant in season and out. Most folks think of that in a ministerial sense, but that phrase, “in season and out”, in Greek represents, in addition to a ministerial sense, another angle which is to say, i’ll be the same day in and day out, and the face you see is really the person i am. It is a state of being where our outside matches our inside. It means for us to be the real deal, more than how we appear but literally who you are. Not rules to keep but someone to be.

i have watched video’s here and there of someone intent on stealing from a retail store, how they walk in, cruise the isles, watching to see when no one is looking, and right as they start to put something in their pocket, they look up and see the security camera. Suddenly, the look on their face is, “i need to watch what i’m doing here because it’s probably being recorded.” This spoke to me about myself in that our real character is who we are when we think no one is looking.

Many many years ago, i was living life as if i had a split personality. No i didn’t have a split personality, but i did life as if i did. Who i was in the dark where no one could see, was not who i was in the light where everyone could see, and it never occurred to me that my secret self was just as contagious as anything else about me. One day, the Lord caught me up short and posed me a question which rocked my world. He said, “Do you do the things you do because you don’t believe I can see you? Or do you do them because you don’t care if I can see you?” i had a growing conflict within myself which the Lord in the following years came to resolve, making me to be not just merely well, but healed and whole, as in, i am one person.

The character which motivates our conduct and conversation is something we choose. One fellow said that “your character is the sum total of your life choices”. That’s sounds about right to me. Our character is strengthened, not by doing things right, or by doing the right thing one time, but by the habit of doing the right thing all the time, as a second nature. Remember, managers do things right, but leaders do the right thing, and it is always the right time to do the right thing. Let us be willing to pay the price in order to become more like Jesus, not willing to ever play it cheap concerning our character. Let us pursue the Lord and endeavor to live an upright life, never allowing ourselves to muddle the line of choosing by saying to ourselves, “Well, it’ll be alright if i cheat just a little.” Doing the right thing can be just as habit forming as persistently doing the wrong thing. The more we behave in a way that is damaging to ourselves and others, the more “natural” the damaging behavior will seem and will eventually become, Just the way we are.

N.T. Wright wrote that, “our drift away from the Lord begins by our not remaining under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, gradually, more and more often excusing bad behavior, and ending up congratulating vice.”

Mr. Wright goes on to say, “The Bible presents us with a better idea, as seen in the vision of being a “good person” based on our constant relationship with God and His promised future. We must be willing to pay the full price of possessing the character which drives our conduct and conversation, not trying to “get in advance something which we didn’t really pay the price of owning, but merely posing a face of having genuine moral thought, decision, and effort.” Friends, if we think others do not see our true character, we are wrong. They may not realize what they’re looking at, but something in them is aware that, in us, is a darker alternate who is allowed to persist.

We are truly powerless to make ourselves conform to God’s higher standard. The world’s perspective of a higher moral code is easier to adhere to considering the world doesn’t mind redefining right and wrong in order to suit their purposes. Many say, “I’ve tried it, it didn’t work,” so they just left the faith feeling guilty. We need Jesus to truly exact right justice, hold and practice high moral fidelity, and consistently be honest and transparent. The Lord is calling us all to be people of good morals, ethics, and principles. It’s not enough to simply appear as the called of God, He’s calling us to BE the people of the Lord with His morals, ethics, and principles, as genuine lights to the world because it’s who we truly are. Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” Let’s embrace the Lord’s work in us and never lose sight that the world is watching.

Here ends the very brief, yet important, discussion of the three high points of leadership which i call the three C’s, conduct, conversation, and character, with our character as the engine driving our conduct and conversation.

What do you think?

Thanks for listening. i’m Social Porter with Living In His Name ministries.