I have been sending out these posts to the men of Murray Church for nearly two years. I recently discovered some women are sneaking in and reading them as well. My intent is to challenge you to build character in your life that is God honoring and beneficial to your families and others whom God has placed in your path.
I recently ran across this list of beneficial qualities that are important in a man’s life; Communication skills, Honesty, Loyalty, Dependability, Teamwork, Flexibility, Self-reliance, Eagerness to learn, Confidence, Work ethic, Determination, Problem-solving skills, Positivity. Do these look familiar. We have looked at most of these from the Scriptures as being the qualities of a man pursuing God. However, this is not a biblical list but comes directly from a web site listing the qualities companies are seeking in hiring middle management personnel. This is not a coincidence. This is just how life works. God has always designed our Christian lives to be lived out in our day-to-day existence. Therefore, it is only logical that those characteristics that are pleasing to Him will be beneficial in every area of our lives.
This is important for us to remember in the current climate of our world. We are being shown through the actions of business leaders, government officials, athletes, and other entertainers that moral compromise is okay and even advantageous. However, those same people who live on the moral edge, seem to demand something more from those whom they employ. Bottom line, God has gotten it right when he lays out the characteristics of a godly man.
Several years ago, I was hired as a Youth Pastor in a church. I had only been there a few weeks when the parents of one of the girls in our ministry invited Cindy and me to their home for an evening. We anticipated at time of getting acquainted and encouragement. What we got was an inquisition. Upon arriving, we found the house full of many sets of parents whose children attended our group. The students were in the basement, while the adults “chatted”.
Through that evening we were grilled on what we would teach their children and how we would assure they had a strong moral base. We were told by many of these well intended people, what specific qualities they wanted us to instill in their children. By the end of the evening, we were overwhelmed by the expectations and the clear message that the future of their children seemed to rest in our ability to teach them to be people of integrity.
As we were leaving, the students came up from the basement to say their goodbyes. One of them said to us, “We all just watched a movie that my mom rented for us. It was great, you should get it.” (Yes, there was a time you could rent movies on VHS!) Cindy and I did just that. We got the movie and spent an evening watching it.
It was an awful evening. The movie was full of images and messages that did not represent the character of Christ. Several times, I wanted to turn it off, but chose to watch it so I could understand what the students found entertaining.
What I realized through this experience was that what these parents wanted their children to be, was not being supported by the values these parents were modeling. Unfortunately, what is caught is often far more deeply embedded than what is taught.
The point is, we are asked of God to be men of good character, not just to somehow attempt to impress God. We are asked to be men of character because this is who our families need us to be. This is who our employers need us to be. This is what will not only keep us honoring God but will provide a greater level of peace and joy in our lives as well.
God knew what he was doing when laying out the directions for our lives. It would be to our benefit to learn and follow those directions.