character

character

Communication: Do You WiFi or Wee-Fee?

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3-golden-rules-for-team-communicationDo you pay a Wee-Fee for your WiFi, or do you hee-hee when some people say Wee-Fee?  Most people reading this blog know that WiFi  is the wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed connection to the internet.

What you may not know is that about 7% of the people living in Arkansas pronounce WiFi as Wee-Fee; however, they are not alone.  In fact, there are several countries that have a significant number of people who opt for the Wee-Fee pronunciation of the word:

  • Spain 49.3%
  • France 46.1%
  • Hungary 41%
  • Belgium 34.4%
  • Netherlands 33.7%

The meaning of WiFi does not change if it is pronounced Wee-Fee, but in some situations a mispronounced word can lead to heated circumstances.

I clearly remember an unclearly spoken word that created a state of confusion.  I was 18, and was asleep on the top floor of an old Air Force barracks when a backwoods sergeant ran down the hall shouting, “Far! Far!”  I thought:  “Far?  How far am I supposed to go and in which direction?”

“Far” took on new meaning and significance when the smell of burning wood began to find its way into my room.  I realized the sergeant with the hick-accent had not been shouting “far,” but was yelling “FIRE!”

One of the basic rules of communication is found in the acronym KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).  The Apostle Paul could be profoundly simple in the way he stated truth, and he kept it simple and clear in Romans 6:23:  “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The wages of your sin cost God more than just a wee-fee, it cost Him the death of His son on the cross of Calvary.

Your WiFi might be what directs you to the internet, but it’s Jesus who connects you to Heaven.  Jesus said:  “I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except through me.”

 

 

The Testing of Character

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While listening to a discussion, I heard a comment made about a particular person:  “He comes from a family that has never suffered from a shortage of self-esteem, and he oozes narcissism.”  That comment reminded me that a trainload of healthy habits can be derailed by a single character flaw.

A good example of someone whose character was tested and remained unblemished is Daniel.  In the book that bears his name, we are told that, “Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.”

As a captive in a foreign land, Daniel found himself in a difficult position.  He had to find a way to comply but not deny.  How could he obey a king and stay faithful to the King of kings?

Daniel followed the edicts of King Nebuchadnezzar until it came to eating the food from the his table.  Because the food had been offered to Babylonian idols and most likely violated dietary restrictions, Daniel tactfully refused to eat it.

The tension for Daniel was a decision between compromised compliance and righteous reliance.  Would his character be solid or soiled?

In Psalm 105, there is a historical account of the mysterious workings of God and the way he used Joseph.  It is apparent that God took the time to develop the character of Joseph:

When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him. The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free; he made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions.

Like Joseph, Paul was stalwart and steadfast in his service to God.  His faith was unshakable, and his character was resolute.  These qualities give credence to his words in Romans 5:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Take a few moments to think about the role of faith, hope, and endurance and the manner in which they influence your character.

Holiness and the Grace of God

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isa6-holiness-e1361342892229The subject that seems to be the focal point of many Christian authors is grace.  Walk down the aisles of Barnes and Noble and look at the titles on the book shelves, and what do you see?  They are lined with rows of books that outline and discuss the subject of grace.

Evidently, grace sells.  But at what expense?  Does this emphasis on grace debase our perception of the Holiness of God?  If we give too much attention to the grace of God, do we lessen our comprehension of His holiness?

Notice the admonition of the Psalmist, and his focus on the holiness of God:

  • Psalm 29:2: Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
  • Psalm 96:9: Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.

Read the sixth chapter of Isaiah, and you will have a better understanding of the power of God’s holiness.  When Isaiah witnessed the glory of God, he saw the sinfulness of man—and he repented.

You diminish the beauty of His holiness and you cheapen His grace when you fail to give appropriate attention to your sin.  Grace is God’s righteous response to the unrighteousness of man.  To fully appreciate His grace, you cannot depreciate the magnitude of your sin.

When Paul wrote his first letter to Timothy, he gave a balanced assessment of grace and sin:

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.  And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

When you get to the place to where you can recognize the prevalence and power of sin, you are at at the point where you will begin to recognize this this truth:  “. . . the grace of our Lord is exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.”

The Five Virtues of Team Jesus

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team-jesus-neon-limeTurn on your TV any Sunday afternoon during football season and you’ll see fervent and ardent fans who are afflicted with a severe case of monomania.  They have willingly abdicated their Monday through Friday reputation; morphed into Sunday fanatics; and clothed themselves in the colors of their favorite team.

Paul recognized the importance of team loyalty and spoke of being identified with Christ.  Just as a loyal fan shows his allegiance by wearing the team colors, you can do the same when you, “Clothe yourself with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience (Colossians 3:12).”

To be fashionably attired, I suggest you clothe yourself in the virtues Paul mentioned:

  • Mercy is not giving the punishment or judgment that is deserved. Just as a heart is essential for life, mercy pumps the lifeblood into kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
  • A quote by Henry James emphasizes the importance of kindness: “Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer must have been thinking of kindness when he wrote:  “We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.”

  • In a time when people clothe themselves in rudeness and crudeness, humility is seen as a tattered rag that’s destined for the second-hand store. Humility is the idea of lowliness of mind in contrast to high-minded narcissism, and it’s seen in the life of the falsely accused who is more concerned with the truth than he is with his ego or reputation.
  •  A good definition of gentleness is found in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians: “We were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children.  So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.”
  • Patience is the ability to endure hardships, discomfort, and persecution without complaint. In Romans 5, Paul said:  “We also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces patient endurance, and this endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.  This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

You may want to check your closet to see if your clothes reflect your allegiance to Team Jesus.

A Real Character

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Character seems to be in such short supply, I want to encourage you to make it the focus of your thoughts today. Integrity and character are key concepts of Psalm 26:

“Judge me favorably, O Lord, because I have walked with integrity and I have trusted you without wavering. Examine me, O Lord, and test me. Look closely into my heart and mind. I see your mercy in front of me. I walk in the light of your truth. I did not sit with liars, and I will not be found among hypocrites. I have hated the mob of evildoers and will not sit with wicked people. I will wash my hands in innocence. I will walk around your altar, O Lord, so that I may loudly sing a hymn of thanksgiving and tell about all your miracles.”

Each of the quotes below speak of some aspect of character:
• “Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wing, and only character endures.” ~Horace Greely
• “The best index to a person’s character is how he treats people who can’t do him any good, and how he treats people who can’t fight back.” ~Abigail Van Buren
• “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” ~Abraham Lincoln
• “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” ~Maya Angelou
• “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters” ~Albert Einstein
• “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” ~John Wooden
• “Talent is a gift, but character is a choice.” ~John C. Maxwell

When people comment about you what do they say?
• “Now, there goes a real character.”
• “Now there goes a person with real character.”

Which of the two above best describes you? Does your life resound with the words of the Psalmist? “Judge me favorably, O Lord, because I have walked with integrity and I have trusted you without wavering. Examine me, O Lord, and test me. Look closely into my heart and mind.”

Forbes On Character

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It was Malcolm Forbes who said:  You can judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing to them or for them.

This is a difficult quote for me because it reminds of how little character I have had at some critical  junctures of my life.  In some of these instances, my treatment of people has been anything but a reflection of the Golden Rule.

I have often said that Christianity is a journey.  It is elusive in nature because we never really reach our destination of becoming more like Jesus.

As we move along this path of life, we would do well to heed the words of St. Francis of Assisi:

Lord make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

And where there is sadness, joy.

O divine master grant that I may

Not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love

For it is in giving that we receive-

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

And it’s in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

The words of this old Saint will keep me thinking for several days.  I hope they will occupy your mind as well.

The Doldrum Days

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Have you been feeling incredibly tired, worn-out, listless, or despondent?  If so,  you may have a case of the doldrums.

In case you do not know, the Doldrums are regions of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that are in close proximity to the equator, and they are areas that have little if  any wind. When sailors actually depended on their sails to catch the wind and propel them across the water, the windless doldrums could be a problem.

The phrase “in the doldrums” was not created to describe this  wind-challenged region of the oceans. The word was originally used to describe someone who was listless, dull or sluggish.

When there was no wind, all the sailors could do was wait and drift with the current.  When we are faced with the doldrums, what can we do?  The life of Gideon answers this question.  Here are the steps he took to change his course in life (Judges 6):

  1. He was honest and admitted his spiritual lows.
  2. He set the goal of achieving spiritual heights .
  3. He flexed the muscle of faith and let God lead him from the pit to the pinnacle.

Even though Gideon was living the life of a coward, God saw the potential in him and called him a mighty man of valor.  When God looks at you, He sees the potential within you.

Here’s a thought to keep you thinking.  What you are should never limit what you can become.

A Slip of the Tongue

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It was Benjamin Franklin who said:  A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.

Slip of the tongue moments can be rather funny.  I remember the time a grandmother proudly spoke of her granddaughter’s academic pursuits:  My granddaughter is getting involved in ocean pornography.  I laughed, knowing that she meant oceanography.

I remember a slip of the tongue moment from several years ago.  Frank Marley misspoke and I laughed and then teased him a little.  Frank’s reply is something that has stuck with me:  Don’t take a man for what he says—take him for what he means.

Frank died in 1994, and I still have fond memories of him.  What I remember most is not his willingness to help around the church, but the way he communicated his values by living them.

These were values that were formed through the fire of the depression years and character born out of the turmoil of the world wars.  Tom Brokaw has described Frank and his peers as the greatest generation.

The values that defined this generation are the moral fiber of those that have followed.  Scottish minister Thomas Guthrie once said:   Religion is the mortar that binds society together; the granite pedestal of liberty; the strong backbone of the social system.

Just as crumbling mortar is a threat to the integrity of a building, anemic values weaken our social structure.  A position paper by the Institute for American Values issued warning several years ago:  as our social morality deteriorates, life becomes harsher and less civil for everyone, social problems multiply, and we lose the confidence that we as Americans are united by shared values.

The Institute says the symptoms of this decline are manifested in several ways:

• a spreading abdication of adult responsibility and an increasing acceptance of the adult as a perpetual adolescent

• an increased tolerance for self-centered and selfish behavior in all spheres of life

• a growing belief that success should be measured by how much money we have and how much we can buy

• a dramatic undermining of the distinction between right and wrong

• the loss of confidence in the possibility of public moral truth.

The Institute proposes a strategy for renewal and express it in several goals.  The most important, they say, is to revitalize a shared civic story informed by moral truth. Regarding our civic faith, our main challenge is to rediscover the democratic bonds that, amidst and because of our differences, unite us as one people. Regarding our public moral philosophy, our main challenge is to rediscover the existence of transmittable moral truth.

Solomon rarely committed a slip of the tongue, and people took him for what he said and for what he meant.  If society would heed his advice, the need would be met.  He said, a commitment to godly principles is essential if we are to walk the right path in life.

I hope this thought keeps you thinking.