What kind of person?

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things… And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9

There is something about lists. They can have a poetic, even a hypnotic effect. When I was a child, seventy years ago, we were unusual in not having a television, so we used to listen a lot to the radio (or the “wireless” as it was then called). A little programme that came up regularly was called the “shipping forecast”, which gave a daily prediction of likely weather conditions in the various regions of the North Sea. These regions tended to have rather exotic names – Dogger, Utsira, Cromarty, German Bight, Faeroes – and they conjured up in my mind visions of valiant little fishing vessels tossing wildly up and down on deep grey seas under deep grey skies. Evocative, I think, is the word.

The Bible has plenty of lists, quite apart from the ten commandments or all those unpronounceable names in Chronicles or wherever. Another childhood memory… The head teacher at school used to read 1 Corinthians 13 in assemblies (“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast…”), telling us to insert our own names wherever we heard the word “love”. As you will gather, I’ve never forgotten that. Rather less poetic, but just as powerful, are Paul’s mirror-image lists of virtues and vices in Galatians 5:19-26. (Is it possible to read those lists at all seriously without resolving to become a better kind of person?)

For me, perhaps the most memorable list of all is the one at the top of this blog, where Paul begins to wrap up his letter to the church at Philippi (Philippians 4:8-9). There’s quite a parade of adjectives here: true… noble… right… pure… lovely… admirable… anything that is “excellent” or “praise-worthy”. And the impact of Paul’s words is strengthened by the repeated phrase “whatever is…” (If ever you are asked to read this passage in church, please make sure to do so really slowly, and scan the congregation with your eyes as you work your way through it.)

All those words could be translated in slightly different ways. But never mind: what matters is the overall impression. Taken together, they describe the kind of man or woman who instinctively commands respect, even admiration; the kind of person whose opinions you can’t help but take seriously. Further words that spring to mind for such a person are integrity, honesty, humility, good humour, kindness, sensitivity. (It’s hard to know where to stop!)

Four things are worth noticing about these terms.

First, they are a vital part of a Christian’s character, but developing them doesn’t make you a Christian. That’s an important distinction: parrots can learn to speak human languages, but that doesn’t make them human. Any man or woman with a little self-respect and a lot of self-discipline can work on developing good habits - and good for them! But being a Christian is all about something far, far more than that; it’s about entering a relationship with God through faith in Christ, and until that has happened there is no inner life.

In a word, we become “new creations”, not just smartened up versions of the old ones.

Second, these character traits take time to grow – and a lot of patient determination and hard work. Just occasionally a new convert to Christ seems to be transformed out of all recognition in a flash and everyone shakes their head in amazement. But this is the exception rather than the rule. Talk to any mature Christian and ask them about their inner weaknesses and personality flaws, and they are likely to ask “How long have you got!” In fact, the longer you walk with Christ the more aware you become of your continuing sins and weaknesses, and the expression “spiritual warfare” takes on real and painful meaning.

In a word, it’s wonderful to be a Christian; but let no-one say it’s easy.

Third, these terms are not what you might call “religious” terms, like “godly” or “holy” that I mentioned last time; they seem capable of far wider application than just that. This reminds us that God cares about the whole spectrum of human behaviour and attitudes, “secular” as well as “sacred”. They are all about cast-iron honesty and integrity.

I say this against the background of growing coarseness, vulgarity and even downright lies even in supposedly high circles in public life. We hear much about “fake news” (otherwise known as lies) though, thank God, there are influential people who hold out against such trends even though they profess no religious allegiance.

In a word, our “spiritual” lives are not fenced off in a little compartment of their own, separate from our “normal” lives.

That leads to the fourth point: this kind of Christlike character makes a person stand out. I started last time pondering the difficulty of making the gospel known without forcing it on people or putting their backs up. Well, here is a large part of the answer: there are few things people dislike more than having to listen to preaching when they don’t want it; but there are also few things they admire and respect more than meeting a man or woman in whom is seen the beauty of Jesus. And it’s your job and mine to become that kind of person.

Two further quotes to finish with. First, somebody called K Beckstrom: “Live so that the preacher can tell the truth at your funeral”. Ouch!

And second, of course, the words of Jesus that we often call the “beatitudes”, effectively a list in Matthew 5:3-12. At its heart in verse 8 lies the wonderful saying: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. May God help us as we strive to obey that!

Father, thank you for the word of Jesus, Be holy, as your Father in heaven is holy. Please help me to take it with deep seriousness. Amen.