Thinking about character

We boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope… Romans 5:3-4

What does the word “character” mean?

We might say of someone “He’s a right character, isn’t he?”, implying that the person in question is someone we sort-of admire but perhaps don’t entirely approve of. But the Bible is much more positive about the word.

Paul uses it at the start of Romans 5. He is teaching that while, of course, we can glory in our status in Christ – it’s wonderful to be a forgiven sinner! – we can even “glory in our sufferings”. Why? Because suffering ultimately can do us good. And he opens up a little chain reaction about how this works: “…suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope…”

He obviously thinks of “character” as a positive thing. So back to the question: what does “character” mean for us as Christians?

The Greek word Paul uses is one found elsewhere in his letters, but which, apparently, is unknown in earlier writings. It conjures up the idea of testing, as in our expression “tried and tested”. It suggests metal that has been purified in the furnace, like coins that are “sterling”. Rock solid, dependable, reliable… that’s what people are like who have developed “character” through their life experiences.

The Bible has much to say about character. Let me offer, first, a pen-picture of such a person, and then two individuals, one female, one male, who I think demonstrate it.

The pen-picture is in Psalm 15. Here are verses 2-5: he or she is “the one whose way of life is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbour, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honours those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent”.

I find especially striking that bit about “keeping an oath even when it hurts”. Yes! You’ve agreed, say, to sell your house for a particular price, when along comes someone with a better offer. But you’ve given your word, so, sorry, that’s that.

It’s all about honesty, integrity and virtue (to use an old-fashioned word) – qualities which seem to be sadly rare in our me-first, look-after-number-one world, a world where we hardly bat an eyelid when we know we are being fed lies and half-truths and that statistics are being manipulated.

God give us that kind of character!

We meet my female example in Proverbs 31:10-31. In the NIV Bible this section is headed “the wife of noble character”, but while these verses are directed specifically at women, it doesn’t need a lot of imagination for us men also to think ourselves into its words.

The passage is too long to quote in detail, but in essence it’s about discipline, reliability, care for others, honest hard work – in short, about nobility (there’s another old-fashioned word!) of character.

We shouldn’t miss that “she opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy” (verse 20), and that “she speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue” (verse 26). She is indeed “a woman who fears the Lord” (verse 30).

A “home-maker”? Yes, and she has no problems with that. But she is also far, far more! – wife, business-woman, teacher, crafts-woman… (I find myself thinking of Lydia, from Acts 16.)

My male example is Barnabas, whom we meet frequently in Acts.

If you aren’t able to read the whole of Acts, I suggest just soak your mind in chapters 9-15, where his partnership with Saul/Paul is described in some detail…

It was he who gave sacrificially to God’s work (4:35-36); he who believed in the newly converted Saul when everyone else kept their distance (9:26-27); he who mentored Saul as a budding teacher (11:25-6); he who was entrusted by the church leaders in Antioch with big financial responsibility (11:29-30); he who was chosen by God to be the leader of the first missionary party (13:1-3); he who was humble enough later to recognise Saul’s (now Paul’s) greater gifts of leadership and to take second place to him…

All right, it was also he who had a serious falling-out with Paul, and who at one point rather lost his way. But that simply makes him very human, like the rest of us.

Anyway, it’s no accident that the apostles gave him a nick-name – no longer Joseph, but “Barnabas” or “Son of encouragement”. Yes; people with tried and tested “character” take encouragement with them wherever they go.

Our grubby, soiled world badly needs men and women of true character. I wonder if it sees them in people like you and me? Our truest example is, of course, Jesus himself – that goes without saying. But we can thank God too for the kind of men and women I’ve focussed on here – the man of rock-solid integrity in Psalm 15, the woman “of noble character” in Proverbs 31 – and dear, generous, humble, hard-working, dependable, warm-hearted Barnabas.

Lord God, thank you that both in the Bible, in church history, and in our own lives we meet people who have Christ-shaped, Spirit-filled characters. Please mould me into such a person – even at the cost of suffering and hardship. Amen.