Character

I was reading about Coach Mike Pressler this past weekend. For those of you that don't recognize the name, he used to be the coach of the Duke Lacrosse team, before the scandal. Interesting that he was forced to resign amidst the controversy, even though, ultimately, his players were exonerated (and, even if they hadn't been, how could he have been held responsible for what his players were accused of?). Maybe exonerated isn’t the right word. There is a chance that three of the players may still face serious charges, but less serious than what we were led to believe at the outset. Coach Pressler made an interesting comment, though, he said that sometimes adversity doesn't build character as much as reveal character.
There have been a number of books written about why bad things happen to good people. To be honest, I haven't read them, but it's my understanding that they generally talk more about building character than revealing it.
I have blogged before about Abraham and Isaac, that God led Abraham to take his son up to the mountain to sacrifice him as a test; not that God had any doubt what Abraham would do, but so that Abraham would know what he would do. Sometimes God tests us in very much the same way, to reveal our character. Sometimes we need to know what kind of character we have, and sometimes other people need to know. For people outside the faith to see how we deal with adversity can tell them a lot about our character, and give them a better idea of whether we, as individuals, are really the type of people that they want listen to. Of course, really, they shouldn't be putting their trust in us, but in the One that we serve.
My pastor, before he went full time into ministry, used to work for a company that sold and serviced restaurant equipment. There was one night that he was working on some plumbing in a restaurant kitchen, and he thought he was alone in the building. He was attempting to loosen a pipe under a sink, and the pipe was stuck. He pushed against the pipe wrench as hard as he could, and suddenly the joint came free, and he banged his hand against something else. He got out from under, and started washing his hand (in a different sink, of course), and was looking around for something to bandage his hand with, and the restaurant janitor rushed in. The janitor looked at his hand, and his eyes kind of bugged out, and he said, "Are you a Christian?" "Well, yes, but why do you ask?" Well, I heard the thud, out in the dining area, and I see how badly your hand is hurt, but all I heard you say was, 'Ouch!'"
This is what is known as testimony. This is what James called showing out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. Character isn’t what you do when you know everyone is watching; character is what you do when you think no one else knows. God always knows, though, so you should always act as though you are being watched. At the same time, you should do what you do because it’s what you want to do, not because you’re afraid of what will happen to you if you don’t.
Some time ago, I was at work, and I found myself wondering whether I was really making a difference; whether anybody even noticed what kind of person I was. It bothered me enough that I stopped and prayed about it. Just then, I heard my name mentioned around the corner. Two people were talking, and one of them was trying to explain something that I had explained to him earlier, but his language was considerably spicier than mine was. The other person said, "Well, now I know you're lying, because he don't talk like that." That at least told me that some people had noticed my character, and that gave me a good feeling.

Saul and David

Saul was the first king of Israel, David was the second. Usually when people look at these two men they concentrate on the fact that when David messed up, he repented, while Saul would continually justify himself. This is true, but it occurs to me that there is more to it than that. What it really comes down to is that David had better overall character than Saul did.

For starters, lets look at the battle with the Amalekites. God told Saul to destroy Amalek, and to kill everything in Amalek. He was not to let anyone live, or even let any of the animals live. When Samuel met with Saul, after the battle, Saul had taken the king, Agag, prisoner, and had not killed the animals. Samuel confronted Saul, and Saul told him that they were going to sacrifice the animals to God. Samuel told Saul that "...to obey is better than sacrifice."

Now David once had occasion to sacrifice some animals to God, but the animals in question weren't his. Fortunately, the animals belonged to a man named Araunah that was friendly towards David. Friendly enough that he would have been happy to give the animals to David, but David refused. He would not sacrifice what wasn't his. He would not have expected God to honor such a sacrifice.

Let's look also at the battle with Goliath. I think most of us know the story: The Philistines set themselves in array against Israel, but then the Philistine champion, Goliath, offered to fight, one on one, any of the Israelites to settle the matter. The Israelites were intimidated; Goliath was six cubits tall--about nine feet. Now, common sense would dictate that the biggest Israelite would fight the giant. Instead, of course, the smallest Israelite on the battlefield ended up going against Goliath, without traditional weapons. David (who wasn't even old enough to be in the army) took a sling and five stones and only needed one. So, who was the biggest Israelite on the battlefield? Saul was.

Let's consider also the conflict that arose when Saul realized that God intended for David to be the second king of Israel, instead of one of Saul's sons. Saul tried to kill David, but God protected David. David had opportunity to kill Saul, and refused to do it. Now, when David, later on in life, found that Uriah the Hittite was standing in the way of what David wanted, he had Uriah killed. The difference, though, is that David repented quickly for having Uriah killed; Saul never really repented of trying to kill David.

You don't have to look to hard at these two men's lives to realize the difference in the strength of character and the faith in God that they had (or didn't have). And I have to admit, sometimes I feel more like Saul than like David. Particularly with regard to Araunah. If I needed something, and somebody offers me exactly what I need, and they seem happy to give it to me, I'm probably not going to argue with them, no matter what it is that I need that whatever-it-is for. I'm not sure that I have that kind of integrity.

Some would question how the Bible can say that David was a man after God's own heart, when he murdered Uriah the Hittite. God knows that none of us are perfect--He didn't create us that way. Most of the time, though, David had the strength of character, integrity, and faithfulness towards God that God has towards us.