Character is Essential

Readings for today: Deuteronomy 17-20, Psalms 59

The most important quality a person can possess is strong, godly character. But godly character does not form overnight. It’s not something we stumble into. It’s doesn’t happen by random chance. It requires development. A long obedience in the same direction. An intense focus every single day of our lives. The more influence and power a person has, the more important and impactful their character becomes. Those who lack godly character drag down those around them. Those who’ve taken the time to develop godly character lift everyone up. Everyone feels it from family to friends to neighbors to colleagues. Everyone knows it when they experience it.

This is why God sets the expectation that the most important practice a king or ruler can engage in is daily meditation on His Word. Listen to the directions God gives kings from the book of Deuteronomy again, “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, take possession of it, live in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations around me,’ you are to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. Appoint a king from your brothers. You are not to set a foreigner over you, or one who is not of your people. However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’ He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray. He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself. When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes. Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue reigning many years in Israel.” (Deuteronomy‬ ‭17‬:‭14‬-‭20‬ ‭CSB‬‬) What is the most important quality for a king? It’s not the accumulation of wealth or power or influence, it’s the cultivation of godly character. Each king is to make a personal copy of God’s law that he will then read and reflect on every single day of his life. The goal is for him to learn to fear the Lord and obey His commands so he might remain humble and rule his people with righteousness. And we see this happen in Israel’s history. The good kings exhibited a godly character while the evil kings lacked this important quality.

What about us? What about our leaders? What do we look for in the people who lead us politically, socially, economically, even ecclesiastically? What are the most important qualities we look for in a president or member of Congress? A governor or mayor or town council member? A leader in business or education? A pastor or other church leader? Is it godliness? Or is it power? Authority? Popularity? Influence? Wealth? Success? Tragically, we tend to look for anything but godliness in our leaders today. It’s why we find ourselves in the mess we’re in. We look for leaders who will tear down others, attack our “enemies”, channel our outrage, prey upon our fears, and tell us lies we will believe. Sure, we can try to blame them but here’s the honest, if hard, truth. They are simply a reflection of us. Their lack of character is a reflection of our own lack of character. We don’t elect or vote for godly leaders because we lack godly character ourselves. And therein lies the fundamental problem in our world. In a democratic society, we get the leadership we deserve. Our system is perfectly designed - from top to bottom - to produce the kind of leadership we are getting right now. And if there is ever to be any hope for a change, it must begin with the people of God making the commitment to develop the character of God above all else.

Readings for tomorrow: Deuteronomy 21-23, Psalms 60

Role Models

Readings for today: 2 Kings 8:16-29, 2 Chronicles 21:1-22:9

One of the main reasons I try to change versions and/or translations each year when I read through the Bible is get a fresh read on the text. It keeps it from becoming rote or boring. For example, this year I’ve chosen to read using the Message version. Admittedly, it’s not word for word or even phrase by phrase. It’s a paraphrase which means the translator is doing their best to translate the original language into modern idioms that we can better understand.

For example, look at how 2 Chronicles 22:4 is translated…“After the death of his father, Ahaziah attended the sin school of Ahab, and graduated with a degree in doom.” Isn’t that good? It helps us understand why God was growing so angry with the kings of Judah. They were abandoning His laws and His ways and were choosing to follow the pagan ways of their northern cousins. The “sin school of Ahab” must have been very enticing. After all, Ahab ruled the northern kingdom of Israel for over twenty years. He was a successful warlord who won several victories that strengthened his kingdom. He made alliances through marriage with powerful city-states. His own father admired Ahab so much, he had started to imitate him and even married into Ahab’s family. So it must have felt very natural for Ahaziah to look to his older cousin as an example. Sadly, he couldn’t have chosen a worse role model.

How often do we make the same mistake in our lives? How often do we choose the popular, the rich, the powerful, the influential to imitate rather than people of character? Isn’t this one of the main problems we have in politics right now? A recent poll found that a majority of Americans across both parties believe our political system and political leaders are corrupt. It make sense when our airwaves and newsfeeds are filled with stories about laptops, classified documents, ethics violations, double-standards, tax evasion, violent rhetoric, hate speech, etc. It is further confirmed by the number of political leaders whose personal wealth increases dramatically while they are in office. And yet each election seems to be a race to the bottom when it comes to character. We jettison principle in favor of power. We excuse the egregious sins of our candidate as the “lesser of two evils.” It’s a brutal, Darwinian system that simply isn’t sustainable. Like Ahaziah, our leaders have gone to “sin school” and “graduated with a degree in doom.” It cannot end well.

There is a better way. It requires us to relinquish our obsession with power and instead look to men and women of godly character to lead us and set an example for us. This starts in our own personal lives with the role models we choose. Are we choosing men and women who fear the Lord? Who walk in wisdom? Who love others unconditionally? The next step is to think about the leaders we lift up in business, education, healthcare, churches, and the non-profit world. Are we choosing leaders who place the welfare of others before their own? Do we give the right voices airtime? Are we celebrating the right people for the right kind of success? Finally, we have to reconsider the way we elect our political leaders. Are we choosing men and women who have a heart to serve rather than be served? Are we looking for humility over arrogance? Respect over contempt? True patriots over those who are out for themselves? God honors those who seek to honor Him. The only role models worth following are those who put God first in their lives.

Readings for tomorrow: 2 Kings 9-11, 2 Chronicles 22:10-12, 23