As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying.” Who we are, our character, is more important than what we do, our position or title.
Emerson said a mouthful when he made this comment. Some people will tell you one thing but then go off and do the exact opposite; others will be half hearted but later will get with the program and commit to it totally.
Character is the self defining element in you and I. It is seemingly part of our DNA. We develop through the years and as an adult we start to show the people we are by the way we respond to situations. Two brothers, identical twins can develop entirely different personalities and respond differently to the same situation
Personality can create or control the way that we relate to other when we get together socially. We devise names to categorize ourselves and others into expectation based groups like introverted and extroverted, closed and open, even male and female. The male psyche is claimed to be different to the female with different “functions” attributed to each.
The way that we relate to others is very much an element of our personality. Introverts are said to be happiest when not in a crowd. They find scenes like this “draining” while extroverts on the other hand come alive when in a crowd. I personally find it harder to relate to someone who has a closed mind probably caused by my intravertedness needing to attempt to achieve a shared position on the subject at hand.
At this point it would be easy to sit back and say I am who I am, like it or leave it. It would be simpler but not necessarily productive because we would be stuck with a limited group of relationships.
The news from God is that He calls us to exchange our life to become more like Jesus His Son. By taking on the life of Jesus God enables us to change parts of our personality for those that reflect Jesus to the world at large. The new life in Christ also means a new possibility for a changed personality. We are meant to move to a different place in our personal relations, simply that we might reach others for the Master.
Unfortunately this commitment to follow is not always taken as an imperative among many members of the Community of Faith. Many prefer to remain unchanged by God, whether this is an issue of obedience, the desire for a comfortable life or just not listening doesn’t matter. A person who represents themself as a Christian to their non church environment exhibits their life as that of Jesus for better or worse.
The problem for the Church at large currently is that when members live as if Christ didn’t make a difference in their lives then the people on the outside of the Church see it. This becomes an issue of relevance for them. If we are unable to live a life that is different to the unchurched then the question must be asked. “Why make the change?”
If we cannot answer that question in our own person then we need to look at our position in the Masters will. Further the reputation of the Church is tarnished because of how other see the life of the Church. But of more significance is that the Jesus given Mission mandate is rendered impotent because of the witness of some members of the Church. Please God that this will not be held against us.
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