Look For Character

The following was written by another friend who makes a good point:

In a day when giftedness trumps character, let us pay careful attention to what God says in Matthew 7:15 "Don't be impressed with charisma; look for character..." (The Message) No amount of spin will ever change God's sovereign order. He cares just as much about our behavior as He does our message. What we do, is not any less important than what we say.

Randy and Paula White, founders and co-pastors of Without Walls International Church in Tampa… announced their pending divorce to the 23,000-member congregation on August 23, citing lives heading in different directions. (Christianity Today - October 2007)

“Lives headed in different directions,” come on, is that the best they could offer the 1000's of people who look to them for spiritual guidance. I do not doubt for a minute that more problems will surface later, but according to Christianity Today that’s what their faithful followers have to base this train wreck on for now.

It appears from Paula’s web site that her sky rocking career will not miss a beat as she travels around to promote her latest book entitled, You’re All That! Understand God’s Design For Your Life. I can’t help but ask: “You're all what?”

Are these people Biblically illiterate, or just stupid. To pretend that this kind of behavior is acceptable while jet-setting around, signing your latest book and holding conferences, is not just intolerable, it is mindless, and devoid of God-centered conviction.

If there is anything clear in Scripture, it is how much God values and holds dear to his heart the hallowed covenant between man and woman. Mark 10:5 says: "In the original creation, God made male and female to be together. Because of this, a man leaves father and mother, and in marriage he becomes one flesh with a woman—no longer two individuals, but forming a new unity. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate His art by cutting them apart." (The Message)

May God impart to us today a new and profound reverence for what he loves and treasures. And may we all be reminded that "Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

Striving together, to finish well
gary