CWOC the Blog

I sat here at the computer gazing at the screen for a few thoughtless moments. I was rather in the fog as I bounced around the “TO WRITE” or “NOT TO WRITE” question about this article. I wanted to write it, but really felt I wanted to use some terminology that would have a propensity to offend some people. No profanity. Nothing aimed at anyone. Nothing slang. Nothing really crude. Okay, I talked myself into it.

Here it is: NOTHING BUILDS CHARACTER LIKE A GOOD BUTT-WHIPPING!

Before I get into this, if that offends you then grow up. You probably heard worse than that on your soap opera or favorite sitcom in the past week. There, I love you and you love me (or at least your supposed to – got to in order to get into that celestial city we all want to make home). And, Elijah, when mocking the Baal prophets concerning the unresponsiveness of their god to their pleas actually said, “Maybe your god is out relieving himself.” You’ll have to address that with God later if that offends you. Time to grow some skin folks. There is a generation out there that thinks Christians are irrelevant because we try to be so religiously-politically correct.

Now, back to business. Character is something that I really feel is lacking in the generation we walk among. Let me explain “what” I mean when I use the word “character.” In the context of this writing I want character to be thought of as “back-bone, nerve, intestinal fortitude; love for what is good and right; a disdain for half-heartedness; a hate for wrong, injustice, and evil; and a never-give-up mindset.”

I will say this: I’ve known some “characters” who had no “character.” (Pardon me while I chuckle to myself)

There are some things that build character in our lives. All of them would entail a good butt-whipping.

First, our parents were supposed to give us good butt-whippings to teach us NOT to do wrong. My mom once lamented to my wife that maybe she beat me too often. My wife chimed in: “You didn’t beat him enough.” Let’s allow it to suffice to say I had my numerous and routine appointments with a belt and a switch. Now, at the age of 44, I realize that was not a lack of love or abuse. It was, indeed, something I needed to mold my character!

Second, there are situations of adversity or – I’ll keep it palatable – places in life that are hard. These areas build character. They often entail us having to DO things we DO NOT like. When my kids have to clean their room or help old dad in the yard and they are whining the whole way, I simply look at them and say, “It builds character!”

Then, there are experiences we have that just flat out punch us in the mouth. Tonight, my 12 year-old and my 9 year-old both had such experiences. They are playing football and winding up their seasons. Both teams got shut out. The older son’s team was simply decimated. When my 12 year-old and I arrived home we were in the garage where I was helping him pull off his pads. He lamented on how poorly he and his whole team played. I simply replied, “Tonight son, you got a lesson in character.”

The last character builder I will mention here is very painful. It is a whipping that can go on whipping for a long time. It is FAILURE. One of the greatest and most painful elements of failure is QUITTING! When I was in high school I loved football. I grew up in a small, rough town. We would play football in yards and fields and go as hard in pads as we did outside of pads. My senior year I was several weeks into football practice when my home went into major upheaval. There was utter chaos. In the midst of all that I succumbed to a lot of pressures a kid my age shouldn’t have to endure and I QUIT football. That was 27 years ago. I still feel a gnaw in my gut when I think about it. I know some may say, “Pastor Tim, you need to get over that. It was in the past.” I beg to differ with you. That sting of pain from quitting never left me. And, I have vowed from that time I would never quit anything again – NEVER! I have faced what seemed to be insurmountable odds and stuck it out, refusing to quit, and eventually saw God turn the tide. I have witnessed the miraculous when it would have been easier to quit and walk away. But, I remember the disgust I felt from quitting and it built CHARACTER in me.

My friend, the fact is this: WE ALL NEED CHARACTER! And, no matter where you are in the area of character development, you are probably going to learn more of it (like it or not, class is in progress). I once said, “I feel I’ve been through so much that I should have about ten doctorates in character development.” Well, if that is the case, I’m sure I’m currently working on my eleventh.

Here is the bottom line in these “life-whippings” that differentiate character and non-character: WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED? You see, everyone has been through all of the scenarios listed above that can mold character in us. Yet, many have failed to learn the lesson from the classroom.

What’s the difference? Simply, some learned from the experience (thereby passing the test) and others simply never learned and no change came in their heart or way of thinking.

Have you ever tasted the disgusting sting of defeat to the point you don’t want to ever experience that again? Has God ever spanked you with conviction and you knew without doubt that you didn’t want to go there again? Have you ever been slapped in the face with adversity and just wallowed in misery for a while and later realized how miserable you were? Have past failures built real strength inside of you? If you can answer yes to any or all of these then you have probably learned a priceless degree in CHARACTER 101.

These things formed back-bone in you. They gave you the nerve to push through the pain. They instilled intestinal fortitude in you to raise the bar in areas in your own life. They created a passion inside of you for what was good and right while making you cringe when you witnessed wrong, injustice and evil. They gave you so much heart to overcome that you have a strong intolerance to half-heartedness.

The irony in all of this is: WHAT WE THOUGHT WAS MAKING US WEAK ACTUALLY MAKES US STRONG!!!!!

Allow me to welcome you to class today. CHARACTER 101 is now in session!

This entry was posted on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 10:03 pm and is filed under Featured, From Our Pastor, From The Pastor, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.