I have been involved in theological education at different levels for 21 years (not including my own education) and been a pastor for 15 years. I have seen the challenge and temptation of allowing intellect and personal abilities overshadow character formation. In my own education, often the intellectual was stressed more than character. I cannot totally blame my instructors but perhaps the whole educational system during that time. Even as a professor myself, I have stressed too much the learning of facts and data to the neglect of the more importance of character.
This may seem counter-intuitive for pastors. After all, are we not in the character forming business? So why even bring up this topic? First, there are subtle temptations to lower the need for our own character development. For many pastors, the stress is on productivity. This is shown in good sermons, organized meetings, effective visitation, and just basically a busy schedule. We may feel that if we do not look busy, people may think we are lazy. The pastor’s “study” has been replaced by the pastor’s “office.” It can be very difficult for pastors to get away to a quiet place for prayer and meditation upon God’s word. Many cultures, especially western culture, are focused on ability to do a task. We have annual evaluations as part of employment. Pastors have reviews every two or four years. How much of these reviews is based on character?
Why is character so important in ministry? Most significantly, Jesus and the early church stressed character. Character is measured by how much we have become like our Teacher, Jesus. Character is developed through faith and obedience. Faith helps us find our strength in God. Obedience is the working out of faith into actions. The goal of our character formation is transformation in Christ (Romans 12:1-2). Who we are should be formed by our relationship with Christ and not our relationship to the world.
Who we are in Christ will lead to more effective ministry in the world. Our effectiveness will be dependent in a large way upon who we are and less so on what we can do. There is a lot of truth in the old statement, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” An unformed or shallow character will lead to low level output that will not be as effective in helping others in the formation of their character. Our ministry can be measured not by numbers or income but by the character development of those in our church. Are people growing in their relationship with God? How can we know this? In the thoughts of many people, this relationship with God is all internal, private, and individual. There is a movement that stresses relationship within the community of the church. This is a positive step, but it is still inadequate. The end result of the pastor’s character should be seen in the ability of the people of the church to put their character into action through ministry to the world and the making of new disciples. If our people are not doing this, then we must trace the problem backwards: Is their character being formed through our ministry? Is our ministry only cognitive or based on human ability?
What steps can we take to develop our own character? We can get back to the fundamentals of faith and obedience. Faith connects us to God who is truly the one who can change us from within. Obedience is the proper response to hearing the good news of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20). Going through challenging times can also help form character (Romans 5:1-5). Character formation takes time. In the rush in doing the business of the church, which never ends, we are challenged to find time to be with God. Personal retreats or private times for prayer become the lifeblood that keeps us in ministry. I have found that the demands of ministry, family activities, keeping up a home, repairing cars, and other activities chip away at my time until there is really nothing left. These other things can help me in developing my character but they are not the most vital. They push away the most vital. We must prioritize in order to vitalize.
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