If someone accuses you of being an angry person, you can't defend yourself against it. Anecdotal evidence will always win the day. You say you're not an angry person, but one person saw you get angry on the soccer field one time when you were eight, and in their mind that proves their case.
"Character" speaks about a pattern of behavior over a long period of time. It is the person I am when pressure is applied; the person I am when nobody is looking. And if nobody is looking, nobody else knows what my true character is. They're reliant on anecdotal evidence that is impossible to prove or defend against.
I think that's what Paul is going for in 1 Corinthians 4:2-5.
Today, it's impossible to defend yourself against a character accusation. Some day, we'll stand defenseless when our character is revealed. False negative accusations today are better than true negative accusations on that Day.
So rather than focusing on what everyone else is saying, it's better to focus on what God will say. By and large, when that is our focus, the other takes care of itself.
1 comments:
alright fine, i won't bring up all that character flaws ever again...
;)
all kidding aside, this is a very good point. our focus needs to be on what God sees, and working to make it line up with what He's already told us that He wants from us.
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