Modelling Godly Character

jobs that no one else wanted to do. Jobs like rattle snake catcher, roadkill collector,

shark attack suit tester, maggot farmer, spider venom collector, and septic tank cleaner.

The show's main message was that work is good, even dirty jobs. Work with dirty jobs was good,

and Mike, the host, said that he had, in fact, witnessed many people doing all kinds of odd and

dirty and hard work and yet enjoying it. And that rings true with the message that I preached last

week about the dignity of all work, because each one of us has been assigned our vocation by God to

work out his purposes in this world. When you watch the show, though, it's obvious that while there are

many positive aspects with the dirty jobs that Mike trials, there's also the negatives in some

of the work. Like when he listed the requirements for roadkill collector, the negatives were that

you need to be able to brave on oncoming traffic, especially if the roadkill was not quite dead yet

and you needed to dispatch it or something. And also, you need to have a strong stomach.

Like, the positive is that you get to work outdoors. Now, I'm not sure if the positive ultimately

outweighs the negatives in those sort of work, but anyway. But it doesn't matter whether whatever

your frontline is, whether it's at home, it's in a classroom, it's on a factory floor, it's in a

national park, in an office cubicle. Work can be a source of great purpose and dignity,

but also a source of great frustration in our lives. Dealing with difficult customers, a demanding

boss, inclement weather, a family's mountain of laundry, a two-year-old, an elderly parent,

lingering unemployment, underemployment, overemployment. It can all be a huge pain.

And so it's pretty important for Christians, I think, to understand and to hold in tension

both what the Bible says about creation, as we looked at last week, and what it says about the

fall and the destructive consequences of sin. That is, it's important to hold in tension both the

dignity of work and the difficulty of work, the dignity of our vocation, where God's put us, and the

difficulty of our vocation. And that is why so many Christians inhabit the extremes of idealism and

cynicism, or even ricochet between idealism and cynicism on a regular basis. Idealism says,

through my work, my vocation, my station in life, I'm going to change the world. I'm going to make a

difference, I'm going to accomplish something new, and I'm going to bring justice to this world. I'm

going to do everything that previous generations did not do, and failed to do. So idealism is probably

more prevalent amongst those who are younger amongst us. Cynicism says nothing really changes,

don't get your hopes up, do what it takes to make a living, don't let yourself care too much,

get out of it whatever you can. And so cynicism is probably prevalent amongst those who have got a

few more runs on the board advancing in years amongst us. But either way, we can be jumping

between the two. Christians have, through their hope in God's story of redemption for the world that he

created a deep contentment that enables them to work with all their being and never be ultimately

discouraged by the frustrating reality of this world. And our concern in this series is how,

in this context of both purpose and difficulty, that we might pursue our vocation in line with

Colossians 3. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men,

since you know that you'll receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ

you are serving. That is, you are in the midst of your vocation, and with all the difficulties

associated with it, still being able to look forward with hope, because God has a great eternal plan

that he's working out through you. So how do we live out, Colossians 3, in the ordinary,

of Monday to Saturday, even on front lines that make no reference to God whatsoever?

And one way is to live lives transformed by Jesus on those front lines. That is to model godly

character, our concern for tonight. Character, it's true, the character shines through in all that we do.

And in thinking about modelling godly character, I'm thinking about more than just being nice.

I'm thinking about something that's much more than middle class, North Shore, nice values. I'm thinking

something a lot more than just being Canadian and just being nice. I'm thinking something a bit more

than just hovering around in the world with this divine grin on your face. Modelling godly character

is so much more than just niceness, in the same way that real love is so much more than niceness.

Love requires courage, determination, and sacrifice. All the things that you husbands put into

Valentine's Day today. Love, courage, determination, sacrifice.

Because there's a few... Oh, hang on, Valentine's Day? It's Valentine's Day, is it? Forgot that one.

Don't worry, as I said this morning, I bought a $2 bag of heart-shaped chocolates,

which my girls devoured before Nat got one. Galatians 5 says the godly character is the fruit of God

working in our lives by His Spirit. Verse 22 in Galatians 5. Grab your Bibles, smartphones,

as Sam said, whatever. Get to Galatians 5, verse 22. It's a list of traits that God is working out in

Galatians 5:22

His people. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, and self-control. Some paraphrase the list of this fruit as love, joy, peace,

patience, kindness, integrity, courage, humility, and self-control. Now, either way, it's a pretty

daunting list. It's an impressive list. It's not an exhaustive list of all the things that God's

working out on you, but it's pretty impressive and daunting. Love. It's the Christ-like reaction

to malice. Joy. The Christ-like reaction to depressing and difficult circumstances. Peace

as the Christ-like reaction to troubles and threats and anxiety. Patience as the Christ-like reaction to

all that raises your blood pressure. Kindness as the Christ-like reaction to all who are unkind and cruel.

Goodness is the Christ-like reaction to bad people, naughty people, and bad behavior. Faithfulness is the

Christ-like reaction to lies and distortions and untruths. Gentleness is the Christ-like reaction to

anger. Self-control as a Christ-like reaction to every situation where you want the

sinful nature to take over and lead. That's pretty daunting. It's not niceness. It's not what we're

talking about. Now, my focus here is not to unpack each one of those, but to go much broader.

I want to say two things, two things about the fruit of the Spirit with 12 to 15 sub-points under

each thing. No, it's not quite true. Two things. The first is the fruit of the Spirit is about

supernatural internal transformation by God and not external moral constraint. That's the first thing.

I'll unpack that in a minute. The second thing I'm going to say is that unless the fruit of the Spirit

are growing together, then none of them are there in their supernatural form.

That's the two things. And then I'm going to talk about how do we grow under Spirit.

Okay? So let's understand the Spirit, the fruits of the Spirit. So having listed the fruit in verse 22,

at the end of verse 23, it says, against such things, there is no law. There's a list of the nine

traits. And then it says, against such things, there is no law. And now that is pretty significant.

And so I need to explain what that little bit means just there. Imagine New South Wales Parliament

passed the law against joylessness and anxiety. It is now against the law in New South Wales to be

joyless and to be anxious. That would be pretty useless as a law. Because law is a form of moral

constraint that is essentially negative in its nature. Law works to stop the results of a messed up heart,

but it can't get into the inside and deal with the messed upness of the heart.

You see, a well-enforced law might stem the tide of murder, might even stamp out murder.

But it can't reach in and get to the anger which is in a heart, which is the root of murder.

Murder is the consequence of a problem in a heart. Against pride and anxiety and joylessness and fear

and all the other root problems in your heart and my heart, law is useless. Law cannot get into the

heart where the root problem is. And so it cannot constrain my heart.

The answer to that is in verse 24 and 25. The Holy Spirit. The Spirit can go where the law can't go.

You see, the Holy Spirit and the law working together can constrain you externally, but only the Spirit

can go internally and bring transformation in the root problem. Only the Spirit can deal with the

internal problem of messed up heart. And the practical difference between the law and the Spirit is

enormous. The difference between an external moral constraint of the law and the internal

transformation, supernatural transformation of the Spirit is very significant. The British have a

saying, no man is a hero to his valet. No man is a hero to his valet. Now I've watched Downton Abbey and so

I know what a valet is. A valet is a wealthy man's personal male attendant who's responsible for his clothes,

for his appearance, for his personal details like his bank accounts and running his bath and sponging

his back. All sorts of stuff like that. What the saying means is that no matter how grand your public

persona is, in private your valet sees warts and all. He sees what you truly are like and what you truly want

to be. The valet sees the impatience, the selfishness, the irritability, the pettiness, the anxiety, the

jealousy, the joylessness. And so no man is a hero to his valet because his valet sees what he's really like.

And what this means is that when you use the law to constrain a person morally, externally, you do it at the

expense of joy and peace. Which themselves are two fruits of the Spirit, you might notice.

Law externally constrains you from doing what you want to internally do. And so it constrains you

and locks you to a position of joylessness and peacelessness.

Think about how you raise a child. You get them and you say to them,

we don't want you to do this or this or this or this or this or this or this or this.

And you had

better not do it because firstly,

you'll get caught.

God will catch you,

police will catch you or I will catch you.

And secondly, you better not do it because

what will people think of you?

And thirdly, you better not do it because

you will end up

despising yourself. You'll have no respect

for yourself.

How are we making

kids moral at that point?

We're making them moral by

nurturing joylessness

and peacelessness and

anxiety and insecurity.

As the law establishes

external moral

behavior at the expense of

inner joy and peace,

it establishes fear

and pride

that reveals itself

where the valet

and only the valet

and you see it.

Or your spouse,

or your children,

or your parents,

or your team at work,

or the people who know you the best.

In the private place

is where you find out

whether you are morally

constrained

externally

or you're supernaturally

changed internally

by the Holy Spirit.

Only the Spirit will go deep.

Only the Spirit makes you

in your most private place

and private time

a person of joy

and calm

and peace

and mercy

and love

and patience

and kindness

and courage

and humility.

Or to put it another way,

if you are not

more of a hero

to the people

who know you

the best,

then you should

probably have

an alarm bell

ringing right now.

That is,

if you've got

this great persona

with some people,

great guy,

great at his work,

and yet the people

who know you the best

don't regard you

as a hero,

ding, ding, ding, ding, ding,

should be going off

right now.

So how are you getting on

on the inside?

Are you a hero

to those who know you

the best?

Or do they laugh

about you

over drinks?

That's a scary question,

I know.

But it's going to get

just slightly more scarier.

Because the second thing

to notice

is that the fruit

all come together.

If they are not

growing all together,

they are not

growing at all,

at least in their

supernatural form.

And I get that

from verse 22.

Notice the singular

statement,

the fruit of the

Spirit is,

and then goes on

and lists nine traits.

It doesn't say

the fruits of the

Spirit are.

The outcome

of the work

of the Holy Spirit

in your life

is nine traits.

They're not

separable traits.

They are dependent

on each other.

Interdependent.

The fruits of the Spirit

are all aspects

of the same thing.

You can't be patient

unless you're humble.

You can't be kind

with people

unless you've got

self-control.

You can't have

integrity

with this group

at work

and this group

at home

unless you have

tremendous amount

of inner peace

and security

with Christ

that just allows you

to flourish

wherever you are.

They have to be together.

If they're not

together

then they're not

there at all.

It's important

to grapple with this

so that you can

recognize

and evaluate

the work

of the Spirit

in your life.

The temptation

here

is to look

at this list

and to give

our scores

based on

how many

of these traits

we think we're good

at and how many

we're kind of okay

at and that one's

not so good.

And so we give

ourselves a score

and go six out of ten

or nine

and that's pretty good.

That's more

than a pass mark

so I must be okay.

And that would be wrong.

They are interrelated

and so they must

grow together.

Now let me just

take a little bit

of pressure off.

There can be

some lag here

where some

are growing

faster than others

but they

must all

be growing.

That's not just

Galatians.

That's a thrust

of it.

See,

long before Karl Marx

and Friedrich Nietzsche

said that people

followed moral behavior

out of fear

and pride

and desire

for power

over other people,

the Apostle Paul

said in 1 Corinthians 13

that it's extremely

possible

for people

to live

a moral life

without love

as the foundation

of that life.

That is

out of

self-interest.

That is

without a heart

that's being changed

by the grace

and love of God.

Now that's

really important

because it's

pretty typical

for people

who are kind

and gentle

and diplomatic

and just

so empathetic

not

to be

assertive,

to be bold

or to be

courageous.

They might

have gentleness

but they lack

probably

the best

translation

in the list

is faithfulness.

They aren't

good at

confronting

and courage.

On the other

hand,

there are people

who are very

bold and assertive

and directive

but tend

to be impatient.

A little

on the harsh

side.

They lack

empathy.

And in both

cases,

the character

traits are

more natural

personality traits

given by God,

I acknowledge,

rather than

inner transformation

of the spirit.

You see,

if your gentleness

and your diplomacy

were coming out

of a heart

that's transformed

by God

and radically

secure

in His love,

you would

be bold

because

you wouldn't

be afraid

of anything

or anyone

because you

know you're

secure in

Jesus.

And if

that's not

the case,

then the

gentleness

and the

diplomacy

is most

likely

a natural

temperamental

sweetness,

niceness.

Now,

that's good.

Good in

people and

good in

certain

circumstances,

but in a

significant

part,

it's most

likely

cowardly.

good for

many people,

but in a

way,

if your

boldness

and your

directness

were coming

out of a

heart that's

transformed by

God,

radically

secure in

His love,

you would

be empathetic

and gentle

and kind.

And so,

if you're

not,

then the

courage and

the boldness

and the

assertiveness

is most

likely a

natural

temperament

of assertiveness,

good for

many people

and situations,

but in a

significant

part,

most likely

arrogance.

All the

traits of

the fruit of

the Spirit

have to be

there in

order for

any of

them to

be there

in their

supernatural

God-transformed

form.

We are

only as

spiritually

mature as

our weakest

trait.

So go to

your weakest

trait.

That's the

level of the

work of the

Holy Spirit

in your

life.

Now,

some of us

here are

starting to

feel a little

uncomfortable,

I hope.

As I was

when I was

putting this

down on

paper,

go to

your least,

I mean,

the best thing

for me to do

is to go and

ask my

valet,

Nat,

I mean,

she's the

person who

knows me

better than

anyone else.

She's not

literally my

valet,

but please

don't repeat

that.

But to go

to her and

say,

which one

do you

think?

And it's a

scary thing

for me to

go to her

and say,

which one

do you

think?

I mean,

she might

come back

and say,

one.

I mean,

you know,

we're starting

to feel a little

uncomfortable,

and I expect

that's not

entirely bad.

Let me help

you out just

a little bit

here.

It's important

to remember

the growth

in the fruit

of the Spirit

is gradual.

Verse 19

says that the

acts of the

sinful nature

are,

and then it

goes a bunch

of lists,

an action

happens.

It's an

action.

It happens.

I mean,

some actions

might take a

bit longer,

but it's an

action.

Fruit,

on the other

hand,

is a character

trait that

builds.

It grows.

It comes

slowly.

See,

I've got a

tomato plant

over there in

my garden,

and I can't

tell the

difference between

yesterday and

today.

I mean,

I'm assuming

it's growing

because it's

not dying

yet,

and it has

grown over

time,

but I can't

see it.

I mean,

I can stick a

measuring stick

against it,

and I can see

it happen,

but it happens

slowly,

and I can't

always see it

working.

And every so

often,

God puts a

measuring stick

against us,

and we get to

check our

progress as to

whether we're

growing or not.

It might be

that you faced

a situation,

a familiar

situation to

you that you

faced 12

months ago,

and you look

at your

response to

it now compared

to then,

and you go,

oh,

that's different.

I wouldn't

have done

that 12

months ago.

Measuring

stick.

You're actually

growing at

that point,

and that's

God's grace

to us.

The last

sentence of

verse 17

is comforting,

I think.

Having talked

about the sinful

nature and the

spirit,

it says,

they are in

conflict with

each other,

so that you

do not do

what you

want.

And at the

very least,

it means that

a person

growing in

the fruit of

the spirit,

growing in

godly character,

can routinely

go through

seasons where

they are just

giving into the

sinful nature.

It seems like

there's not

progress

whatsoever.

Paul is

assuming here

that you will

feel like you're

not making

progress.

And more

significantly,

I want to

say that if

that is your

wrestle,

when you are

wrestling with

that,

feeling like

you're not

growing in

love or

patience or

gentleness or

boldness,

it is a

sign of the

spirit working

in you.

So hang in

there.

So there

are a few

things,

that's the

spirit,

work of the

fruit of the

spirit generally,

and there's a

few things about

how we might

grow the fruit

of the spirit

in such a way

that become a

hero to your

valet.

notice 24,

it says,

verse 24,

those who

belong to

Christ Jesus

have crucified

the sinful

nature with

his passions

and desires.

Since we

live by the

spirit,

let us keep

in step

with the

spirit.

The first

thing is

that we are

to crucify

the sinful

nature.

And what's

mentioned here,

what it means

by that,

is different

from what it

says in

Galatians

Galatians 2:20

chapter 2

verse 20

and Romans

6.6,

where we

are united

with Jesus

through being

crucified in

his crucifixion

and for

our atonement

for our sin.

This verse

is referring

to the work

that we do,

not the work

that Jesus

does,

who are now

united with

Jesus.

So it's very

similar to

Mark chapter 8

Mark 8 · chapter mention

where Jesus

says,

you want to

come follow

me,

take a big

cross and

follow me.

It's Jesus'

very vivid

speech for a

life of self

denial.

And so here,

the apostle

Paul takes

Jesus'

call to

take up

our cross

and follow

him to

its logical

conclusion.

He wants

to make

sure that

as we

take up

our cross,

we actually

get to

the point

of execution.

He wants

to make

sure that

the execution

of the

sinful nature

actually takes

place.

So that's

the first

thing,

we crucify

the sinful

nature,

the work

that we

do.

The second

thing is

that we

live by

the spirit.

So let

us keep

in step

with the

spirit.

The Holy

Spirit works

through means

to crucify

the sinful

nature as

well as to

help us to

keep in step

with the

spirit.

The Holy

Spirit works

through means,

objective

means of

grace like

the Bible,

prayer,

prayer,

worship,

Christian

fellowship,

as well as

subjective means

of grace

where we

open ourselves

to being

changed.

And,

you know,

things like

we're thinking

about where

we are,

listening,

questioning,

hearing the

critique and

admonition of

others,

examining our

hearts,

sharing our

hearts,

and weighing

Christian

brothers and

sisters'

response to

our lives.

to put it

simply,

Paul is

describing

here,

what he's

describing is

in crucifying

the sinful

nature and

walking in

step with the

spirit is a

life of

repentance.

That's what

he's talking

about.

We are

turning our

back on one

way,

enabled by the

Holy Spirit,

we're turning

our back on

one way of

life,

and we're

walking with

the Holy

Spirit into

a new way

of life.

But mark

this,

note this,

if you've

kind of switched

off a little

bit,

wake up at

this point.

This is

essential to

this life of

repentance,

and it's

this,

rejoice in

order to

repent.

Notice the

beginning of

verse 24,

very significant.

If you've

got your

Bible,

open it,

notice the

beginning of

verse 24.

It says,

those who

already belong

to Jesus

crucify the

sinful nature.

Only those

who are already

His can

crucify the

sinful nature.

Only those

who belong,

who know that

they belong to

Jesus, and I

would suggest to

the degree that

they know that

they belong to

Jesus, and

that they are

secure in

Jesus, they

are safe in

Jesus, will

then crucify the

sinful nature and

His passions.

Only

Christianity

says that.

Every other

religion says

that if you

crucify the

flesh, then

you belong to

God.

If you do

the right thing,

then you'll be

included.

If you do,

then you will

be.

And that's

not how the

Christian gospel

works.

Christianity

says, if you

be, then

you will do.

If you

understand that

in Jesus, you

already belong,

you're already

accepted, you

are already His

forever, you

will crucify the

sinful nature

with joy.

There's that

word joy back

in there again.

You will do it

with joy.

You see, there

is a way of

wounding the

sinful nature

with fear.

fear.

Moral

constraint

feeds on

fear.

You had

better stop

that, Steve,

otherwise God's

going to get

you and people

are going to

think you're

stupid and

you're really

going to be

kicking yourself

in the

backside.

That's

fear.

The only

way to

crucify the

sinful nature,

to truly

repent, to

walk in the

spirit is with

joy.

It is looking

to what God

has already

done for you.

You see,

the Christian's

motivation to

live a life

of love

and joy

and peace

and patience

and kindness

and goodness

and faithfulness

and gentleness

and self-control

and humility

and courage

is the radical

love that we

receive from God.

Instead of

saying to

yourself,

you had

better stop

that because

God's going

to get you,

you say,

you better

stop that

because you

have a God

who's already

got you.

A God

who has

gone for

infinite lengths

in order to

never reject

you and

you're

forgetting

the joy

that what

he has

given you

in order

to go after

something that

is just so

less valuable

than what you

already have.

You see,

if we're

impatient with

others,

God doesn't

so much say

to us,

stop it

or I'm

going to

get you.

he says,

Steve,

have you

forgotten

how patient

I am

with you?

One last

thing about

growing in the

fruit of the

Spirit and

godly character.

You're never

going to grow

by yourself

as an

individual

consumer.

All this,

what I've

talked about,

walking with

the Spirit,

crucifying the

sinful nature,

all gets

worked out

in community.

To be

effective for

God's glory

on your

front line,

you need

the Christian

community.

Notice

verse 15.

Sam read it

out.

One verse

sort of before

the main focus.

Verse 15,

if you keep

on biting

and devouring

each other,

watch out

or you'll

be destroyed

by each

other.

Notice

verse 26.

It's the

last verse

of this

section we're

looking at.

Let us

not become

conceited,

provoking and

envying each

other.

You see,

Paul sees

the community

believers as

the way that

you're going

to get all

this done.

All this

transformation,

the crucifying of

one and inner

transformation of

the Spirit.

It's the

Christian community,

it's the place

and the way that

you're going to

get it all

done,

and he sees

that getting

this done

as the way

to better

Christian

community.

The community

of God's

people is

essential for

growth in

godly character,

and that's

why it's

quite possible

to be part

of a local

church,

to sit in

a pew,

to not be

relationally

connected for

decades,

and not

grow in

the fruit of

the Spirit.

Get in a

community

group,

if you

want to

grow in

the fruit

of the

Spirit,

at least

as a

starting

point.

In the

frontline

course that

I've based

this sermon

series on,

there's this

little video

clip telling

the story of

a Christian

office assistant

who has a

real ogre as

a boss,

and the boss

is bad

tempered,

the boss

is irrational,

makes every

day a

complete nightmare

for this

poor girl.

The office

assistant

regularly prayed

for patience,

strength,

for character,

and also

prayed for

the boss

to change,

that he

wouldn't be

such an

ogre.

He didn't.

He never

changed.

After three

years of

praying for

support and

change,

she ended

up walking

away from

that job

feeling like

she didn't

make a

difference.

The boss

was still

the same.

She didn't

make a

difference.

She walked

away thinking

that she

had failed

in modelling

character,

the Christian

faith,

in her

workplace.

Three weeks

after she

quit,

the person

who replaced

her rang

up and

said to

her,

it's

incredible

that you

lasted for

three years.

I'm thinking

of quitting

after three

weeks.

This

bloke's a

nightmare.

nightmare.

She found

out during

the course

of that

conversation

that she

was known

in the

office as

a person

of great

patience,

integrity,

and courage

in the face

of a difficult

situation.

She walked

away thinking

she'd

fail.

She wasn't

convinced she

was growing

in patience,

in godly

character.

It's great to

hear that

because you

might be in

a similar

situation where

you're at

work or

you're at

home,

you're with

a group of

friends,

you're with

your neighbours,

whatever your

front line is,

and you're

wondering in

fact whether

God is

even at

work,

at all,

at work,

through you.

You may

get to the

end of your

day and

feel that

little has

been done

for the

sake of

the kingdom

of God

and for

God's

glory.

And you

think that

because there's

this battle

raging within

your own

heart,

between the

sinful nature

and the

spirit,

and you

look at your

results and

you think that

nothing's

happening in

the workplace,

nothing's

happening with

my kids.

I just want

to say to

you that it

doesn't mean

that God is

not at

work.

God is at

work in

the redemption

of his

world.

And I want

to say the

fact is God

has been at

work in

you.

If the

fruit of the

spirit is

working in

you at

all,

that fruit

will be on

display.

And you're

probably the

last person

who can see

it.

Because you're

aware of the

battle.

All of this

growth in the

fruit of the

spirit happens

in the frustrations

and the joy

and the

challenges of

just another

ordinary day.

It is no

small thing to

model Christian

character that

is being

counter-culturally

transformed by

the spirit of

God.

And there

will be a

future day

when all

will be made

new and God

calls us to

work towards

that day.

Even if we

don't immediately

see the fruit

of his work

in our lives

or in the

world.

But I

suspect just

like that

young lady

got a

phone call

one day

and if

you never

get that

phone call

but one

day at the

end of time

I suspect

you'll be

astonished by

the way that

God has

used you

for his

glory and

the joy of

many people

just by

living out

the inner

transformation

of our

hearts in

the ordinary

circumstances of

life.

Take courage,

keep working

on the

fruit.