MacArthur - The Pillars of Christian Character: the Basic Essentials of a Living Faith

THE PILLARS
of
CHRISTIAN
CHARACTER

The Pillars of Christian Character

Copyright 1998 by John F. MacArthur.

Published by Crossway Books
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Cindy Kiple

First printing, 1998

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations in this book are taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation and are used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible: New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

The NIV and New International Version trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from The New King James Version, copyright 1984 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
MacArthur, John, 1939
The pillars of Christian character / John F. MacArthur
p. cm.
Includes indexes.
ISBN 13: 978-0-89107-950-7 (tpb : alk. paper)
ISBN 10: 0-89107-950-5
1. Virtues. 2. Character. 3. Christian Life. I. Title.
BV4630.M25 1998
179'.9dc21 98-16146
CIP

VP 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7

CONTENTS

If you ever visit London, youll have no trouble spotting St. Pauls Cathedral. Its considered to be among the ten most beautiful buildings in the world, and it dominates the citys skyline. The venerable structure stands as a monument to its creatorastronomer and architect Sir Christopher Wren. While St. Pauls is his best-known achievement, an interesting story is connected with a lesser-known building of his design.

Wren was given charge of designing the interior of the town hall in Windsor, just west of central London. His plans called for large columns to support the high ceiling. When construction was complete, the city fathers toured the building and expressed concern over one problem: the pillars. It wasnt that they minded the use of pillarsthey just wanted more of them.

Wrens solution was as devilish as it was inspired. He did exactly as he was told and installed four new pillars, thus meeting the demands of his critics. Those extra pillars remain in the Windsor town hall to this day, and they arent difficult to identify. They are the ones that support no weight and, in fact, never even reach the ceiling. Theyre fakes. Wren installed the pillars to serve only one pur- poseto look good. They are ornamental embellishments built to satisfy the eye. In terms of supporting the building and fortifying the structure, they are as useful as the paintings that hang on the walls.

While it saddens me to say this, I believe many churches have constructed a few decorative pillars of their own, especially in the lives of their people. In an effort to renew the church and make it work better, many leaders have implemented attractive styles of worship and teaching, along with innovative organizational formats designed to attract more people to the church. Substance has been replaced by shadow. Content is outstyle is in. Meaning is outmethod is in. The church may look right, but it bears little weight.

That trend is perhaps most evident in an area especially close to my heartthe teaching of Gods Word. Too many churches today have forgotten that their main purpose is a simple one. As the church of the living God, they are to be the pillar and support of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). Instead, they have built a faade that offers no support, bears little weight, and falls far short of reaching the heights God designed for the church and wants it to reach.

What results is the existence of phony, decorative pillars in the lives of the people, which ultimately delude them into a false sense of their salvation and spiritual maturity. They never come to grips with the real issuethe need to transform their old, sinful heart attitudes into new, scriptural ones. In nearly thirty years of ministry at Grace Community Church I have learned that if the spiritual attitudes of the people are rightas a result of careful, long-term, biblical teachingthe churchs organizational structure, form, and style become far less important.

A healthy life for the church comes only from the proper spiritual attitudes of its members (cf. Deut. 30:6; Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:32-34; Heb. 10:22). The apostle Pauls earnest desire, for which he labored and prayed so diligently, was that Jesus Christ be fully formed in the lives of those he ministered to: I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you (Gal. 4:19). He expanded that concept when he encouraged the Colossians to let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God (3:16). Its the believers inner person that God wants to work on. Therefore, transformed lives should be the goal of all pastors and church leaders. Every ministry and worship activity they lead ought to motivate their people to think biblically.

It is my desire that this book would awaken you and encourage your heart toward the key spiritual attitudes that will motivate and transform your life from the inside out. With that in mind we will discuss thirteen fundamental attitudes, or pillars if you will, of Christian character that Scripture teaches all genuine followers of Christ must possess and be continually developing. It is not an exhaustive list, but each attitude is essential for mature Christian behavior.

The first five chapters define, explain, and illustrate the basic Christian pillars of faith, obedience, humility, love, and unity. Chapter 6 is a reminder that spiritual growth is a command, not an option. Chapters 79 will encourage you to display the attitudes of forgiveness, joy, and thankfulness at all times, even when circumstances make it difficult to do so. Chapter 10 is a discussion of spiritual strength, focusing on the pictures of a strong Christian in 2 Timothy 2. In chapter 11, well consider some principles of self-discipline and practical ways to apply them. Chapter 12 views the nature of true worship, centering on Jesus teaching to the Samaritan woman in John 4. Finally, in chapter 13 well make a careful study of the attitude of Christian hope and will see that it is a wonderful source of optimism and reassurance.

Without question the crucial issue in living the Christian life is the condition of your heart. Are you understanding and applying the fundamental pillars of Christian character that Gods Word so clearly outlines? The apostle Paul writes this excellent summary of how a godly attitude applies to everyday living: Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in