Character Under Construction!
A number of years ago the Douglas Aircraft company was competing with Boeing, to sell Eastern Airlines its first big jets.
War hero Eddie Rickenbacker, the head of Eastern Airlines, reportedly told Donald Douglas that the specifications and claims made by Douglas’s company for the DC-8, were close to Boeing’s on everything except noise suppression.
Rickenbacker then gave Douglas one last chance, to out-promise Boeing on this feature.
After consulting with his engineers, Douglas reported that he didn’t feel he could make that promise.
Rickenbacker replied, “I know you can’t, I just wanted to see if you were still honest.”
It seems somewhat unusual that the biblical account of a mighty general like Joshua, makes no mention of his size or strength or appearance.
In an age where brawn counted for a lot, Joshua’s physical features seemed irrelevant.
In God’s Kingdom, such things don’t matter; character does!
People can only do so much to improve their physical and mental abilities, but the potential for character growth is limitless.
When God has an important task, He usually bypasses the most “obvious” candidates.
He chose a poor, unknown teenaged girl to bear the Messiah.
He chose a simple shepherd to be Israel’s greatest king.
He called on an outspoken, impulsive fisherman to become an apostle.
The common denominator among all those God used mightily is character!
That is not to say that each of them had “arrived” and attained perfection.
But they were willing for God to shape them, and stretch them, into the people He wanted for His assignments.
That potential lay deep within, so deep that sometimes only God could see it!
Joshua’s case is somewhat unusual for a leader who is mentioned so often in the Bible.
Invariably, a spiritual leader, no matter how famous, will eventually reveal a character flaw.
But Joshua doesn’t!
This doesn’t mean that he is sinless, but that he had no character weakness significant enough for Scripture to mention.
Noah was the only righteous man on earth in his day, but he still became drunk with wine.
Abraham was a man of faith, but he was also a liar.
Moses struggled with anger.
King Saul was jealous.
King David was an adulterer.
Histories most celebrated leaders, have been plagued by every sin imaginable.
One of our problems as human beings, is that we tend to place more value on charisma than character.
We tend to select people that look the part.
We put people in leadership positions, because of their attractive appearance, or prominent position, or financial status, rather than because of their close walk with God.
We tend to forget, that it’s not the godly people who clamor for positions and recognition.
As a result, they are often bypassed, while people of lesser integrity assume roles that don’t suit their character.
Was Joshua perfect when God chose him?
Of course not!
But he was willing for God to strengthen him, and to work into him, the godly qualities necessary for the enormous assignment of leading a nation.
1. Character - Forged by Crisis!
Winston Churchill once observed: “It is said that famous men are usually the product of an unhappy childhood.”
One might assume Joshua’s greatness came, nor just from the hardship of his early life, but also from the challenges of a difficult adulthood.
He was born into slavery.
It would seem he lost his parents at a relatively early age.
He spent forty years in the wilderness because his people lacked faith.
He watched his spiritual leaders and heroes die one by one, until only Caleb was left.
Even in experiencing success as a general, he was immersed in constant warfare and bloodshed.
A strong character never happens overnight.
It involves more than simply gaining knowledge of God’s Word.
It takes living out the truth of God’s Word in real-life situations.
Many of the character traits that run deepest are those that are driven in the hardest.
Hard times imprint themselves into a person’s character.
Trials either leave a scar of bitterness and cynicism, or they forge strength, humility, and compassion.
The difference is completely dependent on how people respond to the situation, and more importantly, how they respond to God in the midst of those circumstances.
It was James who wrote: 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Joshua approached the challenging moments of his life, with great faith and humble dependence on God.
He knew God’s presence would be with Him.
That God would give him all that he needed, to deal with whatever he faced.
For Joshua, a crisis was only an opportunity to learn to trust God more, and for God to pour out His blessings on his life.
2. Character - Keeping Your Word!
Joshua was a man of his word.
There was always a perfect match between his words and his actions.
When he sent two spies to check out Jericho, the local authorities attempted to arrest them.
Only the intervention of Rahab, the harlot, saved their lives.
In response to her kindness, the two spies promised to spare her, and any of her family members, who gathered in her home during the upcoming attack.
On the day of the assault, Joshua saw to it that this promise was honored.
When Joshua and the elders promised to enter a peace treaty with the Gibeonites, they didn’t know they were being tricked.
After the Israelites discovered the deception, their first impulse was to immediately destroy their clever enemy.
But Joshua and the elders believed, they would be accountable to God for not keeping their promise, so instead of destroying them, they allowed them to live among them and serve them.
Such fidelity to one’s word is truly remarkable.
Joshua’s adherence to his word, brought him great respect.
When Joshua had Achan put to death for disobeying God, he vowed to do the same to the next person caught violating God’s commands.
Everyone knew he meant it.
To know what Joshua said, was to know what he would do.
Leader’s words are their currency, but those words are worthless, unless they are backed by action!
Early in his presidency, Richard Nixon made a statement after a rough landing in Air Force One.
He declared: “That’s it! No more landing at airports!”
In moments of frustration, the president would shout. “I want everyone fired, I mean it this time.”
When people repeatedly make such rash statements, they cease to be taken seriously.
Joshua was a real character, that is, a man of his word.
3. Character - Keeping Your Head!
Certainly, no Israelite was more highly respected in his day than Joshua.
Scripture indicates, Joshua 4:14 That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.
Joshua 6:27 So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.
Surely, such honor from God, and respect by the people, would cause Joshua’s head to swell.
Yet, despite reaching the ultimate pinnacle of military and political power, Joshua never allowed that to happen.
Joshua was always meticulous in giving God the credit for his success.
He always pointed to God’s presence as the key to his success:
Joshua 3:5 Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."
Joshua 4:23 For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.
Joshua 23:3 You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the LORD your God who fought for you.
Joshua 24:17 It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled.
Joshua could have easily assumed, that he was at least partially responsible, for his leadership and military successes.
But he didn’t!
He understood that God gave to him, every skill and strategy, he brought to the nation and to the battlefield.
Because he understood, that God was the author of his very life.
He knew that he was always just one stray arrow, or one sudden sword thrust, away from abruptly ending his brilliant leadership career.
Julius Caesar could not be defeated on the battlefield, but he miscalculated his good friend Brutus and Brutus’s 21 fellow assassins.
Alexander the Great conquered the known world but fell victim to disease in the prime of his life.
Napoleon was the most famous emperor of his age, but he was one Waterloo away from exile and ruin.
God does not receive glory by making our plans succeed, but by accomplishing His will.
Joshua understood this.
From the very outset of his career until his retirement speech, he always gave all the glory to God for his success.
In his mind, it was God’s success.
Some people feared that once elected president, George Washington would rule for life, as a quasi-king.
John Adams once commented on Washington’s enormous influence: “If he were not really one of the best intentioned men in the world, he might be a very dangerous one.”
Yet, after two terms in office, Washington retired and allowed the fledgling democratic process to reach maturity under the next generation of leaders.
Joseph Ellis commented that Washington “became the supreme example of the leader who could be trusted with power, because he was so ready to give it up.”
Washington understood, that he had been entrusted with a great responsibility, but that it was a stewardship, not a right.
Joshua did not need a prestigious job to feel significant.
He did not derive his self-worth from the attention and praise of others.
He did not nurse feelings of entitlement as a result of his labors.
His relationship with God, gave him more than enough reason to feel satisfied.
Joshua was surrounded by success and power.
Kings paid homage to him.
Yet, Joshua kept his feet on the ground, and never allowed his success to go to his head.
When Joshua was dividing the promised land among the tribes and families of Israel, he had everyone else receive their inheritance before he was finally given his own plot.
No one had worked harder or played a more decisive role in the Israelites’ success than Joshua.
But he was the last to benefit personally from his own victories, and he received no more than anyone else.
4. Character: Accountable to God!
At the close of his life, Joshua urged the Israelites to “hold fast to the Lord.”
Joshua had spent a lifetime choosing God’s way.
Sometimes it meant risking his reputation.
Imagine announcing your plan for taking down the walls of Jericho.
Joshua challenged the people to choose for themselves who they would serve.
Then he declared his own allegiance, and his words have become a mantra for believers ever since, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15
Every person has the same option.
It makes no difference;
whether one has been raised in a Christian environment or in an atheist household, whether a person is highly educated or illiterate,
wealthy or destitute;
choosing to obey God is a conscious decision, every person has to make.
Joshua clarified why he was so careful to obey God: “He is a holy God. He is a jealous God...If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.” Joshua 24:19-20
Joshua knew that he could not serve a holy God, with an unholy life.
It wasn’t a question of feelings or rights or preferences.
It was a matter of reverence.
Out of his awe for God, grew a keen sense of accountability.
At the root of Joshua’s faithfulness, was a healthy fear of the Lord.
He exhorted his people: “Fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth.” Joshua 24:14
This truth terrified the apostle Paul.
He knew full well the “terror of the Lord.”
He was constantly aware that serving God was serous business: 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 2 Corinthians 5:9-11
Tragically, many Christians today have no sense of reverence for God.
Today’s Christian culture has so emphasized God’s unmerited love, that they have failed to share the reality of God’s holiness and judgement.
It’s impossible to fear God and yet to tolerate sin in your life.
Sin takes on an entirely different look, when you are keenly aware that one day you will have to give an account for it to God.
It’s a costly mistake for people to assume, that God is too distant to know what they are doing.
Or too far removed in majesty, to care about their loyalty or affections.
Joshua understood that God coveted his allegiance.
God would not look the other way if Joshua betrayed Him.
There are no shortcuts to success with God.
Because God is seeking to do far more through your life, than you could imagine.
He is constantly stretching you, and molding you, and fashioning your character, to be like Christ’s.
The deeper you walk with God, the more Christlike your character will be.
Wholly submitting yourself to God’s will, is the surest way to have a life God is pleased to use for His purposes.