Sometimes our charisma can take us places that our character can’t keep us.
Dwayne Pickett
At a recent men’s conference I heard the keynote speaker and friend Dwayne Pickett make a statement that knocked me out of my chair. His booming southern preacher’s voice hit like a left hook, “Sometimes our charisma can take us places that our character can’t keep us.”
I’m not sure what he said after that. I was preoccupied with picking myself up off the floor.
His statement took me to five years earlier when another speaker posed a question that carried just as much punch, “What if God really does answer all your prayers (for ministry)?”
The truth is too humiliating to admit.
It would ruin me.
I’m not equipped to handle the truth of a nationally acclaimed ministry. Are you? My character would collapse under the pride of notoriety. I hate to admit it but it’s true. Let me explain.
I regularly pray what I call my Duck Dynasty Prayer. I learned duck calling in the mid-nineties from a video called The Art of Commanding Ducks by none other than Duck Commander’s founder Phil Robertson. In that and other videos he and his backwoods-long-bearded-rednecks from Monroe, Louisiana would call and kill any ducks in their proximity. If any made it to the blind still alive Phil regularly crushed their skulls with his teeth! But today he’s the Robertson family patriarch and witness for Jesus Christ across America!
So I pray regularly that God, like Duck Commander, would make The Great Hunt for God a household name in America for Him. Dwayne’s comment inspired me to get ahead of the learning curve so when the day comes I will be humble, holy, and honestly ready. Someone once said, “Success is for a man to be ready for his time when it comes.”
So I’m keeping my fists up and preparing for the fight of a lifetime. Are you? Is your character ready? Or, do you have a few character flaws that need attention?
How do you treat your wife? How engaged are you with your family? How faithful are you in serving others? How do your words reflect your heart? How does your internet history reflect your hatred of sin? How does your checkbook reflect your stewardship of God’s wealth?
Prepare your character for the day when God puts you on display as a witness for Him!
