In Learning Character: How Not to Raise a Barbarian, Chuck Colson reiterates the point that humans are born sinners, and says that it is utopians, not realists, who believe that man can be radically improved by the right “unconstrained” vision or government. Or “enlightenment,” I would say, unless it’s the enlightenment provided by the Holy Spirit via the Word of God. Paraphrasing Aristotle, who said that character can only be learned, not taught, Colson claims that character is “best learned in the communities of the family and the Church, where children can see and experience virtue.”
I thoroughly support this claim. But it is missing one crucial element: character is best learned in communities of the family and the church where people are walking in the Spirit, without which even virtue falls short.
Colson’s article ends thus:
There are so many dysfunctional families today that our church communities have to act as the family writ large—where virtue and Christian character can be touched, tasted, and learned.
To this, I can’t shout “AMEN!” loud enough. I am convinced that it is only through modeling and agape' love – undeserved love, as demonstrated by Christians and the church, that those whose innately sinful character was undeservedly damaged by their family of origin can learn what the gospel truly means. There may be exceptions. There may be some who can find their way anyway, or whom God can find without the loving examples of others. But, given our humanity and our human needs, I wonder.
(Do you know of any? Please tell me in the comments.)
Even those who do have strong, spiritually healthy families need the church community to be the larger reinforcer of all that it means to follow Christ. We need all the different members to make the Body complete and to provide for one another, spiritually and materially.
