Character

The past couple days in class, we talked about character. So here is my little intake. Character is one of those words that people use to describe other people. “She has character” or “He’s quite a character.” So it depends on the context. I’ve never really had to write something about character, so bare with me. Character can be defined as someone who has moral or ethical quality. Honorable, or even a good reputation. When I look at this word, I can think of some pretty awesome people that have crossed my path who have great character. They are people who really stick out as a follower of Christ to me and won’t compromise their faith for anything. Character can also be tested as well, especially in the ministry. That I why, in my opinion, churches are one of the most difficult places to work, because it is the place where a lot peoples’ true character comes out. I believe that this past weekend showed the character of a lot of people. During the week of fire fall, students were encouraged to do an outreach at the freedom center. The freedom center is located in one of the more poor, urban areas in Lakeland. It’s kind of rough area. A lot people who I talked to about it had this judgmental attitude towards that area and people who lived there. Last year about 300 students came out to serve the community after Fire Fall. The theme for last years fire fall was “be the answer.” Obviously, it was all about being the answer to a broken world, or in Southeastern’s case, a broken community. So with all the hype about serving, a bunch kids came out to the outreach the following Saturday after fire fall. This year, we prepared for over 200 students to show up at the freedom center. We ended up getting about 60 students. Some may think that 60 students is not a successful mission. But I had never seen such servant hearts and humble attitudes in a long time. To me, the test of true character is if you’re willing to do not the cool thing, not the popular thing, but the right thing.