Who He Is

"A man under conviction is no joke, it's who he is." - Harold Doss, brother of Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector (cooperator, according to Desmond) to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.  The current movie Hacksaw Ridge is a retelling of his story and Harold Doss is seen making this quote at the end of the movie.

After watching the movie and doing some further reading about Desmond, then hearing that quote, it became clear to me that there was something in that essence of being we are not passing along.  At least, I don't often see it in fellow Christians.  I know I wish I had it, and I've tried to have it, but mostly failed.

Desmond's brother Harold is referring to the aspect that a person under a Christian moral conviction, presumably from the Holy Spirit, isn't just words.  That conviction is a description of who they are, it is a part of their character.  This is very convicting to me personally.  I find myself asking why isn't the character of God a more dominant part of who I am?  The only answer is I purposely, through foolishness (opposite of wisdom) and confusion, do not allow Him to become such a part.  It is way too easy to find people who are not this way and use that as an comfort to "ride the fence" and not be completely "sold out".  It is so much more difficult to find people who's character is unbreakable and seemingly completely covered by the character of God.

Now, unfortunately I'm not saying we all need to go find pastors and hang out with them so we can garnish some of their character.  Having the professional term "pastor" does not propel someone to this character status.  I'm not against pastors, some I know are the most humble and purest of character.  "Good to the bone" is a phrase that comes to mind as I think of them.  I'm just saying these type of people are not common and some are pastors, some are WWII vets, some are grandparents, some are teachers, etc.  We need to be on the look-out for these type of people so we can associate with them and learn.  Ultimately, maybe we'll start to become similar.

My family needs someone with a character backbone that doesn't know how to be anything but the character of God.  That character needs to be who I am.  It needs to flow through my veins.  Doing what God says, following His Word, should no longer be choices I have to make, but who I am - they shouldn't be options because I shouldn't know how to be anything else.  You don't do what's right because you thought about it and am making some choice for others so you can get glory (although you might present some humble facade so people aren't too obvious to it) for sacrificing your agenda.  You do right because it's who you are and there are no other choices.  There is a difference as wide as the gulf between good and evil between those two people.

I pray that I become "good to the bone" one day and sincerely want nothing less than the absolute best for everyone I meet, even if they don't understand that God's Word is what is best for them.  I pray that the character of God will be "who I am" and it will flow through my life's blood.  Then I hope I can pass this down to my sons and others.  America has no strength without people like this in it.