2 Samuel 2:30
“And Joab returned from following Abner: and when he had
gathered all the people together, there lacked of David's servants
nineteen men and Asahel.”
When Saul died, there broke out a fierce battle between the men who
followed Saul and the men who followed David. The battle was over which
family was going to take the throne of Israel. The people knew that
David was anointed king, but there were loyalists to Saul who were not
going to let this happen. The result was that many people lost their
lives, and the testimony of God’s people was harmed to the surrounding
countries.
This problem is an every generation problem. People tend to focus
on a man and follow him, and the result is that needless battles are
fought and innocent people are hurt. The Christian is to stay focused on
Jesus Christ. Personalities come and go, but Christ lives forever. I
find that there are four dangers of personality-driven Christianity.
First, it leads people to live a faithless life. Following man is sight driven and not faith driven. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”
The Christian will never please God until they walk by faith. When you
allow yourself to be driven by personality, that personality dictates
what you do. You must understand that a personality cannot answer
prayer. The need to stay focused on Christ is imperative to the
Christian’s existence.
Second, it always leads to hurt. When you look at this story, you
see several people lost their lives because they were fighting over
personalities. Though Christians may not go to actual battle, the fight
over personalities always leads to hurt. They will be hurt when they
discover the personality’s weaknesses, and they will be hurt by the evil
attacks of other Christians. Let us always remember that no personality
should ever be the issue; the issue is Jesus Christ.
Third, it hurts the cause of truth. These men were not fighting
over truth; they were fighting over personalities. We are commanded in
Jude 1:3 to “earnestly contend for the faith…” We are not
commanded to contend for personalities, but for the faith. My friend,
truth always suffers when we fight over personalities and make them our
primary focus. You must be careful that you don't let your admiration
for a personality to get you focused on them instead of truth.
Personality-driven Christianity will do anything, including hurting
others, just to stay close to the personality; don't let that be your
drive.
Fourth, it keeps souls from being saved. All the energy you use to
fight over a personality is wasted time that could be used to reach lost
souls for Christ. Imagine how many more souls could be saved if we used
the same passion and energy of fighting for personalities to try to win
souls. One of the greatest reasons we must not be personality driven is
because souls hang in the balance, and their eternal destiny cannot be
settled for Heaven when they never hear the Gospel because of
personality-driven battles.
If you stay focused on faith, you will never become a
personality-driven Christian. Be careful not to get in battles over
personalities and realize your focus should be on the faith. Keeping
your focus on the faith and reaching lost souls will keep you from these
dangers of personality-driven Christianity.