Christian Character: Tact or Indiscretion

I Corinthians 9:19-22 "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some."

Paul used tact. Tact means a sensitive mental perception. Tact is redemptive in its power because it is like Christ.

In John chapter 4 we see the account of the Samaritan woman at the well. He was sensitive to her need and approached the situation with tact letting her know what her need was.

When God saved us He changed us. He created a new creature in us. We need tact about us when we go out and represent Him in the world. Our character is stuck with us like glue. While we are representing Christ we are also representing our church. A person with no tact will not be successful in winning others to Christ nor will they be successful in getting people to visit their church. Once a person blows their character (or testimony of it) it is hard to build it back up.

We should not take our character lightly. We represent Christ. We will either help to build our character or we will help to destroy it. A person with good Christian character is more effective in their witness to others.

There is a change of attitude...Character is associated with a name. We need to get some tact. We are building our character our whole life. God changes our attitude. He is the only One Who can. People of good character also run together and people of bad character run together. We tend to want to be around people who are like us. Our crowd we hang with says alot.

There is a change in appraisal...We need to put greater value on spiritual things. We need a high appraisal for the grace of God and what it can do.

There is a change of ambition...We'll have an ambition to serve God.

Romans 12:17-19 "Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." The Scriptures remind us we are not to be offended easily. We should know that we don't need to fight our battles. God will fight them for us. Verses 20 & 21 tell us what we should do. "Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." We should let God work on them and keep our mouth shut. We need to be an over comer on the side of good. If someone does us bad then we should respond with good.

We also need to respect sinners. Its them we're trying to reach. We need to use tact because they have feelings. They have faults but it is not up to us to point those out. We need to let the Holy Spirit point them out to the person. We need to show courtesy. We also need to show concern and compassion.

Proverbs 11:22 "As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman with is without discretion." Tact is managing the feelings of a person in a correct manner. Indiscretion will defeat tact. To have no discretion is to be unwise.

These notes were taken from a message preached by Bro. Garland Odom on Friday morning June 29, 2007 at Faith Baptist Camp.