
The most essential part of any building is the foundation. Nothing can be built without it, and if it’s weak, the structure will eventually collapse. The same is true for the man of God. Unless there is a foundational commitment, or quality, to the man, whatever is built in his life is constructed upon a foundation of sand (Matthew 7:26-27).
The simple solution is to say, “Build your life on Christ.” There is nothing wrong with that answer; it’s biblical. But this, in many ways, is a broad statement that takes quite a bit of work to get sharpened into a pointed and practical tool for the modern man. Christ must be the focus, or animating center, of our entire lives, but what specific character trait should undergird all the others? It is a simple word: Blamelessness.
Some of you will come after me and say, “It’s not up to you to make yourself blameless, that’s Jesus’ job!” My response is simply that righteous and blameless are two different things. Righteousness is a forensic declaration of right standing that is bestowed upon everyone who has believed in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confessed with their mouth that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9). Blamelessness, in the original language of the Bible, refers to the clean and transparent way a person who has been declared righteous now lives. What this means is that when attacks from the world come, or when the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10) comes against you, or when your own flesh rears its ugly head and tries to call your identity in Christ into question, you have lived in such a godly and pure way that none of that can stick to you. It isn’t the absence of accusation and attack; it is the absence of the proverbial skeleton in the closet.
This is so critical for the man of God. You can climb the corporate ladder, build a nonprofit, give away your money to charity, or build a successful business, but if all of that is constructed upon a foundation of hidden sin, shame, and deceit, then what you are building is futile. You will be robbed of the joy of knowing that your labors are a blessing for the next generation, and you will be unable to walk in the fullness of what God has for you in this life due to the hidden one. The only way to live a life full of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), a life that blesses your wife and builds up your children, is to walk in the light of a blameless and holy life.
To do this, you must do a few things.
Number one, you must realize that God is omnipresent. All that means is that God is in all places, at all times. When you wake up to this simple but often neglected truth, you will live with an awareness that enables you to allow the light of your heavenly Father into every dark corner of your life, from the sinful thoughts that creep into your mind to the opportunity to steal on a tax return. Living with an awareness of God’s loving presence is a powerful antidote to collecting and cherishing hidden sin.
Number two, you must be quick to confess your sin. Keeping a short account of sin not only with God but with the people around us is an invaluable tool in our arsenal to keep sin from growing up and killing both us and those around us. Confess and kill it while it’s a cub; it will be much harder to kill when it’s a full-grown lion.
Finally, get yourself into a community. I don’t mean simply going to church, but that is necessary. I mean that you need to involve yourself personally and intimately with a group of people with whom you can be transparent about your struggles and failures. Sin is often committed in secret, but it is always overcome in community and with accountability.
As I said at the start, this is foundational to the life of a man of God. Much of the other virtues listed in the book can be faked or manufactured; a blameless life cannot. I heard a theologian say once, “What a man is in secret on his knees before God, he is that and no more.”
Christian man, “…walk in the light as He is in the light, [and you will] have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son [will cleanse you] from all sin” (1 John 1:7).