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Scripture Reading: Matt. 16:26; Luke 9:25
In this chapter we will fellowship about dealing with our disposition and character. The words disposition and character both have many different denotations in dictionaries and lexicons. We have used these words very much in their spiritual denotations for the last forty to fifty years. In one of the early trainings in Taiwan, we presented thirty points of character that were later published in the book Character. Later, we began to stress the matter of our disposition very much. I have discovered that character is the expression of something inward, that is, the matter of disposition. Outwardly it is character, but inwardly it is disposition. To deal with the character but neglect the disposition is futile.
I have used the words disposition and character in my ministry concerning the spiritual life because I was forced to find terms that would help the saints to understand the soul-life, the self, the “I,” and the old man. The terms natural life and natural have also been used related to the spiritual experiences of dealing with our self. The self is our soulish life, and the soulish life is something natural. In addition to these terms Paul mentions the old man in Romans 6:6. Each of these terms denotes a certain spiritual reality. With human beings there is something called the self, the soul-life. The soul-life is also called the old man. The self, the soul-life, and the old man are all something natural, something of the natural life.
In our fellowship concerning disposition and character, we do not use the definitions and denotations that are commonly used in the many dictionaries and lexicons. Rather, we define these terms according to their spiritual significance. Disposition refers to something within our being, and character refers to something in our outward being. Within we have our disposition, and without we have our character. Disposition is what we are within, and character is what we express without. The inward disposition and the outward character are the extract, the essence, of our being. If our character and disposition were taken away, there would be nothing left to our being.
The terms character and disposition cannot be found in the New Testament, but the facts are implied in verses such as Matthew 16:26 and Luke 9:25. Matthew 16:26 and Luke 9:25 are parallel portions that use self and soul-life as synonyms. Matthew 16:26 says, “What shall a man be profited if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul-life?” Luke 9:25 says, “What is a man profited if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself?” The soul-life in Matthew 16:26 is the self in Luke 9:25. The soul is the life of the self, and the matters of disposition and character are very much related to both the self and the soul.
To illustrate the differences in disposition, we may use different animals, such as a turtle and a rabbit. A turtle walks slowly, and a rabbit runs quickly. Each activity is related to a particular thing within the nature of each animal. This inward thing is what we may call its disposition. The turtle and the rabbit each has its own disposition, its own makeup.
In our Christian experience there is something within us called our disposition. This disposition is what we are in our makeup. Each of us has a particular and unique disposition. Inwardly, in our disposition we are quite different from one another.
Your disposition denotes what you are in your makeup by birth. Whatever you are by birth is your disposition. If you are slow, you were made slow by birth; being slow is your disposition. Likewise, if you are quick, quickness is your disposition. One may be silent or talkative; both are matters of inward disposition. Although our disposition is something made by God, it still needs to be dealt with by God. This seems to be contradictory — something given by God must be dealt with by God. However, this is very much according to the divine revelation, and it is also confirmed by our experience.
Character refers to our outward expression. The Chinese equivalent to the English word character means an outward form that expresses the inner nature. Thus, character is the outward form that expresses our inner being. The disposition is always explicitly expressed in our character. Character is at least a part of the expression of disposition. If you were born slow, slowness is always a part of your outward expression, your character. If you were born humble or proud, humility or pride will be a part of the outward expression, the character, of your person.
Character is composed of about thirty percent nature and of about seventy percent habits. For example, if a child is placed in a Chinese home, he will be cast into a Chinese mold. The same child placed in a family of another nationality will resemble a person of that nationality when he grows up. Our outward character is composed of our nature by birth and our habits by living. To deal with our disposition is to deal with what we are inwardly, but to deal with our character is to deal with what we express outwardly, including what we are inwardly. The intrinsic element of our outward character is our inner nature by birth.
We cannot change our inward nature, but we can change or correct our outward character. A dog cannot be trained to be a cat, but it can be trained to behave like a cat. Many brothers have been trained in the military service. When they first entered the military service, they were not very punctual, but after some training and severe discipline they were adjusted to be punctual. The military service also trained them not to be so talkative and not to be loose in their expression. This kind of training changed their outward character.
Our dealings with sins, sin, the world, and the conscience are superficial dealings, but our dealing with the disposition is the deepest dealing. To deal with sins and sin is relatively easy, but to deal with our disposition and character is very difficult. According to my study of the New Testament, we are charged to make confession of our sins and mistakes (1 John 1:8-9), but there is no charge to confess concerning our disposition or character. Many times our disposition may not be right, but it is difficult to say that it is always sinful. Sometimes we are simply in our disposition and not in anything sinful. However, we must realize that our fallen disposition is close to the edge of the deep well of sin and mistakes. Thus, it is very easy for us to fall into this well.
Dealing with our disposition and character will safeguard us from making mistakes and committing sins. Our mistakes and wrongdoings are closely related to our disposition and character. Because we have a particular kind of disposition, we make mistakes. Similarly, we are prone to make mistakes because we have a certain kind of character.
Question: Is any part of our disposition related to habit?
Answer: Our character is composed thirty percent of our disposition and seventy percent of our habits. Our character is more troublesome than our disposition because our character is composed of our disposition plus our habits. To deal only with our habits is not sufficient because our habits are only the outward expression of our character. In the Gospels, from the time the Lord first called Peter, the Lord took every opportunity to deal with Peter’s character and disposition.
Question: When I use the term deal with, I mean that something is exposed, eliminated, changed, or replaced. Is this what is meant by dealing with our disposition and character?
Answer: To deal with something has a number of meanings in English usage. It can mean to take care of, to punish, to correct, as well as to get rid of. Since our disposition and character cause problems in our Christian life, we have to deal with, take care of, or correct them, and even put them to death. Here the term deal with has both a positive and a negative side.
Question: What is a practical example of dealing with our disposition?
Answer: In the New Testament disposition and character are implied in such terms as self, soul-life, and the old man, and also the I in Galatians 2:20. These things are all related to the natural life. However, these terms are too general, and their particular meaning and denotation have been lost. But to say that we must deal with our disposition and character is very particular. Actually, to deal with our disposition means to deal with our self, our old man, our soul-life, and the “I.”
Question: Is transformation the addition of God’s element to our God-given disposition?
Answer: In describing our relationship with the Lord, many different kinds of terminology have been used. The terminology may be different, but the fact is the same. However, some terminology is not very accurate and can be very misleading. Some have said that we as Christians live an exchanged life. This terminology is absolutely wrong. It is better to say that we live a grafted life. To live an exchanged life can be illustrated by exchanging a watch for a set of eyeglasses. The watch and the eyeglasses are two different things. But to live a grafted life means that two lives have been grafted, even mingled, together. They have been grafted, but both lives continue to exist. On one hand, we are finished, but on the other hand, we still live, as what is unveiled in Galatians 2:20. We are finished in the death of Christ, and we live in the resurrection of Christ. Thus, even in eternity we will continue to live with the divine element added to, grafted to, and mingled with our being. This does not change our nature or characteristic. Our nature and characteristic will remain forever, with something new and living added.
Before we received Christ, we were just ourselves with our nature and characteristic. After we received Christ, we were still ourselves but with something living and new added. This new and living element did not eliminate our nature. Our being still remains. In eternity we will see and recognize all the brothers and sisters, but they will be much newer and much more living. In the past, before we received Christ, we lived by ourselves, but now we live by Christ who lives in us (v. 20), not in an old way but in an entirely new way.
Transformation deals mainly with our disposition, and renewal deals mainly with our character. Both transformation and renewal simply mean to deal with our disposition and character. A transformed person will not remain in his old disposition, and a renewed person will not remain in his old character or expression.
Question: Is dealing with our disposition and character different from being changed by the divine dispensing?
Answer: The divine dispensing always works to transform us, not only to correct or change us. To change is just to change yourself by your own effort. To transform indicates something divine, something of the Lord, that you do not have by your habits or birth. By the divine dispensing, a divine element is dispensed into you. This element works in you to transform you. If your countenance is pale, through eating, the element of the food will transform your pale color into a healthy color. This healthy color is a transformed color. Without the divine element dispensed into you, you could have only a change but not transformation.
In order for us to experience this transformation, there is the need of the breaking of our disposition and character because our disposition and character are the greatest obstacles to God’s dispensing of Himself into us and to His transforming and renewing work on us.
