You don’t have to listen to people talk for long before you get the message that character matters. We complain when store clerks are self-absorbed, surly, or indifferent. We become irate when politicians spend tax dollars to buy their re-election rather than to serve the common good. We seek retribution when educators, therapists, or law officers betray their trust and do damage to people. The creators of political attack ads understand that if they can persuade us to mistrust a certain candidate because of flawed character, it is unlikely we will vote for that person.

The Bible repeatedly speaks to the issue of character. The sermon on the mount, for example, offers a blessing on the merciful, the pure in heart, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Micah summarizes some of God’s expectations by declaring the Lord requires that we act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. (See Micah 6:8.)

But there is a place where character does not matter—at least not much. Character does not matter when it is used as a diversion in an argument. The other day I was given a copy of a letter to the editor of a rural paper. The writer was challenging the perspective of a pair of biblical scholars. The letter writer argued that the research of these scholars should be rejected because in his opinion they drank a lot. I don’t know if historical research says much about the drinking habits of these two individuals. But that is beside the point of the argument. The issue is whether their findings are solid or not.

The same kind of criticism shows up in Matthew 11:18-19: “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”‘” The critics of Christ and John the Baptist attempt to find something in their behavior they can magnify in order to challenge their trustworthiness and prevent people from listening to their messages.

When the truth claim is about an objective fact, we must be careful to separate the person from the issue. Otherwise we will find ourselves being persuaded because of something unrelated to the discussion point. Sometimes the character of the person is the issue. Then it’s proper to look at his or her behavior in depth. But we are sometimes quick to confuse the two in an unhelpful way.

Every Christ follower is a flawed representative of a perfect savior. Everyone who advocates for the truth of God as expressed in the Bible will behave in ways that contradict what God expects of his children. That brings confession and repentance into play. The issue is not human perfection, but the veracity of the claims of scripture. The character of a Christ follower can give credence to the Christian message, but it will never do so perfectly. While we pursue noble character, we must be careful not to let it distract us from the issue at hand when discussing truth.