Does blowing up reveal the real you? What's your plan?

Recently I learned that one of the most prominent leaders in an important segment of Christian life “blew up,” became uncontrollably angry, when someone questioned him about the quality of his work. This was embarrassing, but it is accepted (if not acceptable) behavior; in this case, the one who was questioning him was chastised. 

That is a familiar pattern in both Christian and non-Christian power structures. What are we to say about the spiritual formation of that leader? The same questions arise with reference to lay figures in areas of life such a politics, business, entertainment, or education who show the same failures of character while openly identifying themselves as Christians. 

It is unpleasant to dwell on such cases, but they must be squarely faced. The sad thing when any individual “fails” is not just what he does but also his heart and inner life that are revealed when he does it. We find out who he has been all along, what his inner life has been like, and no doubt also how he has suffered during the years before he was found out. 

What kind of person has he been on the inside, and what has been his relation to God? The effort to change our behavior without inner transformation is precisely what we see in the current shallowness of Western Christianity. 

If we, through well-directed and unrelenting action, effectually receive the grace of God in salvation and transformation, we certainly will be incrementally changed toward inward Christlikeness. The transformation of the outer life, especially of our behavior, will follow suit. Jesus said that “no good tree produces bad fruit.” Luke 6:43 

If we are to be spiritually formed in Christ, we must understand and implement the general pattern that all effective efforts toward personal transformation must follow: appropriate vision, intention, and means. If this V I M pattern is not put in place properly and held there, Christ simply will not be formed in us.