I remember hearing this often when I was growing up. My Dad, I think, was the first one to tell me this. He wanted me and my brothers and sisters to know that it was important to do the right thing – NOT – because someone was looking, but because it was simply the right thing to do. That’s what character is all about – doing what is right even when no one is watching.

Just yesterday I was thumbing through the Wisconsin State Journal and I began thinking about this whole issue of character. On the front page alone I read about the coal mining executives in West Virginia who thought they could get away with unsafe mining methods because no one was watching; and again about Vatican officials who thought they could get away with covering up scandal because no one was checking; and yet again Goldman Sachs who thought they could get away with bilking their investors of hundreds of millions because no one was regulating the derivatives market. In all of these examples and a few others as well, the issue was really character – what you are, and what you do when no one is looking.

It was all the more surprising then, that when I turned as I always do, to the sports section and I read a story about a man with amazing character. Last Sunday on the final round – or rather the first hole of sudden death – of the Herizon Heritage Golf Tournament, in South Carolina, Brian Davis of England, hit a short pitching wedge from a hazard next to the 18^th green. During his backstroke he ever-so-slightly nicked a reed before he brought the club forward. To the naked eye, it was almost invisible, but Davis had thought he had moved it and so he called the rules official over to look at the tape. Apparently rule 13-4 in The Rules of Golf states that a loose impediment (like a reed) can not be moved during the swing’s take away in a hazard. The super slo-motion replay confirmed that he had indeed just nicked the reed. In effect Brian Davis called a two stroke penalty on himself! Instead of lying three on the green and an almost certain par putt, he was lying five and his opponent Jim Furyk won by two strokes. Not only was I surprised when I read of this self-imposed penalty for something no one had noticed, I was aghast when I read that the difference between 1^st and 2^nd place was $411,000! This would have been Brian Davis’ first PGA Tour win and probably landed him loads of endorsements and yet he still took the penalty. Why? When asked about why he had called the penalty on himself, he replied I could not have lived with myself if I had not. I put the paper aside and thought about my Dad – Character is what you are when no one is looking.

In this month of May when we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, it is right to reflect on this notion of character. Pentecost is the moment when the disciples suddenly stopped worrying about themselves, about what was in it for them, and took to the streets with the character of Jesus Christ – the man for others. Pentecost is that moment of transformation when the disciples of Jesus learned character – to live everyday as Jesus Christ even when no one was looking.

And I suppose that even at 50 years old I’m still learning this lesson of character. I still hear my Dad’s voice in my mind calling me to reach out to others, and to take care of my private life, and to be a faithful spouse and dedicated father NOT because others will think that I’m a nice person and a good pastor, but because these are the right things to do. And further, in this season of Pentecost I am challenged as we all are to be radical disciples of Jesus. We are called to put on the character of Jesus Christ – the man for others. This time of year calls me to get out of myself and stop worrying about how everything will affect me. Pentecost reminds me again that life is not about my ego or my satisfaction or my selfish concerns, rather life is about a radical living for others. Sometimes that will demand a sacrifice. Often that will come as an intrusion on my comfort. Occasionally I will have to do the hard thing and perhaps call a two stroke penalty on myself and give up a sense of victory and advantage. It all comes down to character, the character of Jesus Christ. I still have a lot to learn about character – what you are, and what you do when no one is looking.