Many people who have been in church for a while, find themselves wanting to escape from any Christian expression which is shallow, limited to the surface or fake.  This is a desire for authenticity.  We believe that a crucial outworking of this sense is the development of Christian character.  Now we need to be clear that what we mean by 'character' is not the same as 'personality'.  Character takes place within a moral framework overseen by God, whereas personality is a level playing field, even though both are to do with the self and our relationship to others in society.  Character can be good or bad, whereas personality is introvert or extrovert, without moral judgment.

The church and Western society in general have moved quickly from speaking in terms of character, to understanding the self in terms of personality, and they are poorer for it.  The words and virtues associated with gentleness and valour, were all sustained by a belief in a higher moral law, whereas the adjectives one would use to describe personality would include fascinating, stunning, attractive, magnetic, glowing, masterful, creative, forceful. David Wells writes: