Ever notice how worried some Christians are about their reputation? I got an e-mail from a friend today and she was very concerned about what the gas-station attendant, who knows my friend is a Sunday-School teacher, was thinking as she watched my friend get pulled-over by the local police.
That got me thinking, what is 'reputation' in the Bible? Is it a matter of how we appear to other people?
Consider these verses from the Bible:
Matt 11:16-19 "How shall I describe this generation? These people are like a group of children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, 'We played wedding songs, and you weren't happy, so we played funeral songs, but you weren't sad.' For John the Baptist didn't drink wine and he often fasted, and you say, 'He's demon possessed.' And I, the Son of Man, feast and drink, and you say, 'He's a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of the worst sort of sinners!' But wisdom is shown to be right by what results from it." (NLT)
John 10:20 Some of them said, [of Jesus] "He has a demon, or he's crazy. Why listen to a man like that?" (NLT)
It seems, from these verses, that Jesus himself didn't live up to the expectations of the people when it came to His reputation... yet Jesus was without sin!
The Apostle Paul, who wrote two-thirds of the New Testament, was repeatedly jailed and occasionally had rocks thrown at him until he was left for dead.
In the Old Testament, King David was called a man after God's own heart... but he danced around in his Fruit of the Looms in down-town Jerusalem!
Isaiah the Prophet walked around for three years NAKED in public!!!
No... I doubt that our reputation as Christians can be based on appearances, too much of the Bible shows that outward appearances mean nothing to God.
So what does?
It's not OUR righteousness... it's GOD'S righteousness!
Phil 3:9 ...and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness , which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; (NKJV)
Eph 5:8-9 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness , and truth), (NKJV)
2 Cor 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (NKJV)
So reputation comes from being in obedient relationship with God! Not from whether someone sees me screwing up... but from whether God and others see me getting back up and making it right!
There will always be people around us who are looking for something wrong. The likelihood is... they'll find it! They'll decide that we're too friendly with sinners, or that we can't possibly be obeying God's voice because what we're doing doesn't make any sense.
Let them think that... it doesn't matter. What matters is what GOD thinks. I'll end this with these verses:
Matt 7:14-27
The Tree and Its Fruit
15 "Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart. 16 You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You don't pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles. 17 A healthy tree produces good fruit, and an unhealthy tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. 19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 20 Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit that is produced.
True Disciples
21 "Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as 'Lord,' but they still won't enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. 22 On judgment day many will tell me, 'Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.' 23 But I will reply, 'I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.'
Building on a Solid Foundation
24 "Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse, because it is built on rock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will fall with a mighty crash."
(NLT)
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