by Elder Peter Lim
Would you like to know what your reputation is? Are you sure? Do you even care? For some of us, this is one of those questions that we want to know the answer to only if the answer is favorable. But some of us actually don’t care what other people think of us. This can be good and/or bad. On one hand, we should do what pleases God despite what people may think of us. On the other hand, we should care about what others think of us as it may have an impact on how we reflect God’s influence in our lives. After all, don’t we want people to think highly of Christians so that they would want to be Christians too? Problems potentially arise when those two values come into conflict with each other. But no matter what your initial response to my question is, what are the biblical principles that apply? Let’s look at some key passages.
1 Timothy 3:7
And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
In this qualification for Elders, Paul emphasizes that a man who seeks to be a leader of the church needs to have a good reputation even among non-Christians. Why is the opinion of an unsaved person so important? Because a leader needs to be a man of proven character who is living an exemplary life as a Christian in the midst of non-Christians among whom we appear as lights in the world. Acts 6:3 also points out that we are to select men of good reputation to put in charge of tasks such as serving tables. Of course non-Christians won’t always agree with us what a good reputation looks like. They may accuse Christians of having a bad reputation because we don’t support their sinful causes or beliefs. When we hear from non-Christians that a Christian has a bad reputation, we need to find out more details why they think of someone that way. It very well may be the case that what they consider to be a bad reputation is actually good reputation from a Christian perspective. However, as Proverbs 3:4 says, even a non-Christian raised in a Judeo-Christian-influenced country such as the U.S. can generally exercise good judgment in identifying someone with a good reputation.
Proverbs 22:1
A goodname is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold.
Having a “good name” or good reputation is very valuable. Wealth has only a limited value which is temporary at best. Having a good reputation is associated with a life which is in tune with God. It’s valuable not because our good reputation benefits ourselves in some way, but because it reflects on God who lives in us and empowers us to do anything good in the first place. It gives us opportunities to share Christ with those who are attracted to our lives of good repute.
A good reputation is difficult to gain because it takes time and consistency in one’s behavior. However, a bad reputation is easy to earn because all it takes is just a single incident to develop. As Christians who understand that our righteousness is not our own but imputed to us, and that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do good works, we have nothing to boast of other than Christ’s work in our lives. Scripture is clear that our reputation matters to God and men. We must care about what others think of us. The irony is that we are not to do good works in order to be seen by men, but we are to do them knowing that the world is watching us. The difference is subtle but important. It has to do with our motives which reflects a heart that seeks to worship God instead of man. Therefore, let us continue to do the good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Eph. 2:10)