Character or Reputation?

I was combing through some old files the other day and ran across this, I don’t remember where I got it or who wrote it, but it struck me as something that in this day and age we need to be reminded of…

Do You Have Character or a Reputation?

Reputation is seeming; character is being.

Reputation is manufactured; character is grown.

Reputation is your photograph; Character is your face.

Reputation is what men say you are;

character is what God knows you are.

Reputation is what you need to get a job;

character is what you need to keep it.

Reputation is what comes over you from without;

character is what rises up within.

Reputation is what you have when you come to town;

character is what you have when you go away.

Reputation is what is chiseled on your tombstone;

character is what the angels say about you

before the throne of God.

When I think about the situation that I am going through now, as we make our transition to a “new” place. I will meet new people and encounter new opportunities to live out my Christian life. As I do this, will I encounter people hoping that they will be impressed by the reputation I have or will I allow the character of God to show through?

What is the difference? If I can take some literary license from the quote above..

*  Reputation is what I want people to think of me, character is who God wants me to be…

This is the issue that so many of our politicians and leaders find themselves in today, they are more interested in the latest poll than what is right or good or holy. But before we feel all smug, we need to take a good look in the mirror- is that us as well. Do we laugh at jokes that God would not find funny, just to fit in? Do we want to be liked so much that we will work the gossip mill, so that others won’t think we are a prude?

* Reputation is word around town, character is The Word working in your life…

So if everyone likes you, that is really good?  Well if you are running for office it may be, but not if you want to live a Christian life.  Why you might ask? Doesn’t Jesus call us to be nice to everybody and make a good impression? Yes, but also remember Jesus’ words- “if they hated me, they will hate you”. The only group of people that the Bible describes as wanting the approval of everyone was the Pharisees. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be classified with that group. If I live a Godly life, I can expect some push back from the world. The evil in this world will not like it, and it will show through in the disapproval of some people. If there is one thing that I have learned in almost 17 years of ministry- there is no such thing as pleasing all the people, so quit now and live to please God.

* Reputations change with our circumstances, character is consistent

As I have gone through this last 7 months or so with my family being in financial difficulty, God has shown me that stress is a symptom not a cause of my circumstances. Often we blame “what I am going through” for a lack of Christ-like character. Yet God is not looking for a convenient excuse, in fact He is not impressed with excuses. I believe it was Benjamin Franklin that said, “I have never met a man who was good at making excuses, that was much good at anything else”. If your reputation is good when things are going good (I give when I have extra money, I attend church when I have time, I serve when it is convenient…), then your doing is not based on Christ-like character, it is merely the work of the flesh, doing what you want to do. Character does what it is supposed to do, and more, because it is motivated by a love of God first and foremost (Jesus said that loving God is the first and greatest of all commandments)

* Reputations take work to maintain, character flows from who you are

Do you know people that have to lie or comment or go somewhere or see a movie or like a group or don;t like a person or (fill in the blank) because it makes them look better in the eyes of those they are around at the moment?  Reputations have to be maintained because they are based in the moment and are motivated by the people that are around or the situation that is happening. That takes work. That takes manipulating the moment and keeping up with what you said earlier. Your life, your life of living with Jesus coming through, should flow. You can’t manipulate Holy Spirit living, you have to let it flow. The reason many Christians struggle is that they try to take the same approach to Christian living as they do to the office- “have to say the right thing, have to be in the right place, etc”. You can’t manipulate your way through the Christian life- you will be miserable.

No endearing words as we close, just think to yourself, or better yet ask God, “Lord, do I have a reputation or do I truly have Christ-like character?”