Whose Reputation?

I’ve been a long-time participator in Bible studies. Powerful, thought-provoking, deep dive Bible studies.  Most often, they tear at my heart and soul in the moment, and for the 30 minutes a day for the 5 days in the following week. I find myself filled up with clarity and resolve…and then life happens, and I completely forget everything I learned about myself and slip back into old habits. And this is the hamster wheel of my life. Can I get a witness?

I’m getting better, more focused, and hanging on to that clarity - but that message is for another day. Today I want to talk about the gut-wrenching question that Beth Moore asked in her study, Daniel. The question that I somehow should have known existed, but never put together. The question that may have defined my life differently had I been ask to consider it before now.

Why on earth would you risk the reputation of Christ?

I, like I’m sure many others, have plenty of people in my life who I pray for daily to know – truly know – who Christ is and what it means to live a life that He is present in. This question came promptly on the back of one of those conversations. The number of times I heard “Christians think/say/do” followed by an opinion or action that I couldn’t possibly agree with was frightening; and it occurred to me in that conversation how tainted the view of the Church (body, not corporate, but probably corporate too) is because of a few people who have voices bigger than my own. Twelve hours later, Beth Moore was asking me how Christians could risk the reputation of Christ in their daily interactions.

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. - Colossians 4:6

I am a believer of reputation – “personal brand” as my sister-in-law coins it. I spent years curating mine so that I would be considered successful, competent, professional, strategic…an expert. I carefully planned my future strategy, education, what roles I took, where I served my community – you name it, there is no other word to describe it other than curated. But did I ever stop and consider that maybe it was about more than my own personal brand management?

So, I began to ask myself – how do I, personally, risk the reputation of Christ? The list is long, friends. Loooooong. I am a sinner just like everyone else around me. I make poor choices occasionally. I suffer from over-active leadership (read: bossy), envy, pride – like I said, the list is long and we can stop there. I strive to do my best, but the fact of the matter is that we simply cannot be perfect. It’s the single reason we need Christ – because we are incapable of consistent good judgment and sacrificial love separate from Him. (I’m a Type 3 enneagram – if you only KNEW how hard that pill is to swallow…)

So if all of that is true; if we’re all sinners and we’re destined to risk the reputation of Christ daily, how do we overcome that? Love. We strive for perfect love, knowing that Jesus will come before we get to perfect, but still pursuing it daily. We love those who are close to us. We love those different from us. We love those who are difficult, or negative, or abrasive. We show love every day, in every action – and through that we show people who Christians REALLY are. The real Christians, who may not be on social media spreading political divides or hate-speech, demanding compliance from all to our rules, or standing in front of thousands cherry-picking the pieces of the message that further their agenda. Because the real Christians out number the loud Christians, and actions of love speak louder than any microphone.

Love one another. It’s the greatest commandment, but the one we most often bury behind our own agenda. I’ve got news for you – there is a bigger agenda than the one you have built for yourself. There is a bigger reputation at risk than your own. And the only way you’re going to get that message out to the world is if you start loving everyone, even the ones you don’t want to. Season your life with salt, Child of God, for you have been called by Christ himself to be the salt of the earth.

Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other. – Mark 9:50