Good Reputation
1 Timothy "He must have a good reputation with outsiders so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap."
Elizabeth Miles shared a story about her parents who live on a farm,They sort their garbage into categories - things that get burned, things that go to the dump, scraps for the dogs, and scraps for the cats. In addition, her mother is an organic gardener, so she has a special pail for leftover goodies for her worm bed where she makes her own organic fertilizer.
She was explaining all the procedures very carefully to a new housekeeper Noni. "This bowl is for meat scraps for the dogs, this one for cats, and this pail is for vegetable leftovers for the worms."
At this last instruction, Noni looked at her in great admiration and explained, "Ma'am, you're the most Christian woman in the whole world."
The Bible says to have a good reputation among all people. When people observe you, what do they think? Do they know that you are a Christian? What type of reputation follows you?
Sometimes a person will come to me upset about some gossip that is false but is being spread about them. It is impossible to stop gossiping. I encourage them to make it right with the individual who has offended them and then live a life to show to others that the story is incorrect so that they cannot possibly believe it because they know your character.
I Timothy 3:7 "He must have a good reputation with outsiders so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap." Now the reputation of some people in this world is a disgrace. It is not our goal to please people, but God. That sends an important message to others as well if they agree with you are not. A person of conviction does what he does whether nobody is looking, or everyone is looking and such conviction does influence society.
Remember when Paul wrote this passage to Timothy he was seeking no affirmation from the world, but he had developed quite a reputation. Paul had a reputation as a killer and persecutor of Christians before he became one. His bad reputation followed him so that the apostles did not want anything to do with him, until Barnabas intervened. Paul changed that reputation as one now devoted to Jesus Christ.
Elisha was such a man devoted to serving His God whether people liked it or not. He is not trying to impress others, but by living a consistent dedicated life he does impress others whether they agree with him or not.
What type of reputation do you wish to have before others? Is it the reputation that brings glory to God?
