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I think it is important to most folk that they have a good reputation. Every one would like others to think highly of them. I know that since I have come to Christ, my name is important to me, not because I am self orientated, but because my name is now aligned with Jesus Christ, and I don’t want to dirty his reputation.
But whatever your reason, I know that each of us here this morning wants to protect our reputation. What is reputation? One of the best definitions I have ever heard of the word reputation, is that it is what people think and say about you when you are not there, or what it is that goes through their mind when they find out you are coming to visit.
Just like your face or your thumbprint, your reputation is how people identify you.
You have heard the expression I am sure, His reputation precedes him.
So this morning I want to ask the question, what kind of reputation are you building?
How will people think of you in a few years time? What kind of reputation do you want to have and are you doing something about building that reputation right now. Are you proud of who you are? Are you proud of who you are becoming?
Now whether or not you have accepted Jesus in your life yet or not, you have to be concerned with those kind of questions. You have to agree that what you are doing right now is moulding who you will be tomorrow. Who you will be tomorrow will directly affect how people will see or think of you. It will affect your reputation.
Here is where Christianity is so awesome. Not only will it challenge you to want to have a good name, but it will also give you the best possible characteristics to add to your reputation.
So if you want to start building a name for yourself that puts behind all the immature childish things that you have placed emphasis on for such a long time. If you are finding that the things you are becoming known as are not the kind of thing you would like to have written on your tombstone, then its time you got yourself a new reputation.
Maybe you are the party animal, maybe you can pull into three or four girls in an evening, maybe you fly off the handle and loose your cool at the drop of a hat, maybe you are an easy one night stand, maybe you are so emotionally unstable, or are so hard that no one knows who you are. Whatever it is, I want to say that its time you become proud of something else. Some of those things might make you the center of attention right now but they wont for long.
Being a Christ oriented disciple is a reputation I can live with. Being someone who attempts to give and show love, is a reputation that I would love to have on my tombstone. I stand proud of what Christ is making me because it is a hell of a lot better than the reputation I was making for myself.
You see that’s the thing. Being able to be proud of who you are. What your morals and belief structure is.
There were three men in scripture who each had an impeccable reputation. You probably all know the story in the bible of Shedrach Mesach and Obednego.
Describe situation – not wanting to compromise their reputation as men of God.
Read Daniel 3:17-18
They would rather die than compromise who they were.
They were proud o be men of the most high God. Nothing would change that. A quick turn the blind eye and there would have been no problem just to bend a knee to this false god. But what would that have showed others. No they stuck to who and what they were and knew that they were building a legacy as men of honour an faith.
We know the story. Because they were proud to be men of God, their reputation was increased and improved a 100 fold. The King set them apart and lifted them up in honour.
Are you ready to go to death to protect what God is doing in your life. Are you ready to step into a furnace that had killed men just in getting too close to it just to prove that you are a Christian?
In some studies it has been indicated that upwards of 70% of people in this country say they are Christian.
I suppose to many of those folk, Christian simply means that they are not Jewish or Muslim.
But what does it mean to you. When you come into church this morning, what does it mean to be Christian? What does it mean to identify yourself as a Christian? How will people see that you are a Christian? Do you want to be identified as a Christian?
How is it that people will know that I am a disciple of Jesus? I go to church every Sunday; does that make me a Christian? I tell people that I am a Christian; does that identify me as a disciple of Jesus? If I wear a WWJD does that identify me as disciple of Jesus? If I wear a cross around my neck does that identify me to the world as a follower of Jesus?
Your reputation as being a man or woman of Christ is no built on saying you are a Christian, it built on you doing being a Christian. Saying you are Christian is easy. Living the life of a disciple is the challenge.
Can you say the same of Paul? Read 2 Tim 3:10-11
2 Timothy 3:10-11. It says, “But you know what I teach, Timothy, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith and how long I have suffered. You know my love and patient endurance. You know how much persecution and suffering I have endured. You know all about how I was persecuted…but the Lord delivered me from all of it.”
Are you a proudly practising Christian? Or are you a Christian in Camo? A Christian in camo is a Chrstian that onl seems to like people knowing he is a Christian here at church. For the rest of the week, he slinks around trying to avoid confrontation as to who or wha he believes in. He is to chicken to admit that he believes in the one man who was not chicken at all! You want to know what I say to that…shame. Shame because coming out and saying you believe in Jesus Christ is the one thing that will build your reputation in such a way that nothing else will ever compete to it as a legacy contribution.
I will go even as far as to say, that if you think you can be a camo Christian all your life and never stand up like the three boys in Babylon or the man on Calvery, then you aren’t really a Christian!
You want to know why I can say that, well Jesus describes his followers like this in Mt 5:14-16.
Mt. 5:14-16 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.15 “Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
So if we are really Christians we would be shining out for all men and women to know that we are Christian. WE WOULD NOT BE HIDING WORRYING ABOUT OUR REPUTATIONS. NO we would be doing all we can to build our reputation with God, and trust me as you do that, your reputation with men comes right too.
Couple of scriptures in Romans helps us to ensure that we catch a wake up and get Proud to be Christian. Read with me please Romans 13:11-14. Wake up. Stop trying to protect your reputation with this world stand up and be proud of what God is doing in your life. Wake up!
Turn as well to Romans 12:1-2
1 I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
We are not of this world. You can have it. If you think that this world has anything to offer your reputation, we have prayer groups for you. I know that Gods way will build an eternal reputation. It will ensure that it actually does not matter what gets written on my tombstone, because I will stand proudto be a Christian. Iw ill stand proud to be easily recognised as a Christian. I want to be easily identified. I want others to know that my king is Jesus Christ. My father in heaven is my God and there is no other. When we sing I will gladly lift my hands in praise. I will clap and I will dance for I am not building a name for myself, but I am proud to be a man being used to build a name for God.
I am changing my reputation. God is moulding me and changing me and refining me into something that I could not have dreamed to achieve. He is building in me that will stand eternity. He is making me strong and solid – Get load of this – Read Eph 4:22-24
I stand proud to be a Christian. Stand with me this day. Take it up. Meet with Jesus and find out what kind of reputation He has in mind for you. Let Him know that you are not happy with the kind of reputation you have or could have built for yourself. You want the legacy He has picked out for you. Seize it and be proud of it. Stop sitting around and saying all the right things and begin today in being proud to be Christian. Be easily identified as a Christ disciple.
One of the most easily recognisable South African logo’s is this one… Advance slide
Proudly South African.
I thought though that today we need to adjust this logo a little – give it a new slant. Make it a little more identifiable. And stand tall to say not only Proudly South African, but also Proudly Christian.
I would like to close with a scripture.
2 Peter 3:11-18
