Jim was a very meticulous neighbor. He was always concerned about not upsetting the people who lived around him. So, the night he let the dog out and forgot to get him back in for a couple of hours wasn’t the norm. That was bad, in his mind, but what was worse was that as his dog came in, he had the neighbors’ cat in his mouth, dead! So, Jim laid into his dog, "Bad dog! BAD DOG!" Now, what would he do? He couldn’t bring himself to just level with his neighbor and tell him what happened. Instead, he decided he’d clean it up and leave it on the neighbors’ porch. He took the cat into the bathroom and washed off the blood and dirt. It took forever. He had to wash it 4x to get it all cleaned. Then he blow dried the white fur and brushed it. It was dark out, so he snuck across the street into the neighbors’ yard. He laid the dead cat down on the porch, in front of the door, and snuck back home. Would it work? Only time would tell.
The next morning, both neighbors were out getting their newspapers. Jim was trying to act casual while trying to see if his neighbor suspected anything. “Hi,” he said. Jim said, “Hi,” nervously. His neighbor said, "Something weird happened last night." Jim started sweating. He said, “Oh, really? What’s that?”
“Well, yesterday, our cat died. We buried him in the backyard – had a funeral with the kids and everything - and this morning he was lying on my front porch!”
You want a good name. You want a name that isn’t always mispronounced. You want one that people won’t make fun of. You want a name that isn’t Adolph or Jezebel or Saddam. The point is, you want a good name. When we talk about having a good name, or losing a good name, we’re really talking about the impressions that people associate with that name – your reputation. You do want a good name, don’t you?
Before you say, “I don’t really care what people think of me,” let’s take some time to consider the value of having a good name. It’s something the Bible says is worth some effort. There are ton of reasons to care about having a good name:
(The Value of a Good Name)
(1. Having Something of Real Value)
When you have a good name, you have something of real value.
People are constantly appraising things they have to see if they might be sitting on a fortune. That’s what Antique Road Show is all about, isn’t it? Someone comes on there hoping to learn that the crystal piggy bank that used to be great Grandma’s is actually worth enough to pay for their kids’ college. We would like to learn that there’s something we own that’s really worth something. I want to tell you this morning that if you have a good name, you already have something that’s very valuable.
Quote - Life is for one generation. A good name is forever. Japanese proverb
Quote - Shakespeare, "Othello" - "Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing; ’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed."
The reason that’s so true is because a good name has real value. We can be sure of that because that’s what God tells us about it.
Proverbs 22:1
A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.
Ecclesiastes 7:1
A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.
Right away, let’s conclude this – having a good name is worth some effort, and worth preserving. Here’s another value to having a good name:
2. Guidance
Proverbs 11:3
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.
How does a person’s integrity “guide” him?
When you have a good name, when it matters to you, you have a backup warning system to help you stay away from bad choices. If losing your good name is part of the cost of doing something, you have a reason to rethink it. Add that to the list of questions you ask yourself: “How will this affect my good name?” “How will being seen in this place, being around this wrong crowd, wearing this, drinking this, smoking this, saying this – how will it affect my good name?” And suddenly it your good name can be a guide to help you make good choices.
I think there’s a similar meaning in
Proverbs 13:6
Righteousness guards the man of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.
A good name also gives us…
3. Protection
How many times have people reached a conclusion just based on someone’s reputation – either good or bad? Whether that’s fair or not, we all tend to do it.
What if you heard a rumor that Darren Dishman had lost his temper at a ball game, cussed out the referee, and beat up a man in the crowd? What would you say? “Oh, I don’t expect that’s true. He’s not that kind of person! I wouldn’t expect him to act that way!”
If you have a good name, it tends to protect you when you’re not there to protect yourself – because you create good expectations about yourself.
Proverbs 10:9
The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.
A good name finds…
4. Favor Among People
Ruth had been a woman of good character. She went through horrible loss and chose the road less traveled. What happens when someone shows outstanding character in hard times? Word gets around. She gets a good name. She set her sights on a good man named Boaz, and when it came time to ask his help, she was in good hands:
Ruth 3:11
And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character.
Ruth had a good name, and it helped change her sad situation into a secure life.
The Apostle Paul needed a faithful traveling companion.
Acts 16:1-2
He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.
Timothy had a good name among the people of that area. The result was that Paul valued Timothy and made him his close companion.
5. Blessed by God
As the book of Job opens up, part of what we learn about Job is that he had a good name. He was a good man, and God had blessed him. In fact, God points it out to the devil, even after Satan had been allowed to attack him:
Job 2:3b
…"Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason."
By the end of the book, God blesses Job because he remains faithful. He doesn’t throw away his good name, and God blesses that.
As Solomon was just getting started at being king of Israel, God tells him…
1 Kings 9:4-5a
As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David…
Keep a good name, and I’ll bless you. That’s a great side of God to keep in mind. He tends to bless people who keep a good name.
6. Trusted With Responsibility
In Exodus 18, men with a good reputation were selected to help Moses lead and judge Israel. In Nehemiah 7, Nehemiah tells how he put Hananiah in charge in Jerusalem because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men. In Acts 6, 7 men are chosen to provide special servant leadership in the Church, and they are men who have a good reputation. They’re given a special responsibility. It comes as no surprise when Paul says that if someone is going to be an elder in the Church, He must have a good reputation with people outside the Church. And Paul reminds Titus also,
Titus 2:7-8
In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that
those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
(7. Obeying Jesus)
Jesus is in the middle of this whole good name thing, by the way. He was speaking of the way we’re seen by others when He said,
Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
A sign in my dentist’s office said, “You don’t have to floss your teeth – only the ones you want to keep.” Well, you don’t have to keep a good name, or ever worry about it for that matter, but just remember that you’re letting go of something that has real value.
Really, at this point, we should be talking about how to have a good name. Let’s go there next! I want to spend the rest of our time thinking about how we can get and keep a good name:
The Way To A Good Name
1. Stay away from the landmines that remove a good name
Ill - The year was 1865. John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln in the head and jumped from the balcony. As he jumped, his boot caught in bunting around the booth, and he landed wrong, breaking his leg. Booth escaped, and he sought help with his leg from a doctor named Samuel Alexander Mudd. He set Booth’s leg. Later, when he was questioned, Mudd claimed he didn’t recognize Booth – that he didn’t really know him. A military court found otherwise. He was found guilty as an accessory after the fact in the assassination and was sentenced to life in a federal prison.
But that’s not the end of the story. While he was in prison, Mudd saved the lives of many prisoners and guards during a yellow fever epidemic. In 1869 he was even pardoned by President Andrew Johnson. But today, if you’re going to be in real trouble, if you’re future is looking bad, your name is ____ (mud.) A bad name can be a hard thing to shake.
Ill – (lit candle on stage) It’s easy to keep a fire going. What do you do to it? Not much. You work to get it started, and then it pretty much burns on its own. You may have to protect it; maybe do a little maintenance on it. But, the fire is automatic. But if it gets snuffed out, (blow it out) you have a problem. If you needed that flame, you’re suddenly looking around for a lighter, a match, something to get it going again.
A good name is that way. Once it’s earned, it’s easy to preserve. But if it’s blown out, it’s a lot of work to restart it again. In other words, if you want to have a good name, you have to stay away from the landmines that snuff out a good name: Dishonesty; Talking too much; Being Two-faced; Being Unreliable; Having a Lack of discipline - Those things that people do that erode a good reputation. They’re all like landmines to a good name.
Stay away from the landmines that remove a good name. That’s a good start.
2. Integrity
The surest way to a good name is integrity of life.
Story - As a result of poor planning a man in Texas needed some same-day dry cleaning before he left on a trip. He remembered one store with a huge sign, “One-Hour Dry Cleaners,” on the other side of town, so he drove out of his way to drop off his suit. He filled out the claim tag and told the clerk, “Now, I need this in an hour.”
She told him, “I can’t get this back to you until Thursday.”
“I thought you did dry cleaning in an hour?”
“No,” she said, “that’s just the name of the store”
We don’t the frustration of a store front that doesn’t match up with what’s inside. Why would we accept anything like that personally?
Joke – a group of workers are standing around near a sign that says, “Men Working.” A woman approaches them. “Excuse me. I’d like to talk to you about changing your sign.” “I know, I know. You think it should be changed to ‘persons working,’ right?” “No, I think it should be changed to ‘Men Standing Around.”
Integrity. It comes from an old word that means “wholeness or perfect condition.” When we say something is “integrated,” we’re talking about the way it’s all together, not in a bunch of separate pieces. In math, an “integer” is a number that isn’t broken into pieces. That’s a good example of integrity. Integrity describes the person whose life isn’t separated into pieces. What he says he believes is all together with what he does. It isn’t separated into pieces. That’s integrity. A person has integrity when what he does and believes is all based on a core set of values. He’s consistent. John Maxwell says it’s “Deciding to integrate my heart’s value into my daily actions.”
More than just reputation. Integration. Living what you believe. Doing what you say. Walking your talk. Pretty much the opposite of hypocrisy.
Occasionally, I run across Latin phrases that remind me of some important virtue. If you’re carrying around any coins this morning, you’re carrying around a Latin phrase in your pocket. So, here’s another one to challenge me and you with the value of real integrity:
Esse quam videri – to be, rather than appear. (EQV)
We’re surrounded by commercial-driven living that’s all about appearances. Centuries ago, in Greek theater, the actors would carry a mask. When it was time to express a different emotion, they’d hold up a different mask – that’s where the thespian symbols came from – that happy mask and sad mask. Those “actors” were the “hypocrites,” where our word hypocrite comes from. As profession, it was there job to appear something they were not. Today, we’ve made an industry and a lifestyle of it that goes way beyond the stage. But these words keep ringing in my ears: “To be, rather than appear.”
Quote - Socrates – “The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.”
Conclusion:
Too often we’re asking God to help us do things, and we’re skipping past this part of what we need to be first. That’s the same as wishing for a reputation that gets you a lot of favors without deserving it; a good name without a good person behind it. God has something more in mind for His people.
Proverbs 3:1-4
My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
Rather than seeing how much we can convince the people around us that we’re good people, we need to be visiting with God about who we are in the deepest recesses of our heart. He knows us there, and that’s who we really are.
Psalm 26:2 - Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind
Right now, this morning, I want to ask you to deal with that arena. Let’s forget appearances. Let’s forget the fronts and facades. Let’s get into the inner sanctuary of life, where Jesus already sees us as we really are. He sees that, and still, He’s eager for us to come to Him. Whether you have a good name or one that has been dirtied. Regardless of what you have done on the outside, this morning, Jesus is looking at your deepest self and desiring to have you belong to Him from the inside out. He wants you to come, as you are, and to let Him start your life over.
