Bunbury
Men’s D/S
16/04/10
“Credibility”
Intro: Tonight I want to speak about something that every one of us have in varying degrees & every one of us need more of.
Men / women of God who have this also have power / ability
People who don’t have it find there is a day when they need it but b/c they have no reserves have none.
This resource that I am referring to is the resource of credibility.
Let’s think about our personal ‘Credibility’.
Text: 1 Samuel 18:5 (NKJV) So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.
# 1. Credibility – who needs it?
A. To answer that Question – you do!
a. Most people don’t u/s the value of credibility until they don’t have any.
*** Me going to the bank for a loan many years ago. As a young man I had been working for some years but had no money saved, no assets / nothing to suggest I was moving ahead in life. After filling in the application the man at the bank said – sorry, we can’t loan you the money! Why? B/c you’ve been working for a few years now, have no money saved, have nothing of any value & we can’t see anything that suggests your life is moving in the right direction financially!
i. That was a blow but it taught me an impt lesson about credibility – you don’t realise the value of it until you don’t have any!!!
b. David was a man who had power b/c he had credibility.
i. Think about men in the Bible that had power – some b/c of money / birth / inheritance.
ii. But others b/c of this issue – they had credibility w/ people. e.g. David / Samuel / Job / Daniel / Paul.
iii. Dict def – credibility = able to be believed / trusted / able to have confidence in.
B. Gaining credibility is like depositing money in the bank.
a. In other words you aren’t going to gain credibility w/o making some deposits.
i. There’s no mystery about credibility – you have to earn it & accumulate it.
ii. Comes as a result of right decisions / wise choices / sound judgment / sensible behaviour.
iii. We see all these things in the life of David in our text.
Vs 5. So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.
iv. Here’s how David made deposits into his credibility account -
- went out wherever Saul sent him – he obeyed commands
- and behaved wisely – he was wise in his behaviour
- set him over the men of war – he accepted responsibility given to him
- he was accepted in the sight of all the people – he built a history of rapport
v. Here’s the interesting thing – what worked for David then will work for you today.
C. If you have made deposits you can make withdrawals.
a. You can only draw on credibility if you have established the habit of making deposits.
i. Simple principle in if you don’t put it into the account you can’t take it out of the account!
ii. If you want people to believe you / trust you / admire / have confidence in you – what reason have you given them to do that?
iii. Think about Daniel – he gave the kings servant a reason to believe him.
iv. Of Joseph the Bible says ....
Genesis 39:4 (NKJV) So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority.
v. Joseph made deposits so there came a time when he was able to make withdrawals.
# 2. The credibility crunch.
A. As is the case w/ money we can have a credibility crisis.
a. The Bible has a great deal to say about failure in the area of our credibility.
i. Need to recognise that no matter how much credibility you have established you can quickly diminish it.
*** Boy who cried wolf! Here is a classic story dealing w/ a credibility crisis. At the crucial time when he desperately needed people to believe him & come to his assistance no one would believe him. Why? B/c he’d used up all his credibility credits.
ii. If you fail in the credibility test often enough you’ll end up having a credibility crisis.
iii. In other words at the time when you desperately need people to believe you / trust / have confidence – they won’t.
B. Let’s think about some of the areas that undermine our credibility.
a. Firstly – when our words don’t match our actions.
i. Disclaimer: we can all fail & have all failed here at times.
ii. Do your words match your actions – do people look at you & say he’s a man of his word?
iii. E.g. David numbering Israel / Absalom / Amon etc. – significant failures of judgment / wisdom but David had established by this time a track record.
iv. The Bible calls this aspect of credibility – faithfulness.
Proverbs 25:19 (NKJV) Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble Is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint.
b. Secondly – when we don’t tell the truth.
i. Honesty is essential to credibility! Liars end up having no credibility .....
ii. You can’t be credible if you’re on the boundary of truthfulness – you get the feeling w/ some people they’re trying to not be upfront!
iii. Some guys just get into the habit of lying – w/o even thinking they lie / make excuses.
c. Another area is our demeanour in public.
i. T.B.S. that David was good looking ...... we can’t do anything about that but also David conducted h/s in a way where people believed in him.
Vs 5. ..... and behaved wisely.
ii. Some of this has to do w/ our personal appearance – ever seen people who aren’t all that good looking but groomed perfectly?
iii. Alternatively people who are relatively attractive but are groomed like homeless people????
*** Tom S**lly – came to church in an old suit that was creased / dirty & looked like it had just been picked up off the road! His breathe stunk & so did he! You sacrifice credibility if you don’t even take care of the basics.
# 3. Building the credibility bank.
A. Anyone can begin to build the credibility bank account!
a. One of the obstacles to credibility is that b/c I’ve never really had it in the past – I can’t have it now.
i. Need to recognise the devil doesn’t want you to be a credible / believable / trustworthy person.
ii. He wants you to buy into the lie that b/c of the past the future is sealed! Not true!!!
*** I had never been much of a saver but there came a time after some years of failing to save anything that I decided to break the habit. I could ill afford to save at the time, I had financial constraints / a number of factors that suggested I wouldn’t be successful. But my determination to get some money behind me was even stronger than my restrictions. I determined to save no matter what sacrifices I had to make in other areas (I still was faithful in my giving to God by the way) & b/c of this I managed to save $5,000! No small feat for someone who had never saved b/4.
iii. This taught me is that the only patterns that are forever are those that I allow to be forever.
iv. Here’s the point – maybe credibility hasn’t been your strong point – it can be!
B. You can be what you aren’t now.
a. You don’t have to settle for the credibility gap.
i. Credibility gap is something that is often used in reference to politicians...... their character doesn’t match up to their words / image.
ii. Failure isn’t permanent, you can establish credibility w/ people who don’t trust you.
iii. T.B.S. That David behaved h/s wisely – you can begin to do that if you haven’t.
b. Small things can make a big difference.
i. Work at being a student of good character – find out what good character is & go after it.
- Be on time as much as depends on you
- Be responsible
- Be reliable – if you can’t be available – let someone know
- Be diligent – do it today!
- Be honest / faithful
ii. Make some sacrifices in order to gain credibility – deal w/ laziness / honesty / excuses / get real / front up to what you really are & be committed to change!
iii. Be someone that other people can put confidence in & trust!
