The Invesment Of A Good Name

Bunbury

Wed pm

22/06/11

“The investment of a good name”

Intro: *** In today’s West Australian N/p carried a story about Australia’s most trusted person. Fiona Stanley has been rated as the most trusted person in Australia topping the list of 100 celebrity, sporting & public figures. Professor Fiona Stanley has been honoured by having W.A.’s newest hospital named after her. At # 3. Another Professor – Fiona Wood was named most trusted Australian of the year last year.

The article went on to say that PM Julia Gillard came in at # 97, down from # 78 last year followed by Tony Abbott who came in at # 98.

I got to thinking about the entire concept of trust.

How vital it is to our daily living & how it is b/co a rarer virtue in the days in which we are living.

But in a world that is b/co increasingly untrustworthy God calls us to be people that can be trusted.

The Bible has a quite a lot to say about this & this is going to be our focus tonight.

I want to preach a message called ‘The investment of a good name’.

Text: Proverbs 22:1 (NKJV) 1A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold.

# 1. The choice of reputation.

A. A reputation is a choice.

a. Think about how valuable a reputation is.

i. There is more that hangs on reputation than we would think ……. Consider this for a moment.

*** Think about these names: VW, Ford, KIA, Mercedes Benz, Daewoo, Honda, BMW, Hyundai.

Now if money was not a concern & all these vehicles were available to you all you had to do was make a choice, which one would you choose?

Why would you choose the vehicle you chose?

More than anything it’s b/c w/ everyone of those vehicle brand names there is also an accompanying reputation – right?

ii. Reputations mean something ……. What they mean more than anything else is that you can trust one product more than another.

iii. One product will be reliable, trustworthy & the other is going to either let you down or you aren’t going to get your money’s worth out of it.

iv. Anyone w/ any sense will choose a product w/ a reliable reputation & a good name …… b/c in so doing you are also choosing peace of mind!

b. Now the Bible tells us that a reputation is something that we choose.

i. Thankfully it’s not just something that is pinned on us at birth or when we go to school …..it’s something that we make a choice about.

ii. Look at our text tonight ….

Vs 1. 1A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,……

iii. All through life we are making a choice about the reputation we are going to carry through life w/ us.

B. Now let’s think about your name.

a. B/c cars, washing machines, computers & clothes & material goods are not the only things that have a reputation pinned on them – so does your name!

i. Your name has a reputation attached to it & that reputation has been established as a result of words / actions / decisions / behaviour & attitude.

ii. In general the reputation that has been pinned on you has been established by the kind of life that you’ve led.

iii. What your name means to other people depends on the kind of name you have chosen to have.

Vs 1. 1A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,……

*** An interesting point of the article in today’s paper about Australia’s most trusted people was that the last two, the most distrusted people on the list were 2 sportsmen: Brendan Fevola, AFL’s drunken, unfaithful bad boy & Shane Warne the Philandering cricketer who can’t keep his pants zipped!

The facts are plain & simple – we don’t trust these men b/c of the kind of lives they’ve lived!

iv. The question is – what do people say about your name?

# 2. The making of a name.

A. The question we want to ask is how do we get a good name?

a. The fact is that reputation / good name is something that is built / developed as we give heed to the impt issues of life.

i. What we are talking about here more than anything else is the good character of a man / woman.

ii. Good character is not an accident it is something we commit our/s to through the difficult decisions / challenges of life.

iii. But what’s really impt is for us to realise that good character doesn’t come free – a price has to be paid.