1 Thessalonians 1
Reputations matter. A good reputation can help you get a job. A bad reputation can make it all but
impossible to gain someone’s trust.
Paul spoke to the church at Thessalonica
and told them that they had a good reputation.
He said, “… your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need
not say anything. For they themselves
report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned
to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from
heaven, whom he raised from dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” People saw the difference the conversion of
the Thessalonians made in them and they were talking about it.
Reputations precede us, as the saying
goes. This is, perhaps, why God gives us
a commandment that deals with our reputations.
You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor. Luther
expounded upon this command teaching that it’s not enough to just speak the
truth about others, but to, “defend them, speak well of them, and explain
everything in the kindest way.”
Wouldn’t that be a great reputation to
have? “Those Christians explain
everything in the kindest way possible!”
However, that is not our reputation.
Sadly, a study done by the Barna Group reports that the reputation Christians
bear today is that we are, well, un-Christian. We are perceived as hypocritical because we
are no more virtuous or moral than anyone else.
According to David Kinnamon’s book un-Christian,
the world perceives us as old-fashioned, boring, and out of touch with
reality. We are recognized more for what
we are against (homosexuality, abortion, etc.) than what we are for (sharing
the love of Jesus and God’s Word; particularly the Gospel, but the Law also).
How should we respond to this bad
reputation? Write of the people who
think this way? Ignore them? No!
Our calling as God’s people is to love those who do not love us, and to
win our neighbors with kindness as we share God’s Word with them. Indeed, we are to show the world what it
means to be Christian – that is forgiven and forgiving in Christ.
Lord, help me to bring honor to You through
the way I live, and let my words and life testify to Your grace so others may
believe in You. Amen.
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