Reputation?

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blogging, culture, IB, opinion, politics, reputation

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Kind of a multi layered onion skin of a discussion has been going on all about the blogosphere, regarding the idea of “reputation.” It is a bit like a layered taco salad because it is all infused with politics, faith, culture, and personal perceptions.

First a bit of wisdom from the trenches, from the trailer park. I don’t give a flying fig about people’s “reputations.” Perhaps I should, but that mindset is born at the school of hard knocks and not likely to shift anytime soon. “Reputation” is all about image, other people’s narratives, and the masks we wear. It also can’t really be trusted.

Not long ago a woman observed this,  “really nice man,” the one with the stuffed animals in his car, the one who just, “has such a heart for  children.” I need to just carry a roll of duct tape around with me, because I had to promptly inform her, he is actually a twice convicted child sex offender. Registered. Tried in a court of law, a couple times over. Cynics R us, but that is the truth.

And that is why “reputation” doesn’t mean diddly squat to me. Hardly anyone wears a neon sign on their forehead saying, “this product may contain peanuts.” In fact, often the people who are the most skilled at cultivating a good reputation and having the favor and approval of man, are doing it for the sake of self-preservation, heavy emphasis on “self.”

I like to quip about the best money man of all in the bible, always on the ball, always walking with Jesus, a real disciple with a great reputation. Judas, Judas was in charge of the coffers. He was not some slobbery stranger in the bushes, he was one of the trusted disciples.

Conversely however, there are also many people in the world with a rotten reputation, at least in the immediate vicinity around them, but they are really beautiful people. All in good humor here, but when you live in the second most secular county in the nation you are often privy to things like, “Stay away from that guy. He’s weird. Ewww, Christian.“

Guy has a terrible “reputation.” All in good fun here, but that should be perceived as a really good thing. People took one look at you and went, “Ewww, Christian.” We should all strive to be so recognizable, so demonstrably obvious about who we follow. That’s just it though, up until recent modern Western times, being a Christ follower actually put you in the category of having to endure persecution, not basking in the favor of people, status, and good reputation.

We’ve kind of forgotten that truth. In forgetting that truth we also tend to forget who we actually serve.

This is going to sound a bit harsh, but it’s a good analogy. I used to have a nickname for Mitt Romney, a man I actually liked, a man with some integrity. I used to call him “Wilbur.” Who is Wilbur? The little pig in Charlotte’s Web who has been washed in buttermilk and made all shiny. Fair or unfair, I simply don’t trust the shiny people. In my defense, Romney is a politician, and their very job is all about cultivating a shiny image, a narrative, a mask.

I doubt there is anything big and ugly beneath that mask. My intent is not to pick on Romney, but simply to point out we will either serve the mask, or we will serve the One who tore all our masks off when He went to the cross.

I’ve been a bit concerned recently about the concept of “reputation” both in our faith and in our politics. I think we’ve slid a bit of course. There’s a lot of chatter right now about fear of false accusations.  About how “they” are making us look bad. About how, “lives can be ruined. “

I have to say this, if your “life” has been built on a foundation of people favor, social approval, and your perceived status in the world, you’ve invested your life in all the wrong things. If we care more about what “they” might say, then we care about actual suffering and pain going in the world, we may have stepped a bit off the path and out into the sticker bushes.

It can be really painful to endure things like gossip, lies, made up stories that slander our character, our reputation. Enduring the disapproval of people or bearing with their false witness is something you often learn how to do in a small town. It actually takes a lot of forgiveness and a good dose of humility. I’m better at it on some days then I am on others.

Sometimes too, our reputations are well earned, self inflicted. That is true too! Sometimes there are things about out behavior we really should change. I am just saying “reputation” as an indicator of what is moral and good is the wrong way to measure, the wrong god to serve.

And you simply cannot serve two “gods.”

I know however, that the only part that really matters is what God says about us. What is your reputation with the Lord?? Are you and He good together? Is it good between you two? All of our other relationships will fall away someday. He is the one steadfast relationship in our lives, the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Also, you can’t fool Him with a mask.

I know I am not alone in taking note of this, in observing that in the churchian world, in the political world, it often becomes glaringly obvious that we do care more about what “they” might say about us, then we care about actual suffering and pain going in.