Smeagol is Free!
A hermitudinal view of...stuff...


2.25.2006  

Reputable

Merriam Webster defines the word reputation as being the "overall quality or character as seen or judged by people in general". Other variants follow in the entry for the word, but for my purposes here, that definition will suffice. Note that in order for one to have a reputation, it is a necessity that there is at least one or more judgments made by other individuals. In other words, a reputation cannot be bestowed upon oneself.

Reputations are interesting things. They can be both fickle and long-lasting; subtle and overt; beneficial and devastating. In high school, the Cool Kids were always the ones with the best reputations. The Dorks were the ones who had the worst reputations and hated the Cool Kids for having the reputations they had, but secretly wanted to be just like the Cool Kids. A few years after high school, it became clearer to me how silly all the posturing was. Hours upon hours went into keeping up someone's rep, and if someone with a lesser rep decided to impinge upon someone with a better rep, watch out.

"Wot, wot, watchu like?"
"Why, like beef?!?!?!"
"Eh brah, no be li'dat!"
"Aaahhh shyadap (insert ethnically minor expletive or derogetory term here...pocho, pake, book-book, or big-headed kimchee breath will do nicely)!"

What followed would quite naturally be a restoration of the Natural Order of Things. Usually. If, for whatever reason, the person with the lesser rep somehow managed to give lickins to the person with the better rep, the entire school was suddenly engaged in a deluge of gossip. Scratch that. The gossip happened anyway; it was just a little more heightened.

Now, while all this may sound quite juvenile and silly, I've been wondering as of late if I'm really all that much far removed from it. While it is true that reputations are given by others to an individual, it is no small thing that that particular individual is almost inevitably effected by their press clippings. Though I wish it were not true, I see it all around me, every day, all the time. The perceptions that we have of one another and those that others have of us are difficult to sort through. What's real? What's true? Is it the whole truth, or just part of it? Am I paying too much attention to what's being said here, and ignoring what's being said there?

In all honesty, I hate it. We have huge portions of our economy driven by it, and we buy into it all the time. Even in the sacred realm, it's inevitable. We call it, "Public Relations". Now don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing it. I understand the need for such things. It's just that in a fallen world, I often find myself way over the line, buying into perceptions and reputations without thinking things through.

Last night in Java, I was telling someone about Gary taking me and Andrew and the rest of us through Grudem's Systematic. I can still hear him telling us, "I want you guys to think biblically." That stuck out more than anything else he ever said during those precious times, more than anything else we ever read or discussed. He taught me not just what Scripture was saying, he taught me how to think through what it was saying.

So as I think biblically through my thoughts as of late, I've realized something. It could be said that Jesus came to do away with our perceptions of ourselves, our reputations. He came to reveal truth, and in doing so, to impart life. Hmmm.

Earlier this week, Scott and I discussed a phrase that Ryan had told to us. "Tell me my faults, and that plainly." At least, we thought that was the phrase. If it's not and we've remembered it incorrectly, it still gets the point across. Ryan said a Wesleyan friend of his told him that in the Methodist tradition, they'd say that to one another as they'd gather each week for the purpose of soul-care. My goodness...what tender-hearted love and passion for Christ must be required for such an interaction! As I thought about that phrase, I realized that my flesh does not want such a thing. I am vehemently against having someone telling me of my faults, having them reveal the sins that I not only already loathe in myself, but particularly the sins that others loathe in me.

It's a good thing that the LORD makes it clear that such conviction of sin is good...is loving.

In looking at Scripture, I cannot help but feel that the LORD does not take into account our reputations when He looks upon us. No, He takes into account the righteousness of His Son, which has been imputed to us, and which He sees as He gazes upon His adopted sons and daughters. Oh, that I would learn to do the same!

posted by Bolo | 10:45 PM
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