Leaving a Good Reputation

Earlier this month I saw an article about a man who had lost his job because he was too gung-ho about sharing his Christian faith. Reading the facebook response to this story was a little confusing, and obviously charged with a lot of deep emotion. Even though I wanted to share my own thoughts, I realised I’d just be speaking out of raw emotions like everyone else and decided against it!

Now, who knows what the full details really were in this story but it sure got me contemplating my own life. When a conviction burns deeply inside of you and it impacts every part of your being, how can you tell if you are crossing that line? How do you define when are you “pushing” an idea on another person, or when you are just being yourself and letting it ooze out of you?

Reading through Hebrews 11 I was reminded of the legacy that was left behind by people like Moses, Joseph and Abraham. They are recorded as having a good reputation or in other versions, commended as having a good witness.

Perhaps due to bad experiences they'd had in the past, I have encountered people who were extremely angry that I even walk onto university campuses, let alone open my mouth and say anything remotely related to my thoughts on faith. Without us even having a conversation, my reputation in their eyes is far from good right now but as my heart and motives are tried, tested, shaped and refined by my faith, I hope one day to be added to the list of people who were found to have a good reputation.

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. Hebrews 11:1,2 NLT