"Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation."
Falsely accused. Betrayed by closest friends. Slapped in the face. Mocked in public. Killed.
Ever experienced any of these things? Maybe some, but not to the extent of Christ. Do you remember Jesus' response? Was it, backlash? Did He respond and go down the long list of sins, and mistakes of his accusers(you know he knew all of them)? Did He practice passive aggression? Did Jesus call His friends in, to help him plead His innocence? Wait, His friends had already bailed. In the heat of these events, what was Jesus' ultimate response? While hanging on a cross being put to death by His accusers, Jesus says this:
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
It's unconceivbable that a person could respond this way, after being treated the way Jesus had been treated. Me or you can't even keep our tongues under control when we lose a game, or when we get cut off in traffic. We feel personally attacked, or someone has infringed upon our personal space.
Take our situations at work. Do you work with someone who constantly criticizes you? Who seems as if they absolutely do not want you to succeed? How do you respond? Do we allow our stories to be "swallowed up" by the story of Christ we have just seen? Or do we respond to our inner emotions, and hurt?
Consider: At our jobs and in the city, we are living for a greater reputation: the reputation of Christ. Therefore,
We can forsake our reputation for the sake of His
When we consider he who laid down His life for us(His enemies!), and soak in that truth, we can do the same for others. There's also a strong tie, to our reputation to our neighbors and co-workers and the reputation of Christ. As the church, we are the display of Christ's body to the world. At our job, we want to have a good repuation, not for own sakes, but because of the reputation and the image of Christ.
Do things for your neighbors/co-workers, where they would want to hang out with you more.
Be the kind of neighbor that gets invited back to parties.
Be the co-worker who serves rather, than steps on others.
Our reputation matters. Just not for the reasons we think it does. It matters for the sake of Christ. And we can hold loosely to our reputation, because we are tightly wrapped up in the person of Christ.
What's your reputation like at work? Are you the gossiper? Or the relationally distant, but "in your face" proselytizer? Do you compliment others when they succed and do well? Do you defer to others when they are more skilled in an area than you are?
By God's grace may He make us more like Christ, and may our reputations be great, for His sake, and not our own.
The more that we gaze on the face upon Christ, the less we desire to save our own.
Falsely accused. Betrayed by closest friends. Slapped in the face. Mocked in public. Killed.
Ever experienced any of these things? Maybe some, but not to the extent of Christ. Do you remember Jesus' response? Was it, backlash? Did He respond and go down the long list of sins, and mistakes of his accusers(you know he knew all of them)? Did He practice passive aggression? Did Jesus call His friends in, to help him plead His innocence? Wait, His friends had already bailed. In the heat of these events, what was Jesus' ultimate response? While hanging on a cross being put to death by His accusers, Jesus says this:
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
It's unconceivbable that a person could respond this way, after being treated the way Jesus had been treated. Me or you can't even keep our tongues under control when we lose a game, or when we get cut off in traffic. We feel personally attacked, or someone has infringed upon our personal space.
Take our situations at work. Do you work with someone who constantly criticizes you? Who seems as if they absolutely do not want you to succeed? How do you respond? Do we allow our stories to be "swallowed up" by the story of Christ we have just seen? Or do we respond to our inner emotions, and hurt?
Consider: At our jobs and in the city, we are living for a greater reputation: the reputation of Christ. Therefore,
We can forsake our reputation for the sake of His
When we consider he who laid down His life for us(His enemies!), and soak in that truth, we can do the same for others. There's also a strong tie, to our reputation to our neighbors and co-workers and the reputation of Christ. As the church, we are the display of Christ's body to the world. At our job, we want to have a good repuation, not for own sakes, but because of the reputation and the image of Christ.
Do things for your neighbors/co-workers, where they would want to hang out with you more.
Be the kind of neighbor that gets invited back to parties.
Be the co-worker who serves rather, than steps on others.
Our reputation matters. Just not for the reasons we think it does. It matters for the sake of Christ. And we can hold loosely to our reputation, because we are tightly wrapped up in the person of Christ.
What's your reputation like at work? Are you the gossiper? Or the relationally distant, but "in your face" proselytizer? Do you compliment others when they succed and do well? Do you defer to others when they are more skilled in an area than you are?
By God's grace may He make us more like Christ, and may our reputations be great, for His sake, and not our own.
The more that we gaze on the face upon Christ, the less we desire to save our own.