A Good Name- SOWING AND REAPING

Years ago when they cared about a good name, we were surprised to hear or read that certain movie stars had a secret lifestyle.  They had an image or persona and the studios that employed them felt their box office appeal would be tarnished if people knew the things they were doing off camera.  For instance, some great actors like Rock Hudson and others had arranged marriages by their studios to head off rumors of a hidden lifestyle that was being carried on.  Some actresses were shielded from the public because of their own hidden lifestyles.  So the problem was not just with men.  The truth is, I think everyone on both sides of an argument for or against their lifestyles sees this hypocrisy by the studios and actors to be disgusting, if nothing else.  Therefore, if we desire a good name we need to understand that it is not about the look, or the image, or our public relationship concern.  It is about our heart.  The good name outside the man begins within the man, with the good things he knows to be true about himself.  He cannot hide himself from God, and it is ultimately God who declares a man good.  Our name grows from this anointing.  Why do I emphasize this?

A good name has to have proven character.   We can be born in a good family and our parents have a good name, but the good name we must earn for our self is not inherited.  In fact, we can tarnish their good name by our bad name.  The good name in a man grows as our character, integrity and honesty grows. Eventually it is observed in us like fruit on a tree eventually shows itself.  This is an internal attribute in a man that goes public.  I have observed men who have good character with good names, and they are good when no one is looking or no one cares, for it is their hidden character that is good.  On the other hand, I have observed some guys who are obsessed with having a good name for their image requires it, but when under pressure or when no one is looking, they show a questionable character.  Sadly it is more about image than truth to them, and guess what?  People hate a hypocrite and it is the name "hypocrite" that eventually settles on this person.

On the other hand, we can come from a family with a bad name and a father with a bad name, but God gives us the opportunity to earn a good name for our self.  The stereotyping that the gossipers use to put a child down will bite us early on and be an early battle, for a family like this becomes a target and the victim is most often the innocent child who has not yet earned their name.  My concern and anger toward someone who "sows this injustice" is how they give a child a negative self-identity.  As a mentor to Christian men, a great deal of my ministry goes into helping a man to view himself as God views him.  So much of our work as mentors is to undo the junk that has been put into these men by people who have created a negative image in a child's mind that he often instinctively grows toward.  I have been that child and I found liberation from it after a long battle.  But it had to begin in my heart first to find liberation and to make it to the surface.  Thank God I began to listen to Him rather than myself or the voice of others.  As I said before: "The good name outside the man begins within the man, with the good things he knows to be true about himself."  It was in my intimate abiding relationship with Christ that my King transformed my character and heart and then convinced me that I am good and that He delights in me.  That is the voice I now listen to and the one He wants His family to hear.  That is our mission as a ministry which is to help God's family hear that voice.

I believe Influencers is a reconciler ministry.  We reconcile Christians to their King and the intimate abiding relationship with Him that He invites us to.  We reconcile Christians with other Christians as we encourage churches and others in the family of God toward unity and to embrace their identify in Christ and with each other.  In addition, we reconcile a man with a good name, as we sow into him Christian character, a new identity, a new process of viewing life, and eventually an internal heart change that makes him a man worthy of the good name he carries.  We believe we are sowing seeds of righteousness in this man and it will be rewarded with a good name.  It is simply a matter of time and the result will be a magnificent expression of the love of Christ.

Why do we do these things?  It is because of Jesus' good name.  He deserves it and we want to make His name famous.