Reputation and Character

 

Sylvia Jasper is nine-two years old, petite, well-poised and dignified. She is up and going each morning by eight, with her hair fashionably coifed and her make-up perfectly applied. (Oh yes, she is legally blind). Her husband of 70 years had recently passed away, making the move necessary. After waiting patiently many hours in the lobby, the director of the modest assisted-living facility she had chosen, introduced herself and greeted Sylvia with a warm welcome. Pleasantries were exchanged and she smiled when the director informed her, “Your room is ready.” As Sylvia maneuvered her walker to the elevator, the director provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet curtains that had been hung on the windows. “I love it!” Sylvia stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented a new puppy. “But, Mrs. Jasper,” said the director, “you haven’t even seen it yet …just wait!” As they rode the elevator Sylvia stated, “That doesn’t have anything to do with it. Happiness is something one decides on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged – it is how I arrange my mind. I have already decided to love it. To be happy is a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice: I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work very well or I can get out of bed and be thankful for the parts that still do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open in the morning, I will focus on the new day and all the happy memories I have stored away just for this time in my life.” What a wonderful attitude to have when entering new or difficult chapters of life.

[1 Timothy 3:7; Romans 5:4] What is the difference between reputation and character? William Hershey Davis wrote the following: * The circumstances amid which you live determine your reputation; the truth you believe determines your character. * Reputation is what you are supposed to be; character is what you are. * Reputation is the photograph; character is the face. * Reputation comes over one from without; character grows up from within. * Reputation is what you have when you come to a new community; character is what you have when you go away. * Your reputation is learned in an hour; character does not come to light for a year. * Reputation is made in a moment; character is built in a life-time. * Reputation grows like a mushroom; character grows like the oak. * A single newspaper gives you a reputation; a life of toil gives you character. * Reputation makes you rich or makes you poor; character makes you happy or makes you miserable. * Reputation is what men say about you on the tombstone; character is what the angels say about you around the throne of God.

There was certainly a difference between Jesus’ reputation and his character. His reputation, according to his own people, was that He was out of his mind (Mark 3:21). The scribes from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons” (Mark 3:22). The rulers of the people charged him before Pilate with, “…perverting the nation” (Luke 23:2). Yet, when Jesus had finished the task his Father had sent him to accomplish it could truthfully be said he was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). The false reputation in the eyes of some and His true character were definitely different. It is certainly easier to work on what people think about us than to work on who we are. Edna McCann observed, “No man knows his true character until he has run out of gas, purchased something on the installment plan, or raised an adolescent.” Are you more concerned about your reputation or your character?