Well the title is may be a bit controversial, but read on anyway to find out why...
Last night, I met up with two lady friends of mine whom I haven't seen for a while, and after a long chat, we bode farewell to each other and went our separate ways... Well, one of us went her separate way because the other hitched a ride with me.
The night was getting late and it was drizzling so I knew I had to drive slower. It was a nice moment actually, because I haven't had a good conversation with this friend for a while (usually she's just the one talking while my mind drifts off. LOL!). And what better way to add excitement to a coffee commercial moment than a motorcycle overtaking and stopping in front of my car!
I successfully stopped the car from hitting him the first time, but as he drove off a few feet away, his engine died again and his motorcycle stalled, making him stop one more time. The gap between us now was already too small and the road was slippery, so I ended up hitting his motorcycle and dented his back fender. He looked like a cowboy with a bucking horse when his ride suddenly pushed forward actually.
As we were settling, I noticed that he didn't even ask for my driver's license. And when he finally did, he didn't even write down my license number or my address! (for those who don't drive yet, you need the license number along with the driver's name to validate the person's identity.) He then wrote down my license plate, but didn't take a picture of it.
I was even the one who offered to give him my mobile numbers so he can contact me come Monday!
At that moment, I knew how easy it would be to ditch the guy. I could have just easily given him a false number and never hear from him again. I wouldn't even have to pay for the damages! But would that bring glory to God?
By today, I just had his damaged parts replaced, and may have made a new friend.
Along the day's course, he noticed the bibles I had in my car, so I told him that I'm a Christian. He then said he's lucky I was the one who hit him (as if getting hit is lucky), because other drivers wouldn't be as honest, considering he didn't know any better.
Now, the point why I'm telling this story is not to gain merits as an honest individual, but to remind Christians that we do have a reputation to keep... We represent Jesus after all.
I once read that we should value integrity over reputation, and reputation may just be what others think of us while integrity is our own set of principles, but I also believe that how others perceive us may be just as important as Who we believe in. God wants us to bring people closer to Him, and how can we do that if we don't have a good enough reputation? It's like doing a public speech with filthy clothes on!
Placing value on reputation isn't really wrong as long as we choose the right ones to keep, and we hold that reputation because we want to be better individuals.
In fact with all honesty, authoring Pushing Giants has helped me turn away from many struggles, because I now have a bigger reputation to keep. As a Christian author, I wouldn't want to misrepresent Christ by being associated with ungodly deeds. It may seem superficial, but valuing how others see me has kept my integrity more intact.
Reputation for Christians may even be summed up in these few words: The Life you live should reflect Christ in you.
So keep up those rep points and God bless!
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I value additional insights and feed back, your comments are appreciated.
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