We have been in a series now, a two-part series so far. Today's the third part in the series on priorities. We've been going over priorities, which is to say that as people who identify as Christians, we realize that our priorities are given to us. And our priorities are given to us by the fact that God makes valuations in his word. And one of the valuations that he makes is by comparing to one of the things that everyone is seeking, which is gold, riches. money and everything that can be bought with it. So we've been going over series on more precious than gold. And today, my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, we consider another priority that God sets before us, which is a good name, a good name. Let's pray and ask for God's help as we look at his word together. Lord, thank you for sustaining us each day. Thank you for each day you give us. And Lord, we know that our days are full, in particular with things that you schedule for us. We are thankful that you sustain us through the down times, as well as the good times. And Lord, we ask that you would sustain us for this hour, not for just our weakness, Lord, because we are weak, but that you would sustain us because it is your word that sustains us. We don't live by bread alone, but we live by the words that you say. And we thank you for them. And we thank you for the light of your word, and for the way that it helps us live our lives in a wise way. We thank you for that in Jesus' name, amen. I begin the sermon with the description of a fictional character. He's said to be squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner, hard and sharp as flint, secret and self-contained, solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features. Nobody ever stopped him in the street with gladsome looks. No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle. No children asked him what it was a clock. No man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place. But what did Scrooge care? There's probably no one more well known as a miser than Ebenezer Scrooge. No one cared about money more than he did. No one cared for no one else but himself as he did. You probably know the story that was written by Charles Dickens, where Scrooge was visited by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley. And what follows are more visits by three spirits. You remember how the first spirit showed him things of the past, the next, things of the present, and the last, the things of the future. And you recall through those visits that Scrooge was confronted with his own selfishness. And I would say such is the proverb that we'll consider this morning. We've been in the study of things that are more precious than gold. You know, according to Ebenezer Scrooge, there's nothing more precious than gold. But according to God, there are a number of things. So far we've seen that the Bible and the wisdom of God are more precious than gold. Because the word of God holds the only hope for eternal life. And the wisdom of God shows the only path for an abundant life. So today we consider another priority for every Christian. but perhaps one that's not very familiar. If you grew up reading the book of Proverbs each month, this one is fixed in your memory. Because Proverbs chapter 22, verse 1 says this, a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. A good name, young people, that has nothing to do with the name that your parents gave you, just so you know. It has everything to do with the opinions of those who are around you. So young people, your classmates have an opinion about you, your teammates have an opinion about you, your teachers, your coaches have an opinion about you. Everyone you meet has an opinion about you. Now that opinion might be from a first impression of a stranger who walks by you, That opinion might be of daily observation from the person who sits next to you every day, from the person who works next to you every day. That opinion is formed by the things that you say, by the things that you do, that they see, that they hear, that they might hear about you. And those opinions of other people can be either positive or negative. It can be good or bad. It's what we call your reputation. And what we learn in scripture is that God wants each one of us to value a good reputation over gold. God wants us to value a good reputation over gold. One translation reads, choose a good reputation over great riches. And that would be a wonderful way to apply this passage, that we would choose a good reputation over great riches. Now, as I begin this morning, let me ask a couple questions to make sure that our consciences are working. I may begin by saying, what is your reputation? You all have one, even the smallest here. You all have a reputation. So what is it that people think about you? and answer the question honestly, is it a good reputation? Ask yourself, is there anything that you're doing or that you're saying that might be damaging your reputation right now? Lastly, can you honestly say that you value a good reputation more than gold? And by God's grace, we'll get some honest answers with those things today, because God calls us to value a good reputation over gold. And that's going to show up in a number of ways in our life. First, it's going to mean that we choose a good reputation, which shows we value people more than possessions. If you choose a good reputation, it will mean that you have to value people more than your possessions. And a striking truth this morning might be this, that people naturally want to be alone. People naturally want to be alone. You say, well, why is that? Well, because of our insecurities around other people. Think of the first pages of the Bible. When Adam and Eve sinned, immediately they had what realization? Genesis 3, 7, they knew that they were naked. So after Adam and Eve sinned, they experienced shame for the first time. Once sin entered, they became insecure around each other. They weren't worried about anything before, now they're worried. And then they want to cover up, and when they heard God come, they hid. You see the insecurity? You see the shame? When we see our sin, we realize that's what makes us insecure around other people. And then we reflect on ourselves, and we look around at the things around us, and we think, that's true for kids. Kids run away when something embarrassing happens. That probably happened a handful of times this last week at school, kids. That might have happened at home, where you hid your face, or you hid under the table, or you went to your room to hide. You know the same things happens for adults, too. Something embarrassing happens, and they leave the party early. or they remove their church membership. Those things are done because of insecurity. You see, when someone knows something about me, it makes me afraid. That's exactly what Adam said. He said to God, I heard you and I was afraid. That's why Adam ran and hid. So there are reasons why people want to be alone. That's one of them. Here's another reason. It is our unhindered pursuit of personal pleasure. We want to be alone so we can do what we want to do. Proverbs chapter 18, verse 1 says, whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire. Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire. You see, this is a different motivation to be alone. It's not fear. It's fun. You see, when I'm alone, I can do what I want to do as long as I want to do it. And I hope no one will bug me. And the obvious example of today is screen time. People just want their screens. Screens are pacifiers for both children and adults alike. And you know that interrupting someone's screen time is like taking a pacifier from a baby. We've seen it. We know it. We know what it feels like. Like every day. Some of you know about the local school's recent cell phone policy, which is basically no cell phones all day. Turn it off, put it away, and all those things. And when they were going through it and experiencing it for the first time this last week and such, one student said that he had a hundred notifications at the end of the day when he finally took out his phone. You imagine, that is the possibility of a hundred interruptions in no less than seven hours if he had his phone available to him all day. That is a lot of interruptions. Of course, there are other things that can distract us. not just phones, not just screens. There are other things that we might run to that cause us to run from other people, that isolate us from other people. And we all really know what our own thing might be. We get caught up in shopping. You know, Amazon, Marketplace, etc. We get caught up with reading, with wiring, with hunting, with gaming. It can be all kinds of things that we give ourselves to For me, many things we find enjoyable often keep us isolated. But even though people naturally want to be alone, people need to be together. Now those of you who are thinking might be thinking, this sounds like a sermon that like every preacher is supposed to preach after COVID. Because in COVID, we all had to shelter in place and such. We all had to be socially distanced. And we all know about the great problems we're having with mental health these days. So we can all imagine that someone needs to say, it's time to get out and about. COVID is ripping things apart. So get out of your house. I'm not saying this just because of COVID happening four years ago. I'm saying it because as we look at how God designed our lives, they're supposed to be lived together. I mean, think back to creation. God made mankind male and female. And he said in chapter two, verse 18, it is not good for man to be alone. That's not good. Further, God established the church, which is the local gathering of Christians. So Hebrews says, chapter 10, verse 25, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but instead encouraging one another. And these institutions of marriage and of the church require people being together. And there are huge theological reasons for that, which we're going to get to in a moment. But I just want you to notice the fact that underlining those things is the intention of God that people must exist together. And in terms of what we see in Proverbs 21 verse 1, a good reputation requires being with other people. I think that's a point that we might miss when we think of the proverb. You see, other people can't have a good opinion if we're not around them. Therefore, when God holds up a good reputation as a commodity that's more precious than gold, it means that we have to be committed to being out and about. There is no good reputation unless we're out and about. Now, I said it is common for people to say, given COVID and such, yeah, we got to get out and about for the sake of our mental health. And I would say true. God wired us to live together. And if we go against that design, there are obviously major consequences. That's why suicide is through the roof. Because man is choosing to live outside of what God designs for him. But far more than that, God wants us to value people more than possessions. So the call to value a good reputation more than gold is a call to value people more than possessions. Because you can't have a good name without other people. We have to value people. Now, in my opinion, I believe many Christians do not have a good reputation, and it's for the singular fact that they are not in the public. They're not out and about. So while people might have a commendable character, they're not among the people, and they don't have a character that's seen. And I say that realizing that we do live in America, and it is the case that for most of the people in America who are rich and selfish, we don't have to go anywhere. We actually can go through our days without having to interact with anyone. I mean, we can work virtually. And we can turn the computer off and stay at home and do whatever we want. We don't have to do anything. We can have our groceries sent to us. We don't have to interact with anyone. We have enough money to do that. I want you to think about that. People choose to live as shut-ins before they're forced to be a shut-in. When I was young, we would go caroling as a church. And we'd often go caroling to the widows and such of the church who were shut-ins, folks who could not physically make it to church. And we'd go to their house and sing. I remember visiting folks who, they were handicapped and such and they couldn't move. They would just fall down in the chair that they sat in all day. And Dad and I would go and we'd lift them up and have to go a few hours later and lift them up again, day after day. People who can't get out, physically they can't. But in America, we choose to be shut-ins. We choose to be by ourselves. That won't work if we're going to value a good reputation. So the question I have then is, how committed are you to having a good reputation? And the way you answer that means that you have to deal with your desire to be alone, versus your commitment to be out and about? Are you committed to rub shoulders with others? And really, it's not as hard as we might think. It could be as simple as beginning by writing a letter, making a phone call, or we all have phones and such, we can get on a video conference. We can interact with other people. We can do that daily. We can do that very easily. Or you could invite other people to swim at the pool, or work in the shed, or sew American Girl dolls with you, or go shoot in the backyard. There's all kinds of things that we can do so that we're interacting with other people. But it really does come down to our priorities. Are we going to prioritize people or possessions? A good name or gold? If we're going to have a good name, it means that we must value people over possessions. So we have to let that speak to us this morning. And maybe one way to apply this today is that you'd commit in your heart to be more out and about than you've been. I believe that would be a wonderful appropriate application. Now, we see the value of this. And the fact that having a good reputation means we'll value people more than possessions, but how do you get a good reputation? We've sorted out the fact of where a good reputation happens, now how do you get it? And this is really important, and I worded this on purpose. Choosing a good reputation means living like Christ. That's not what you're gonna hear at school, for sure. or at the Civic Center or some kind of public place, but it is true. Choosing a good reputation will mean living like Christ. You see, you can be a great musician, you can be a great athlete, you can be a great sportsman, a great woodworker, or an artisan, or a great student, but a good reputation comes from your character, not just from a natural ability, or perhaps an ability that you've honed. It's fine for you to be a great ballerina, but it's okay if you're not. It is essential that you have character, and it is essential that your character would be Christ-like character, because that's what people admire in a person. People realize that a person has good character. I mean, people see this. They notice this. A good character comes from living like Christ. Think about how Jesus Christ lived. It says in Luke 2, verse 52, Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and with man. You say, Jesus was a carpenter. That means he put a lot of time into the shop. That's true. He was in the shop a lot. but he had favor with God and with man. So that means, that must mean that he spent time with other people too. And on one occasion during Jesus's earthly ministry, people reflected on his ministry and they said this in Mark 7, he has done all things well. That means they could see him and what he was doing. They could hear him and what he was saying. They can recognize a person of good character. People can also recognize a person of bad character. Proverbs 10, verse 7. The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot. You know, there are some things that come up and we just get the bad feeling in our thoughts, in our stomachs. Like you say Sodom, and you get a bad feeling. You say Hitler, and you get a bad feeling. You see, the name of the wicked will rot. We could go on and on and on, but what makes those people rot is that they lack Christ-like character. They didn't have a character that commended their lives. You think about Jesus and how he responded to people. The Bible tells us that Jesus saw people and had compassion on them, Matthew chapter nine. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. And when people have compassion, that earns them a good reputation. So it is to the degree that we put on Christ that we gain a good reputation. Even think of the fruit of the spirit, young people. You think of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. I want you to think about those fruit of the spirit. How many of those virtues require other people? Love requires someone else. To be at peace requires being at peace with someone else. To be patient requires being patient with someone else. To be kind requires being kind to someone else. The list goes on. And I'm saying this so that we don't miss the point. As God transforms our lives, it must be done in the midst of other people. And it's as it is done in the midst of other people that it receives the approval of others. So you can't get a good reputation or develop Christ-like character if you're isolated from other people. Christ-like character is what is admired by other people. It's what people would see as a social grace, that someone is loving or patient or kind or faithful or self-controlled, all those things. It's what people admire. They rightly admire those things. So what does it take to have a good reputation? It takes Christ being formed in you in public. Christ being formed in you in public. Are you committed to being like Christ and living that out in public? You must be, you must be. One last point that I want to draw That sometimes might throw us off when it comes to this kind of thing, a good reputation. And it's this point, following Christ doesn't truly threaten a good reputation. This perhaps was coming to your mind because we realized that even Jesus Christ, who people spoke well of, there were many people who were offended by Jesus. The Pharisees were offended by Jesus. Jesus said in Matthew 15, it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth. This defiles a person. Then the disciples came and said to him, do you know that the Pharisees are offended when they heard this saying? Jesus, you're being offensive. In our day, you know, you're hurting the marketing here. Not a good plan. We need to pivot. Something. But many other people who heard Jesus were offended. You think of John chapter 6 where Jesus says that he's the bread from heaven. And he said these things in the synagogue in Capernaum. And it said, when many of the disciples heard it, they said, this is a hard saying. Who can listen to it? But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, he said to them, do you take offense at this? He goes on to say, there's some of you who don't believe, and that's why I told you no one can come to me unless it's granted to him by the Father. Jesus knew that in his ministry he would call out sin and he would point to himself as the only solution for sin. And he knew that would not sit well with a whole lot of people. He knew that and he did not pivot when people brought it to his attention. Say why? Because unless someone faces their sin and sees Jesus as the only Savior, there's no hope for them for eternal life, being right with God. And we Christians know that. And we Christians know we're supposed to follow Jesus Christ and be his witnesses. And we know, 1 Corinthians 1, the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing. So just as Jesus pointed out sin and pointed to himself as the only solution, so we are his witnesses and we say the same things. We will be disagreeable when we cling to the cross, because it's on the cross that our sins were punished. And that's not a comfortable thing to talk about, being the enemy of God. But we must still follow Christ and be his witnesses. You say, really? strongly following Jesus isn't gonna mess up my reputation? Because sometimes I really think, if I don't confront people about their sin, they're gonna like me a whole lot more. So why should I bring up Jesus if it's gonna ruin my reputation? What a ploy of the devil. You know, when you give the gospel, and you have a life of Christ-likeness, the rest of your life commends your reputation. I mean, think of how Christians responded and acted throughout the scriptures. I mean, in the most practical of ways. Jesus talked to his disciples about not being contentious citizens. When they're asking, should we pay our taxes? Jesus says, well, go pay your taxes. Here, go fishing. You'll find what you need. And they paid their taxes. Paul talked about the fact that he always worked so hard to have a clear conscience when he was dealing with other people. Paul said, I always take pains to have a clear conscience towards God and man. I'm not trying to make problems with people. I'm not trying to upset people by the things I do, by the things I say. He goes on to say that we as Christians are not to give offense. And he makes a list of who we're not supposed to offend. 1 Corinthians 10, give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or the church of God. Whether it's religious people or non-religious people or God's people, don't offend any of them. And then he goes on to say, for the sake of the gospel, don't give offense. 2 Corinthians 6, we put no obstacle in anyone's way so that no fault may be found with our ministry. I mean, that's their dispositions. We're not here to make problems, and we work hard not to make problems. And we hear all the lengths Paul goes to in seeking the advantage of others, not the enjoyment of seeming liberties or true liberties. Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10. He said, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do. I mean, just meditate on that. I seek to please everyone in everything I do. Not seeking my own advantage. He's not, don't you see he doesn't have the mentality, I just can't wait to be alone and do what I wanna do. There's nothing of that in what he's saying and how Christ is being formed in him. Or a real liberty, Romans 14 verse 13, where Paul says, decide never to put a stumbling block or a hindrance in the way of a brother. You see, when you live like this, it's almost impossible not have a good reputation because you're bending over backwards for other people. It talks about the widows in 1 Timothy 5, that they have a reputation of good works and that's commendable for all God's people. God's people are to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves, Matthew 10 tells us, as Jesus said. When we put on Christ, Despite the fact that we hold to the cross of Christ, our Christ-likeness will commend our character to other people. I promise you, anyone who puts on Christ, it's like night and day between you and your neighbor who doesn't know Christ. When you reach out, knowing you might not get anything in return, That is night and day different from the next person who doesn't know Christ. You see, people see when someone cares. People see when someone sacrifices. Such a gracious life, as Proverbs so often says, it is like a beautiful ornament. So, perhaps consider this, with every comment we make, with every action we take, we either build up or tear down our reputation. And that just has to be at the forefront of our thinking. Since God values our good reputation more than gold, what we do and what we say, as we are determined to do so in public, is either building up or tearing down our reputation. Now I began the sermon talking about, some might say the worst of the worst, Ebenezer Scrooge. I mean, there's a guy who loved gold. He didn't care about anyone else. He prioritized the wrong thing. And we love the story of the Christmas Carol because Ebenezer turned around. He saw the error of his way. But how much more delightful is it when a Christian puts on Christ and he gains a reputation? He gains a good name. You say, how does someone do that? It means you're going to be committed to other people and showing them Christ. And as I reflect on a few things, I'll close with this. You know, one of the things that I remember about both my father and Rachel's dad, both pastors, is that they were such, they were determined to be with people. I remember just sitting as a very, very young child and seeing my dad go from person to person on Sunday morning and shake their hand and say, good morning. I mean, just the warmth of that. They were determined to extend themselves And I say that in contrast to someone who says on a Facebook post after Sunday service, will no one talk to me? And I think when Christ is formed in you, you will talk to someone else and extend Christ to them. So there are so many ways that God wants to transform our lives for the good of other people and for the glory of his own name. And it's done through a good reputation. Lord, we ask that you will help us as we consider this small portion of your word, but an extremely significant portion of your word. You want us to not be isolated so often because of the guilt of our sin, the shame of our sin, and our own selfish pursuits. You want us to be invested in others. You want us to be manifesting Christ in us. And we realize that Christ in us can only be displayed in its beauty with other people. And Lord, that is how we are alight. You said that your followers will be as plain as day because of the way they treat each other. And you, when you separate the sheep from the goat, do so by the plain as day marks of grace among your people, as they give a cup of cold water to your brothers and sisters. So Lord, we pray that we would be committed to value people more than possessions because we live in a day where people value what they have. And we are struggling because of it in our society post COVID. But Lord, may we be to the depths of our being committed to be like Christ, because that it is what is truly valuable. And other people seeing that brings you glory. And we want that word. We pray that you would work in our hearts in the ways that you see fit. And Lord, as we can honestly look back and see your work in us, Lord, encourage our hearts that we are not what we once were. And Lord, today, I thank you for brothers and sisters here who are a great comfort during hard times. We praise you for their reputation, Lord, and for your work in them. I thank you today, in Jesus' name, amen.