MARY'S PRAYER CONNECTION

If you had to make a choice would you protect your character or your reputation? I came across this question while reading the footnotes in Luke 3:4-14 NIV.

My knee jerk response was to say they are equally important. Later as I thought about this question, I realized there is a definite distinction and came to the conclusion. Character is of greater importance because character is who I am when alone or with others. My reputation is determined by others and their perception of who I am based upon my behavior in their presence or what others may have told them.

Character is reality and truth, while reputation develops from other peoples’ opinions of me, which may be true or false.Character is the person I am when alone or with others. Reputation is who others believe me to be. Character is what motivates ones moral standards of behavior. Character guides ones choice in choosing good over evil. It is a source of strength in those times one is tempted to choose evil over good.

Character is moral behavior and is based upon a belief system which dictates responsibility toward others. Reputation is the result of one choosing moral behavior or immoral behavior. While both character and reputation are important the source of our reputation is usually based upon how others see us, and our character is usually uneffected by our reputation.

A question most of us could spend time considering is, what is my goal, to build character or to build a reputation? Very often we find people more concerned about their reputation than their character. This is easily recognizable in the life choices made by some politicians. Many will readily attempt to assassinate the character of an opponent in order to win votes and gain popularity among their constituents.

In one of my Faith Formation classes we discussed the question, are you willing to die for your faith? One person immediately responded with an emphatic,"Yes!" Another followed with "No, life is too precious to me!" My first thought was to ask myself, where do we go from here?

I invited each person to expand on their response. As each spoke it became evident to me the first person was on solid ground. Speaking of her love for God; she shared her joy in knowing, believing and experiencing God's compassionate love for her. God's love for her would provide all the strength she would need to die for love of Him! To her, denial of faith was equivalent to denial of God; this she could never do is her personal belief. Thus we see an example of a person of strong moral character and most likely she has a good reputation among others although she shows little concern for what others may think of her. Who she is does not depend on what others think about her.

The person who said, "No, life is too precious", is unsure about her faith in some areas. She loves God, but has too many things she wants and feels the need to do. She is not ready to die for her faith because she has a lot more to learn about her faith. She has children to raise and other reasons she would choose life over death, thus she would choose to deny her faith rather than die.  As she spoke I heard excuses, but sensed fear of God rather than love for God. Several people then responded they really did not know what they would do if faced with the choice to deny faith or face death. 

We turned back to the original question,"Would you protect your character or your reputation?" The conclusion was both character and reputation are important however the majority believed character to be more important. They would strive to protect their character rather then their reputation. Being true to self was more important than worrying about what others thought of them.

I see a connection between character and reputation and one's response to the question, "Would you be willing to die for your faith?" My personal answer was by cooperating with daily graces from God and consistently choosing good over evil, I would be ready to make the right choice and die for my faith. Please God!

How does making a choice about our belief in God relate to our character and our reputation? Only one who has lived a disciplined life, daily choosing good over evil will have the strength of character necessary to be faithful to their beliefs in relation to God. Although someone may have a questionable reputation it is possible the reputation is false. He or she may in fact be a person of strong moral character although others have sought to negate this fact. Our reputation goes before us, whether good or bad, and is true in most cases. However, a poor reputation could actually be false.

Untrue rumors and personal opinions of others who may be jealous or determined to destroy another’s good reputation can quickly destroy someone's reputation. We see this everyday in the newspapers and news reports on television and radio. Putting others down to gain popularity in voting  campaigns is a cowardly way chosen by many senators and representatives both democrats and republicans.

Assassination of ones good character is a cruel and destructive habit practiced by the majority of politicians in today’s world. Few have clean hands in either party on this issue and each is just as guilty as the other for the state of affairs in our country.

The quickest way for a sitting politician or one running for office for the first time to loose my personal vote is to put down an opponent rather than tell me what he or she and can and will do to improve our present government. I do not nor will I ever vote for someone who wastes my time telling me how wrong, bad, uncaring, etc. another person is. I look for men and women who do not hide behind closed doors writing bills side-by-side with business and finance tycoons who fill their campaign coffers.

Politicians willing to accept money from others to get their votes are dishonest and unworthy of the title they bear. Those who waste precious time using filibusters and other nonsensical pettish maneuvers are people who are lacking in moral character. These men and women are selfish, inconsiderate, greedy politicians whose actions are leading our country down the road toward destruction. They care about themselves only and lack the courage to do the right thing and then blame others for the condition of our country.

So, what is more important your character or your reputation? Is your character strong enough to withstand all the temptations, which challenge your personal belief system? If not, please resign and make room for men and women who possess the moral turpitude to accept the responsibility of moral servitude; a responsibility which comes with the job of a United States of America, Senator or Representative.

It is time to keep your promises and stop blaming others for what in reality are your own personal failures. As a member of the legislature are you among those who continue to fail the people day after day, week after week, year after year. Stop blaming the president, because without you he can do very little.

When presidents fail to accomplish great things for the people it is because the Congress failed to act for the good of the people. Face it folks, if the president fails to bring us through this financial crisis, it will be you the Congress who really failed! If you fail to act in good faith; if you refuse to cooperatively work together to solve our problems of healthcare, bad mortgages, jobs and financial recovery; if you continue wasting time by yakking about other politicians and the president, then you as all of Congress will be seen as failures along side the president.

Take a personal inventory determine if you have the moral character to stand with the president and others seeking to solve our problems and get off the stump preaching about how great you are and how bad the president and others are. Otherwise your reputation for complaining, blaming others and shirking your responsibilities just might end your career as a politician.

If the shoe fits wear it on your right foot!