Many of us overlook the importance of developing our reputation. This reputation should be one that displays a strong character and a sharp mind; one that adds to our value in the eyes of those around us.

If we believe we are ambassadors of Christ, we are to be conscious of our reputation because it can either be good or bad.

Being ambassadors of Christ

According to some definitions, an ambassador is a high ranking official representative of their country. He is someone who clearly understands the value, history and philosophy of his nation and puts his country’s interest above his own. 

Likewise, as Christians we need to imbibe the spirit, the power, the philosophy, the sense of purpose and the mission of the kingdom of God. We are sent out into our world to represent that kingdom.

This leads us to some hard questions we need to ask ourselves:

“What reputation am I building within the marketplace?”

“Am I known to be reliable or unreliable?”

“Does my reputation enable me to effectively bring the gospel across to others?”

“Or are my words and actions a constant stumbling block that hinders others from approaching Christ?”

Like it or not, we all have a responsibility as individuals to strive to grow and develop ourselves in all areas where required such as our character, intelligence and competence related to our profession. Even more so a greater responsibility for us Christians who are called to represent His kingdom.

Living out this privileged responsibility

As famously quoted from St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the gospel at all times and used words only when necessary.”

In order to win people to Christ, we first have to win them to us. We can’t expect others to want to know more about our faith if we cannot even get them past who we are and what we stand for.

So let’s live out our responsibility and not let reputation ‘just happen’ to us. We need to build it intentionally; knowing the kind of person that we want to be and going to work on being that person.

If we want people to trust us, then we need to work on our trustworthiness as someone who gets the job done. Credibility comes from reputation which instills confidence towards our words, actions and choices.

Your reputation is a revelation of your character.