Today's Bible Reading: PROVERBS 20:1-22:16
Proverbs 22:1
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.
Our name and what it represents is everything. If it is tarnished by our actions or the actions of others it is hard to build back our “good name”. Our reputation remains long after we are gone. What people say about us or think about us doesn’t die with us, but it lives on long after our death. So, we should take great pains to ensure that our name is not soiled by our sinful choices. The consequence of a ruined reputation stays with us and to some degree it identifies us. So, we must protect our “good name”
Solomon encourages us to do just that. He contrasts the value of our “good name” to “great riches”. Obvious your name is not like money that can be seen, held, or traded, but it is of much more intrinsic value then tremendous wealth. Solomon was one of the wealthiest men alive during his time. His net worth far exceeded the combined total assets of everyone around him. He was “filthy” rich. Yet here the richest man alive admonishes us to place greater value on our “good name’ then on “great riches”.
A good name by definition is more then what people call us. It is not just how people identify us. In the Hebrew mind, the term used here expresses the notion of reputation. A name was the representation of one’s character and conduct. The thought was that your name is tied not only to what you were called, but who you were and how you acted. Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes, “A good name is better than fine perfume. (Eccl 7:1). Like the smell of perfume lingers long after someone leaves a room, so our integrity should permeate the perceptions of others even when we are no longer present. We thus, should guard our character and gauge our conduct.
Solomon writes, “The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot. (Prov. 10:7). How we behave now will determine the “blessedness” of our memory later. As he says in our text, we choose our reputation. When a righteous man is gone, people remember him for his righteous character and conduct. He was a good man who did good things. During his lifetime, he demonstrated righteousness by his actions before God and towards others. In other words, he establishes or chooses his reputation. When he leaves, his reputation, or how he was perceived, remains. He is considered blessed. On the other hand, when a wicked man is gone, the same thing happens to him, but what is recalled about him is his evil attitude and actions. During his lifetime, he chose to disobey God and sin against others. He also leaves behind a reputation, but it is not blessed. The memory of his name will rot. What we choose is what we get.
So, what if you have tainted your “good name?. What if you have blown it so bad that it seems you are banished and blackballed from society? Your name is rotten. Well, you are in good company. Two disciples come to mind, Peter and Paul. Peter forever in the pages of scripture will be known as the disciple who denied Christ three times. Yet he is more often seen as the leader of the early church, the guy who walked on water and the one who preached a powerful sermon at Pentecost that led to 3,000 people getting saved (Acts 2) . His failure was not the final word on his “good name”. His repentance and return led to his reinstatement by Christ on the shores of the Sea of Galilee (John 20). His good name was made good by the one who makes all things good.
Paul was in a similar situation. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He was well educated in the Jewish faith and was positioned to be a mighty Rabbi. He led the charge in the attempted extermination of Christians. He writes, ‘I persecuted the church of God” (1 Cor 15:9). It is said of him, “But Saul (Paul) was ravaging the church and entering house after house, he was dragging off men and women and committed them to prison (Acts 8:3). His reputation was well known and many feared Him and His evil actions. Ananias describes their fears, “I have heard from many about this man and how much evil he has done . . .. “ (Acts 9:13). Paul definitely had a bad reputation. But that all changed at his conversion. He went from a persecutor of the church to a powerful proclaimer of the gospel. His great missionary endeavors open the door of the gospel to the Gentiles and lead to the world-wide expansion of the church. Like Peter, his failure was not the final word on His “good name” and it is not for yours either. God can rebuild a ruined reputation.
Today, thank God for a good name. Ask Him to help you maintain a good reputation. Thank Him that should something ruin your reputation that He can rebuild it. Thank Him for the reminder of His grace in the stories of Peter and Paul. Believe that the Lord can guard your name and give back your “good name” when you falter.
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