THOUGHTS ON YOUR REPUTATIONI

“It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”  *Benjamin Franklin

New Internet-based companies are being introduced all the time. I heard a radio ad for a new company this week which caught my attention. I don’t know how long it’s been around but it’s new to me. The name of this company is REPUTATION.COM. They describe themselves as helping “business and consumers control their online lives.” There are three products [services] they are offering: myprivacy (“protect your privacy”); myreputation (“manage your reputation”); and reputationdefender (“control negative content”). It was this third and final service which gained my attention because that’s what the radio ad was all about, so here’s a little more detail on what reputationdefender promises to do: “suppress negative information and fix false or misleading reviews and more.” The cost to have your reputation defended is not disclosed, my assumption is it’s based on how much defending needs to be done. The general idea about all of the products offered via this website is to take control of what people can see about you online.

I guess it was inevitable a service like this would be developed, with the advancements of social media and the extensive amount of personal information available via the Internet if a person knows how to search properly. I was talking to someone in the past couple of weeks about the new Google+, which is taking on Facebook as a social media tool, and they were appalled that even though they’d not yet registered for Google+ it had already compiled extensive personal information on them. I’m not sure how that works, but it’s definitely creepy.

Here are several Bible verses which highlight the importance of a good reputation:

Proverbs 22:1 (NLT) “Choose a good reputation over great riches, for being held in high esteem is better than having silver or gold.”

Ecclesiastes 7:1 (NLT) “A good reputation is more valuable than the most expensive perfume.”

Acts 6:3 (NAS) “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom…”

The word, reputation, in the Acts passage refers to giving “honourable testimony.” (Strong’s Concordance). The best way to defend our reputation is by developing our character and continuing to grow in Christlikeness; and living in an honorable way. Dwight L. Moody said, “If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of me.” 

Floating around on the World Wide Web is extensive personal information, photos, video and audio files which have either been posted by you or by someone who knows you. Of course, there are times when someone has it in for you, and so they will post things to slander and embarrass you. I recently heard of an ex-wife who set up a Facebook page in her 13-year old daughter’s name, without her daughter’s knowledge, and proceeded to slam and slander her ex-husband, with him thinking it was his very own daughter doing it. That’s pure evil! 

Because not all of us have not lived a lily-white life and, at other times, not always used wisdom when using the Internet, there are things which are public which could severely damage one’s reputation. There’s a side where you can’t control what other people post, but you can seek to live your life in a way which honors God in all you do (privately and publically), and as you do, you will build or re-build your reputation. 

Warren Buffett, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist once said: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”  

The prophet Ezekiel recorded for us these words from the Lord, “…I am jealous for my holy reputation!” (Ezekiel 39:25 NLT). I think that if more of us followed God’s example of being “jealous for (our) holy reputation” it would cause us to think before we post and, even more importantly, to seriously consider the consequences of our daily decisions. If all of us were more committed to Christlikeness we wouldn’t have to pay for someone to clean up the mess we’ve made in our lives, if that’s even possible. 

One more quote to close, this time by the late legendary basketball coach, John Wooden: “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”