God's Name

Most of us know, or have known, the pain of gossip. Gossip in the workplace, gossip in the church, gossip in the family. Eventually, it makes its way around to you, and your natural response is often, "Wait...I did what?" 

But by then, there's a whole trail of damage in the wake. Relationships lost, trust broken, goodwill gone. Forgiveness is off the table because folks have already decided that if you don't apologize, they're done with you, but you didn't even know you were supposed to apologize or for what, and you're certainly not going to apologize for something someone else made up and spread about you that's not true. 

Gossip is hard. Rumors are hard. False rumors are even harder. 

An old piece of wisdom says something to the effect that you should live your life in such a way that if anyone hears the rumors, they won't believe them. 

That means being consistently you, all the time. 

Most of us aren't very good at this. I'm not very good at this. I am sometimes too prone to getting sucked into the drama. As a listening ear, sometimes, I get pegged as being in agreement even when I'm not because my primary goal in any moment is to be actively engaged and listening to the person I'm with...even if they're being ridiculous. If I have the relationship and the grace to speak truth, I will, but I'm listening. Some folks take that as an affirmation. It isn't always. 

But then, all of a sudden, my name gets sucked into things, and I don't love how that turns out. Mostly, I don't like how it turns out because I realize in those moments that I haven't always lived the way I want to. Sometimes, I am guilty of breaking a confidence or a trust or a connection. Not because I wanted to, but because I thoughtlessly did it in a moment in which I was swayed and was not thinking about the reputation I was building. 

God is not like this. 

See, God acts - always - for the sake of His name. Ezekiel tells us that (20:9); it is told to us many times over in the Bible. And it is not just told to us; it is shown to us, over and over and over again. 

The people don't always like it. The other nations don't always like it. It doesn't always seem pretty. It doesn't always seem nice. Sometimes, it seems hard to swallow and definitely hard to defend when others ask us questions about why God is the way He is. 

But the answer to that is actually quite simple - God always acts for the sake of His name. He always acts consistent with His character. He always moves consistent with His heart. When you see God move, hear Him speak, watch Him heal, listen to His voice, you get one consistent message - God is. 

And then, when you hear the rumors, there's no way you can believe them because look, He has shown you exactly who He is, and He has never wavered. 

And when you have that, it's just so easy to love Him. Because we know Him. Because He always is. Because He is so consistent. Because He isn't wavering, isn't shaky, doesn't change, it's easy to put our trust in Him, to know what we're getting, to treasure Him. To love Him. 

And to want to live our lives the same way - for the sake of His name.

If we can do that - consistently - then we'll have what we needed all along. Anyone who hears the rumors couldn't possibly believe them.