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September 14, 2003
The Peril of a Good Reputation
The Peril of a Good Reputation
Psalm 23 / Proverbs 22: 1-12
Luke 6: 26
September 14th, 2003
Someone from this congregation gave me a “Peanuts” cartoon a few years ago that I displayed on my study door for a long time—before I had grandchildren. It showed Snoopy in a sad frame of mind. Linus asks him what’s wrong. Snoopy says, “Lucy told me I’m a nice dog.” I am not well known for understanding “Far Side” cartoons, and maybe I missed this one. But I think Mr. Schultz was offering a wry interpretation of Jesus’ remark, “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”
This is the fourth and final “woe” in Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount. It may be Jesus saved the most important warning for last.
On the surface this seems an odd general principal based on an unfortunate aspect of Israel’s history. Long before Jesus spoke these somber words the Jew’s ancestors lionized prophets who told them what they wanted to hear. Moses gave Ten Commandments. They preferred ten optional suggestions. They hated prophets who tried to guide them in God’s way, or corrected their violation of God’s commandments.
This grieved God then and Jesus didn’t want it to happen in His disciples’ upcoming ministry. The Hebrew prophet, Jeremiah unfettered the Lord’s anger with their forebears: “They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to every one who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you’.”
What is happening in the Episcopal Church now happened in Israel then. As Kenneth Woodward put it recently in Commonweal, “Of the three pillars of Anglican theology—Scripture, tradition, and reason—none was invoked on behalf of bishop-elect Robinson.” The “false prophets” spoke with their ears to the wind, echoing the wishes of the people.
It’s not that Jesus begrudged a prophet who might be beloved, who encouraged Israel, who lifted their spirits when they were down. Jesus encouraged sinners. But Jesus never confused encouragement of people with encouragement to sin. His issue was with prophets who were praised for adapting to the drifting mores of a society as though how we live has no higher mandate that what we want to do. It does matter how we live. False prophets, even if dressed in pulpit robes are a menace to society. “Don’t be one of these,” Jesus said to His twelve disciples.
The grumpy ol’ men like Isaiah and Jeremiah were despised--who took issue with Israel’s predatory business ethics, or with the rich taking advantage of the poor, or with the view that between sexual behavior has little to do with morality. In fact they got pretty harsh treatment for their faithfulness to their task.
It feels good to be liked as a preacher. And preachers know what people like to hear. If you’re a preacher, you discover a force inside you that cultivates the response at 10: 45 AM at the exit door, “Fine sermon, preacher.” And you are reluctant to say again what made people say to you before, “If you want to keep your audience, change your tune.” Pavlov’s experiment with dogs works with preachers. There is a temptation for everyone in my trade to let the ringing sound of “nice sermon, pastor,” influence the message he offers. This happened in ancient Israel, Jesus warned His disciples not to let it happen with them. So Jesus said to His disciples who were about to become preachers, “beware when everyone speaks well of you.”
But maybe you feel a question mark forming on your brow. Is this a general principle against speaking well of anyone? You want to ask Jesus, “Is it always bad to have people speak well of me? Maybe the example of the bad prophets wasn’t the best foundation for so sweeping a statement—“Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you.” Indeed, Jesus did not JUST say, “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you.” The next part of what Jesus said tells us what He meant—it had to do with the momentum caused by praise for those who are champions of what is evil.
Some Christians have the impression Jesus warned against all praise of others. Parents of an earlier generation thought it wrong to compliment their children’s successes for this reason. They didn’t want it to go to their heads. Thus they missed the chance to build the sense of self-worth in their children and to encourage what is good in them.
It’s a small step from this sad notion to the idea that you should never say an encouraging word—something that happens far too often in the market place, in the home, and in the church. St. Paul told us that we are to build each other up. I fervently believe in encouraging you. Our children sang enthusiastically in VBS, “Build each other up.” And speaking well of each other and to each other builds each other up. Was Jesus teaching us not to speak well of and to each other? Not at all.
Didn’t we just read in Proverbs 22: 1, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches?” What is a good name if not a good reputation? One reason why the Apostle Paul chose Timothy as his understudy was his good reputation around town where people knew him well.
Last evening I attended a retirement dinner for one of you. Wonderful things were spoken truthfully and well. This illustrated the proverb, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches.”
I think of Coach John Wooden, one of the most admired people in America, a Purdue alumnus it happens to be. Would Jesus say to him, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you,” when we know he wrung his reputation out of peoples’ hearts for the best reasons. Part of his luster is that while fame goes to the heads of some, it did not go to his head. He produced several national championship basketball teams at UCLA. Americans like winners. But it has been his long life lived conspicuously in the limelight above reproach, anchored in his deep faith, that has earned him widespread admiration. Jesus did not say to people whose lives enrich others, “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you.”
In Proverbs 16: 7, we read, “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” There is something so majestic about a person’s life lived in obedience to God’s ways that it earns even an enemies’ respect.
What does the proverb mean by enemies? We think of General Lee, the Commander of the Confederate forces, who was admired by Union soldiers during the Civil War. He may have been the enemy general, but everyone knew that he lived his life with integrity before God. Even his enemies knew it and spoke well of him.
Do you think Jesus would say to General Lee, “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,” because Israel spoke well to its false prophets? Clearly not. For him it would be, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
The issue is not THAT someone should be well-spoken of. When Jesus said, “Woe,” He was warning us about the possible corrosive effects of praise.
This final “woe” reminds me that life hinges on far more than the compliments of people. The ancient Israelites were a classic example of praise promoting false prophets’ preaching. The people listened to the false prophet’s popular preaching, loved the sound of their echo of their own uninhibited ideals, and cultivated the sorry way of life they praised--until Israel fell apart.
Jesus was warning people to be careful about who they praise, and for what. Athletic super-stars who can do amazing things with a basketball believe their praise and may think anything they do is remarkable. If only they’d not listened to that praise. It destroyed them.
Adulation promotes what prompts the praise. In our day popular music has sunk to miserable depths both musically and in its lyrics, goaded by adoring masses. The pop stars who shout out coarse and violent lyrics are responding to their public admirers. Why are they admired? For what? Is it anything more than that publicity has made them famous? We watch some of the pop icons today and who cannot feel sad for them. Praise has catapulted them out of the possibility of a decent life. In turn, they have become today’s prophets promoting a way of life young people adopt without thinking of the consequences.
When all restraint has been taken away from sexual expression, when self-control has been rejected as an ideal, exploiting primal instincts of the lowest order, what does the future hold? Much pop music celebrates this way of life.
I hope that you young people will notice what you are listening to. Don’t join the herd. The CD you buy may be encouraging a pop singer whose life is being destroyed by your praise. When you look at the lives of our pop icons, what do you admire? They are feeding into a short-sighted, unhappy way of life for those who praise them.
Perhaps Jesus looked far beyond the risk His disciples would face in trying to make the Gospel popular to a culture such as ours where Christians mingle in society so easily. Did Jesus foresee a culture that markets admiration? Manufactured praise is dictating whom people will admire and for what. It is pushing a way of life that is hurting a lot of people. Jesus was warning us about this.
When John Calvin discussed the Ten Commandments he showed that each one has two sides. The most obvious side is the specific command. “Thou shalt not steal,” means “don’t steal.” But it also commands us to treasure what belongs to someone else for her good. I see you living in a lovely home and I am glad for you.”
I see a similar principle at work in what Jesus is saying. Not only can praise for what is wrong promote a tragic way of life. It can promote a good way of life. It is good to encourage each other in the direction of what is good. The Church should be like the home on the range, “where never is heard a discouraging word.” Here we encourage each other to love and good works. “Let all things be done to build up,” We build up others when we encourage the good.
I think of Phillips Brooks, one of America’s preachers of the 19th century whom I admire most. It was said of him when he walked down the street in Boston that problems for people seemed less severe. Peace seemed to come when he entered a room. The admiration Phillips Brooks induced was well earned, but he didn’t take it to heart. It was not that he didn’t appreciate it, but he knew too well his own heart, and the deceitfulness of popular praise.
Yet the need for approval is built into our fabric, and this need may be satisfied in wholesome ways. As Christians our lives point toward a day when we hope to hear our Lord say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” This is a commendation I wish for you all. Let’s not risk losing that commendation by taking seriously congratulations for what may do us in.
In one of our favorite hymns we sing, “Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise.” This gets at what Jesus taught us. There is empty praise, and there is full praise. Paul taught his child in the faith, Timothy, “Let no one despise your youth, but set an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” Inevitably, the consequence to Timothy of living this kind of life would be admiration, full praise. He was neither to reject what people thought of him, nor take it too seriously. After all, he did not live his life so as to please them, but so as to please God.
You and I cannot help but respond to how people react to us. When they speak ill of us, usually we feel badly. When they speak well of us, we like it better. I see on some peoples’ walls evidence of how good they felt about their commendations. But the deep issues of life are not determined by how others speak of us. While there is some value in some admiration, and it is encouraging to be thanked for what we do that is good, praise can also have bad effect. Live as unto God, and not as unto other people. “Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.” Let your motivation be to please God, and if you find people like what you’re up to along the way, enjoy it.
But don’t take it too seriously because there is a danger that lurks in our instinct to enjoy being well-spoken of. We may lose our discernment at what brings praise. It was this that Jesus was getting at when He told His disciples, and tells us, “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for so your fathers did to the false prophets.”
There are few of us who are so secure that we are above the influence of praise. This influence is part of the fabric of society, and in the end those who have lived well will feel the glow of God’s approval. I pray we may all recognize and accept commendation that encourages us to do well, and recognize and reject praise that leads us badly.
Let us pray: Lord, help us so to live now that when we come to the end of our days we may enjoy your gratitude and hear You say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Stuart D. Robertson
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, Indiana
Posted by faithpres at September 14, 2003 09:30 AM