To catch up on our adventure through 1 Timothy, click here and read from the bottom post up.
"He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap."
Leadership quality #15: The leader must have a good reputation with outsiders.
This last quality of a leader comes with two consequences. If he does not have a good reputation with outsiders, he will fall into:
- disgrace, and
- the devil's trap.
Up until this verse we've looked mostly at how the church leader interacts with the church and with his family. Now, we look at his interactions with the "outside world."
How many nonChristians are so put off by Christians because of what they see as examples? From greedy televangelists on TV, to abusive Catholic clergy in the news, to snooty, Pharisee-like, religious neighbors, to their friend in college who claimed to be a devoted Christian yet drank, swore, and slept around like everyone else...the world has a distorted view of what Christianity is.
It is up to us to have a good reputation with "outsiders." (It's not up to the "outsider"!) How is your relationship with your neighbors? Can they see the love of Christ in you? Are you a dependable friend and a good neighbor? Does your conduct as a citizen of your community help or hinder the cause of Christ?
Because you are a leader, Satan has a goal for you. His goal is to trap you in sin and disgrace God's work and God's people before a watching world. And don't just think "big" sins here, but "little" sins as well, like the sin of ignoring your neighbor.
Raise your leadership level: What can you do this week to increase God's reputation, if even in a small way, to one of your neighbors?
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