Name's not Welcome

 Proverbs 22:1 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. It's preferable to have a good name than great riches, so I want a good reputation.  It's preferable to have a good name than great riches, so naturally, I want a good reputation. A good name is when people speak well of you, think well of you, and esteem you among men. In other words, a good name is to have a good reputation.

Jesus didn't have a good name with most people in Jerusalem. He was a troublemaker (John 10:19), a sinner (John 9:16), demon-possessed, crazy (John 10:20), and a Samaritan (John 8:48). Nor did he have a name of esteem because they wanted nothing more than to see Jesus dead (John 5:16; 15:20). "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you," John 15:18. We know eventually, Jesus was falsely accused, then condemned to die, then nailed to a cross. Jesus did not have a "good name" to the majority of the people who knew him.

 The proverb is true, and we need to apply it the right way. Otherwise, it would lead to your fall. A good name is a value judgment. When someone hears my name, they will judge by three factors:

• What they have heard about me.
• What they know about me.
• What they designate as good.

I cannot control what people hear about me because the work of the slanderer and gossip are outside my jurisdiction. I do have some control over what people know about me. My actions and my words are under my power. However, I cannot control how people interpret my actions and words. William F. Buckley once said, "that if one man pushes an old lady into an oncoming bus and another man pushes an old lady out of the way of a bus, we should not denounce them both as men who push old ladies around." While I can control my actions and words, I cannot control how people view those or interpret them, especially when they lack context.

 The most important of the three factors is what those who judge my name deem good. God determines good and evil. A godless man has a different standard of good than God Himself. I want a good name with God. Meaning I do what God has told me to do, whether others like that or not. I want to control what I can control and make sure that I live in a way that represents my Lord and His truth. I should not court the favor of the wicked, and if I live for the Lord and his glory, I should not care what they think of me. Having a good name is not courting popularity. Some of the best names I know walked alone. If having a good name meant being liked by everyone, I'd need to change my name to Welcome because I'd be nothing more than a doormat.