Is it really that important that we are respected in our communities? What does respect mean from a Biblical perspective?
Pastor Gene Getz says to be respectable means that our lives are to be cosmetics to the Gospel.
“In other words, we’re to live in such a way that it makes God’s truth attractive. That’s one of the greatest ways we build good reputation is we develop respect.”
How do we garner respect from those in our lives? Gene illustrates with a story from his own life.
“When I was teaching at Moody Bible School, I moved into a home that I bought from a preacher. Low and behold the neighbors were all mad at me, I couldn’t figure out what was going on.”
It turns out that Gene was living under the reputation of the former homeowner.
“I soon found out why the neighbors were upset. He never mowed his lawn properly, when he did he left hay piles. He never dealt with the dandelions and when the winds would come they blow all the seeds right onto the neighbor’s lawns. It was guilt by association.”
Whether or not it was warranted, the previous owner had given pastors a bad name because of the way he took care of his lawn.
“There were barriers in that neighborhood. You know I broke them down? I went out, rolled up my sleeves, dug holes, planted trees, planted shrubs, got rid of the dandelions, and within weeks I had changed the whole image of how people viewed us in that neighborhood.”
“ere’s a man of the clothe, who was not respected in that community. He was so busy doing God’s work that he forgot to do God’s work and that is if he lived in that community, he should choose to live by the standards of that community.”
Gene Getz is pastor emeritus at Chase Oaks Church in Plano, Texas, and director of the Center for Church Renewal. He is the author of more than sixty books and has taught at Moody Bible Institute and Dallas Theological Seminary. For many years he hosted the Renewal Radio program that aired daily.
The Measure of a Man
