Character is what we are. It is the sum total of qualities that distinguish one person from another. Reputation is what is said about us — that which others think we are. Character and reputation are sometimes the same: perhaps more often they are different. Others determine our reputation. We determine our character. One’s reputation may change with the alteration of private or public approbation of disapproval while one’s character may remain constant or vary irrespective of the judgments of others. Before God, we should strive to make our reputation and character the same. God knows what we think, feel, and do — what we are. We know better than any other mortal our thoughts, emotions, and actions “for what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him<\/em>” (I Corinthians 2:11).<\/p>\n Men with the loftiest thoughts, deepest emotions, and noblest deeds — men of jeweled character — sometimes have their motives questioned, their deeds maligned, and their reputations ruined when conscience demands they state their convictions on issues over which there is a divergence of understanding or teaching. Friendship is often broken and he who was once an ardent supporter becomes a bitter antagonist because of a revised view or a changed position. This loss of reputation may be because former friends cannot conscientiously accept the newly espoused position or it may be that they will not accept it because of the embarrassing situation in which they are left. There may be room for the former; there is nothing but stubbornness and sin in the latter.<\/p>\n In either event, the character of the man who shifts has not been injured provided his change is right and prompted by convictions rather than convenience. God knows the heart and the deed. Why, therefore, should one be concerned or fear what others shall say or do?<\/p>\n No Christian will assume an arrogant attitude in any matter nor will he knowingly compromise the truth. No man with real self-respect will think of himself and his views on every matter as the end of all wisdom, or will he salve his conscience by winking at known evil or obvious departures from the faith. With prayerful attention and interest he will examine every matter as he can and with charitable frankness express his views. More than this no rational and fair person will demand; less than this would be hypocrisy. A faulty conclusion on a particular point does not necessarily destroy a position and a mistake in human thinking does not brand the thinker wholly evil. Yet it is easy for us to “cast the first stone” of condemnation without knowing the principles or premises leading to certain conclusions and at the same time be guilty of grievous error either by withholding comment or pertinent points or giving encouragement to enemies of the truth because of personal dislike for a brother engaged in verbal combat. Such a disposition is not only unchristian, it is cowardly and smells of rotten religious politics.<\/p>\n It comes with poor grace and poorer taste for any man to hold back his influence when vital issues are being discussed and to sit on the sidelines and hurl stones at those engaged in battle. It is, even more, a mark of cowardice and true littleness for such a one to snipe at those who are carrying the fight which he should be carrying. More especially is the latter true if the consideration is born of policy rather than principle. Snipers and personal reputation assassins are twin brothers born of the same mother whose family name is usually “Envy”. Neither is commendable. Both are sons of the devil. Honorable men will not stoop to such tactics.<\/p>\n Consistency with company is one thing. Consistency with conscience is another. Consistency for popularity’s sake is puerile and hypocritical. consistency for conviction’s sake is manly and pure. Consistency of policy for personal and policy’s sake will in the end be fatal. Consistency for principle’s sake will be life eternal. Concern over consistency for what one has said or written previously if revised reason in view of rethinking revelation demands a change if nothing but the spirit of pride and the fear of exposure.<\/p>\n It is one thing to be unstable. It is another thing to “prove all things<\/em>” and “hold fast that which is good<\/em>” (I Thessalonians 5:21). It is one thing to be double-minded and wavering; it is something else to “examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith<\/em>” (II Corinthians 13:5).<\/p>\n As one reviews many of the great leaders of yesteryears he cannot but be impressed by the vigor with which they espoused one point of view at one time in their lives only to find the same Pauline zeal opposing the former view at a later period. Were these men either weak or hypocritical? The answer is best seen in the persecution they suffered at the hands of their brethren after their change. Hypocrites will not suffer vituperous vindictiveness relentlessly, but a conviction will. He who will not revise his views and practice in the light of new learning is a hypocrite. He who makes his practice consistent with his conscientious convictions is a man. Both his views and his practice may be wrong, but such a person is no doubt nearer the kingdom than he who for pride’s sake stultifies his conscience though he retains his influence. If changing views or position be a mark of instability, be it said that some of the strongest arguments ever made against the errors of digression are those announced and successfully defended by men who at one time in their religious history were outspoken advocates of digressive tendencies. None of us has heard of these arguments being thrown away because of their origin.<\/p>\n One of the fundamental reasons why the Restoration Movement commended itself to the sober thinkers of the times and progressed as it did was the disposition of its leaders to surrender former views in the light of newly found truths. Once they were convinced of the error they gladly gave it up and espoused the truth learned. True enough they had their verbal battles but many of the fundamental principles upon which the church stood in apostolic days and at the present came to be taught and practiced by the Restorers as these principles were forged into unmistakable clarity in the fires of controversy. Disciples today have gone too far too fast if either they surrender these eternal principles found or forsake the attitude of mind and heart which characterized the search for them.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by James R. Cope via\u00a0The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 2, December 1951. Reputation and Character Character is what we are. It is the sum total of qualities that distinguish one person from another. Reputation is what is said about us — that which others think we are. Character and reputation are sometimes the same: perhaps…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1242,1040,551],"class_list":["post-55685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-character","tag-consistency","tag-reputation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33843,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/seeking-to-ruin-a-reputation\/","url_meta":{"origin":55685,"position":0},"title":"Seeking to Ruin a Reputation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 31, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Floyd Chappelear Sentry Magazine, December 1999 He had seen Jesus after the resurrection (Acts 9). He had been left dead and had seen things on the other side that it was not lawful to speak about (see Acts 14:19; II Corinthians 12:4). The man was powerful, influential beyond measure.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47834,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/character-matters\/","url_meta":{"origin":55685,"position":1},"title":"Character Matters","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 5:1-5 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Suppose you needed to hire someone for a job. What would you look for? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You probably need someone with the skills to do the job, but what other things would you look for? Given several candidates with equivalent skills, what would set\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-little-folly\/","url_meta":{"origin":55685,"position":2},"title":"A Little Folly","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chadwick Brewer \"Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor\" (Ecclesiastes 10:1). When I was a child, I was told the parable of the ship's mast. The main mast in a ship might take well over a hundred years\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62628,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-good-name\/","url_meta":{"origin":55685,"position":3},"title":"A Good Name","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Mark 14:3-9 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0During Memorial Day, this country sets aside time to remember those who have died before us. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How do people remember those who have left this life? (Actual tombstones) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beneath this stone, a lump of clay, Lies stingy Jimmy Wyatt. Who died one morning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65088,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gossipers\/","url_meta":{"origin":55685,"position":4},"title":"Gossipers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by W. C. Hinton After denouncing tattlers and gossipers, the apostle immediately defines what he means by a \"busybody.\" He says that they speak \"things which they ought not.\" In other words, they misuse their tongues! (See I Timothy 5:13). Do you ever gossip about others? Be honest now! It's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/gossipers-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36002,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-want-to-go-to-a-good-university-but-my-reputation-as-a-student-is-poor\/","url_meta":{"origin":55685,"position":5},"title":"I want to go to a good university, but my reputation as a student is poor","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I want to\u00a0get into a good university but my reputation in college is terrible. I am sure the teachers will predict low grades for me and\u00a0all of them do not think of me as a good student. Now I am trying to behave as a Christian should do,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55685\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Reputation and Consistency<\/h2>\n
Character and Condemnation<\/h2>\n
Principle or Policy<\/h2>\n
Character and Truth<\/h2>\n