What does it mean to bring reproach upon the church?<\/p>\n\t
“Reproach” means to show disapproval or to be disappointed.<\/p>\n
It can be used to refer to an individual who sinned and those causing the community around him to look down on him. “The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; he who would destroy himself does it. Wounds and disgrace he will find, and his reproach will not be blotted out<\/em>” (Proverbs 6:32-33).<\/p>\n The word can also be applied to a nation. When no one would volunteer to fight Goliath, David had this to say about it: “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?<\/em>” (I Samuel 17:26). David was saying that the other nations would speak badly of Israel because they apparently had no courageous men.<\/p>\n People can wrongly reproach another. For instance, the representative of Assyria spoke with derision about the God of Israel (II Kings 19:4). For that, God’s angel wiped out a significant portion of Assyria’s army.<\/p>\n Christians are to be people who are above reproach. “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world<\/em>” (Philippians 2:14-15). They should live exemplary lives that don’t cause worldly people to look down on them.<\/p>\n Since we call ourselves “Christians,” our behavior is viewed as what God and the Bible teach. “All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against<\/em>” (I Timothy 6:1). Thus, we strive to live as model citizens, not because the world deserves it but because it demonstrates what God teaches. “So that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored<\/strong>. Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach<\/strong>, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us<\/strong><\/em>” (Titus 2:4-8).<\/p>\n Unfortunately, there are many today who claim to be Christians and yet live ungodly lives. They bring shame upon themselves and dishonor Christ, whose name they claim to follow. That is what most people mean by “bringing reproach on the church,” though some mix it up as thinking it is an embarrassment to the local church.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: What does it mean to bring reproach upon the church? Answer: “Reproach” means to show disapproval or to be disappointed. It can be used to refer to an individual who sinned and those causing the community around him to look down on him. “The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense;…<\/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_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1780,76],"class_list":["post-84052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-reproach","tag-terminology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28209,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-you-are-to-love-your-enemies-why-did-david-kill-goliath\/","url_meta":{"origin":84052,"position":0},"title":"If you are to love your enemies, why did David kill Goliath?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was listening to a sermon about how to be\u00a0a man after God's heart. He was speaking about love,\u00a0and\u00a0he said David loved Saul\u00a0even when Saul tried to kill him and searched for\u00a0him for years.\u00a0Even if Saul\u00a0became David's enemy, David would never\u00a0do the same against Saul. He loved Saul and\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":[]},{"id":30961,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-integrity-mean\/","url_meta":{"origin":84052,"position":1},"title":"What does integrity mean?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What does integrity mean? Answer: Integrity means to be complete, upright, innocent of willful wrongdoing, a person with a clear conscience. For example, Job was a man of integrity. \"There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright,\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":[]},{"id":33682,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/even-if-the-jews-accepted-christ-wouldnt-the-romans-have-killed-jesus-anyway\/","url_meta":{"origin":84052,"position":2},"title":"Even if the Jews accepted Christ, wouldn’t the Romans have killed Jesus anyway?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I found\u00a0What If the Jews had Accepted Jesus\u00a0interesting. Please help me understand why you argue that Jesus would not have died on the cross if he had not been rejected by the Jews. 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