Reputation Check

It’s a little scary being the new girl, walking into a private school full of teachers and administrators and secretaries and maintenance men. They’ve been laboring here long, and I’ve only put in one week.

Who will I be in this place?

I tidy the book shelves and make a nifty bulletin board. Hang a few pictures of my family over my desk.

Bring myself into the school.

The first week of in-service meetings is a barrage of information, and through the fire hose come unexpected streams of character assessment.

The superintendent sits at the end of the conference table and tells the new teachers about last year’s senior class. They were an amazing, impressive group of students. Will this next class be like that? We will see.

The woman whose door opens across the hall from mine, she is quiet and unimposing. But her name is spoken loud from every direction. The students love her. She gives every senior a collection of pictures she has gathered of them over the years. Students say her name when asked what has impacted them most. 

Names never come alone.

They are always followed by adjectives.

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” (Job 1:8 NIV)

I was just reviewing how to say a whole list of descriptive words in Spanish: Lazy, hardworking, friendly…

What descriptions go behind your name?

We do not live to impress people. I learned that freeing lesson several months ago, yet our reputation matters because it reflects on the Father. The same adjectives that go behind his name should go behind ours, for his glory.

The good news about adjectives is that Jesus died on the cross to make it possible for us to change them.