reputation

I’m not successful

Posted on December 8, 2021December 8, 2021 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I read a good essay at The Master’s University site this morning. It’s a summary of Nathan Busenitz’s chapel sermon called “What Does it Mean to be Successful?“

“Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (Legacy Standard Bible). (2 Corinthians 5:9)

God cares about why we do things, not simply what we do. And this should change everything about how we pursue achievement because God Himself is the right measure of success. ~Nathan Busenitz

Source: What Does it Mean to be Successful?

I’ve thought a lot about the difference between secular success and Christian success over the years since I was saved. The article hit a home run with me.

Photo Source Unsplash – Štefan Štefančík

I was saved by grace at the age of 42, so I had a lot of years pursuing success in the secular world. I come from a well-heeled, highly successful family. Getting a Ph.D was a usual career path. My immediate family and extended family is full of high powered entrepreneurs, doctors, professors, and Silicon Valley software Google engineers. One cousin got into MENSA, the genius group. They’re all ‘wicked smaht’ as they say in New England.

So there is a lot of pressure to follow the family expectations. Which is a good thing. They pursue excellence, and they were fortunate enough to be able to afford Ivy league Higher Education and other great colleges to attain their goals. I’m proud of them.

I’m mimicking Paul’s defense now, (Philippians 3:3-6, Acts 22:3-5)-

I was on that path too. I was tapped to write a booklet for Brown University and it was published. As a Grad Student I was asked to co-write a piece for The Reading Teacher Journal and it was published. I was asked to be an Editorial Assistant for the University of Chicago’s National Association for the Study of Education 98th and 99th Annual Yearbook of Education Research and earned a credit in the foreword. I attained a 4.0 grade in my Master’s Degree in Education, and was vetted and pushed to continue into the Ph.D program. I founded and ran an award-winning newspaper, earning 2 New England Press Association awards for editorial writing and a 3rd for Advertising Excellence. I was trained by Bloomberg News. I was appointed by the Maine Senate to serve on a Maine State Legislative Committee to look into improving and protecting Maine’s Right to Know Laws. The recommendations of our committee were passed by the Legislature.

As a secular person, I was climbing the success ladder, earning credits, notoriety, and reputation. I thought I was good. Then I made the same discovery that Saul of Tarsus had made:

But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:7-11).

I had potential. I was getting somewhere. I was becoming SOMEBODY. Only…outside of Christ we are nobody. We are pagans, wallowing in the mud, even lower than the pigs.

Christ came to serve. As a newly minted Christian I prepared to do the same. What I achieved before I must count as rubbish.

The very definition of my job now, is support. I serve. I serve kids in the classroom and the teacher I support. I am a Teacher’s Aide, a lowly job compared to the heights of others jobs I had potential to reach, and expectations to do so. However, Christ’s expectations are that we humble ourselves, be content in the arenas in which He desires to put us, and to serve in whatever fashion He may have readied us for.

Some serve in the heights. I am designated to serve in the lowlands, what would be considered a failure by world standards. A job where a full college degree isn’t required. In fact, I was rejected for a job as a teacher’s aide in another school when I first applied, they said I was overqualified. And I was…I am. But that is according to the world’s standards.

Pride is a deadly sin, infecting us thoroughly from birth. It was even found in the pure and righteous heaven, the place where glory dwells, in Lucifer’s heart. He was the guardian of the throne of God, (Ezekiel 28), blameless in his ways, till pride was found in him. No longer content to serve, he promised ‘I will’ ascend higher than God. (Isaiah 14:13). He won’t.

It took a while to release attraction to the world’s definition of success and look unto God’s version of success. I was proud of “my” successes, “my” heights, until I wasn’t. I had done it for me, not for God.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism describes what we are to do while drawing breath here on earth:

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, [a] and to enjoy him for ever. [b][a]. Ps. 86:9; Isa. 60:21; Rom. 11:36; 1 Cor. 6:20; 10:31; Rev.
4:11[b]. Ps. 16:5-11; 144:15; Isa. 12:2; Luke 2:10; Phil. 4:4; Rev.
21:3-4

Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?

A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, [a] is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him. [b][a]. Matt. 19:4-5 with Gen. 2:24; Luke 24:27, 44; 1 Cor. 2:13;
14:37; 2 Pet.1:20-21; 3:2, 15-16[b]. Deut. 4:2; Ps. 19:7-11; Isa. 8:20; John 15:11; 20:30-31;
Acts 17:11; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; 1 John 1:4

Nothing we do apart from God is worth anything, because we are NOT doing not for God or to glorify Him. In fact, Romans 1:18-21 says we do the opposite of glorify Him, on purpose,

Romans 1:22 has the result of this deadly suppression of the truth of our main job on earth,

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened.

For 78-80 years of a usual female life span here in America, I could have gone along and been somebody. I could have, and would have, spending my lifetime cultivating reputation, accolades, personal satisfaction. And that would have been great- until I died.

And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment, (Hebrews 9:27).

What would I say to God? ‘I did it my way’? ‘It was fun while it lasted’? ‘I was making my legacy’? Our lives are but a vapor, and our legacy or reputation even less. It’s a few words carved on a headstone, one that after a few years is covered over with leaves and sunken crooked and obscured by frost heaves.

Where is their legacy? How is their reputation? What are their achievements? EPrata photo

The only reputation is Jesus’. The only legacy is His from the cross. The only way is His WAY.

Who am I? Who was Moses? Pharaoh’s daughter’s adopted son, rather than enjoying the riches of Egypt he was willing to suffer with his people instead, and thus was considered a friend of God and the most humble man on earth. His was a far better trade. Who was David? King of Israel, reputed warrior, yet content to dance nearly naked in public for joy in God’s mighty works. Who was Solomon? God personally said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” and Solomon answered by calling himself a little child and pleaded for wisdom to do right by God’s people. (1 Kings 3:9). Who was Paul? A Hebrew of Hebrews, attaining heights unusual for someone his age, from the reputable tribe of Benjamin, yet counted all his efforts for God prior to that moment on the road to Damascus as vile rubbish.

So who am I? No one. No one like Moses, David, Solomon, Paul. Make myself of no account and make much of Jesus.

Nobody…except a child of God. A person made in His image and given grace to repent and become adopted into His family. With a future bright with eternal bliss and joy, worshiping in the presence of the One True God. A woman given means to glorify Him in ways that hopefully actually glorify Him. Earning not an earthly, temporary, vaporous reputation, but one that will last in heaven as He resounds with the hoped-for welcome-to-heaven comment, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

The only good is from Him. The only service is to Him. And it’s enough.

theology

About “Aunt Becky”: The fragility of reputation and the devastating consequences of sin

Posted on March 16, 2019March 16, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

aunt becky — Lori Loughlin as character Aunt Becky. Source

The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his own sin entangle him. (Proverbs 5:22)

Yesterday I’d written a few thoughts on the massive college admission cheating scandal uncovered in in the US. You can read that essay here.

One of the people indicted in the scandal is actress Lori Loughlin. Loughlin has been an actress for many years, appearing in television shows such as Full House and its reboot, Fuller House, (as ‘Aunt Becky’), Hallmark TV series such as When Calls the Heart and Hallmark movie series Garage Sale Mysteries, Hallmark’s Christmas films, and family movies such as Moondance Alexander.

Lori Loughlin has built her career on ‘wholesomeness’. Some actors always play the ‘tough guy’. Clint Eastwood comes to mind. Others have built a career on playing the goofy sidekick, or the strong silent type. Steve Buscemi is typecast as a smarmy weirdo, Samuel L. Jackson is typecast as hard-core fierce. Others, such as Loughlin, were blessed with the ability to pick and choose, and Loughlin consistently chose roles depicting her as “wholesome” and “heartwarming”.

The Hallmark Channel brings to mind holidays, happy endings and now, incongruously, a college admissions scam that involves one of the channel’s favored actresses. Lori Loughlin’s surprising arrest this week poses a challenge for the family-friendly brand with heartland roots. The allegation that Loughlin paid bribes to gain her daughters’ college admissions is unconnected to Hallmark, but her career and the channel have become intertwined, [as the article explains].

Though Loughlin played wholesome characters for most of her acting life, we know from both the Bible and from experience that an actor’s life is often very different than their carefully crafted camera persona. When “wholesome, family-friendly actress” meets alleged “cheating bribery fraudster” it’s a clash that wounds. The wider the gap between inner and outer man, the worse the fall.

“[Hallmark’s] a feel-good, family values-type channel, and obviously scandal is the opposite of that,” said Atlanta-based market strategist Laura Ries. “Will people get past that to love the character on screen and not the real person?” (source again).

It did not take long for Hallmark to drop Loughlin. I really like Loughlin in Garage Sale Mystery. Last week I was looking at Internet Movie Database for the release dates of the Garage Sale Mystery movies I knew were in development, and if I remember right, there were 4 of them in production or post-production. I’d give you a screen shot, but the IMDb actress page for Loughlin has been quickly changed to reflect Hallmark’s decision to fire Loughlin, and those movies have been deleted from the list.

Loughlin has also been dropped from Hallmark’s Christmas movies and Netflix’s comedy Fuller House. Loughlin reportedly will not appear in the last season of Fuller House, as of this writing. Her appearance as Abigail Stanton in When Calls the Heart has also been pulled.

All this in one week. Hallmark’s statement:

We are no longer working with Lori Loughlin and have stopped development of all productions that air on the Crown Media Family Network channels involving Lori Loughlin including Garage Sale Mysteries, an independent third party production.

When Calls The Heart statement:

The series will not air this Sunday March 17 while we are evaluating all creative options around the When Calls the Heart series. #Hearties please keep checking back to our social for all updates related to the beloved When Calls The Heart. (Statement here.)

Loughlin’s alleged corruption and involvement in fraud and bribery immediately destroys the fragile bubble she has built. She has squandered all her “reputation capital”. Hallmark, “As the country’s leading destination for quality family entertainment,” stated in their ‘About Us’, trades on wholesomeness, too, & does not want to be tainted by Loughlin’s taint. Hence, Lori is dropped like a hot potato.

Simply put, The Situation Between Lori Loughlin, Netflix & Hallmark Is A Mess.

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Lori Loughlin describes herself as a Catholic, which we know means if she believes the dogmas of Rome, she is not saved. Her inner man is not being daily sanctified to reflect the face of Jesus.

They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. (Ephesians 4:1).

The unregenerate inner man can only fake it for so long. One’s sin will always find you out.

But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out. (Numbers 32:23).

Sin is hard enough to master with the aid of the Holy Spirit, it’s a daily battle. Without the Spirit, one has zero chance of reforming one’s desires for very long.

If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it. (Genesis 4:7).

Reputation and trust are fragile things. In Christendom, when someone we look up to like a pastor or leader falls ‘below reproach,’ that trust is broken and he can never lead or shepherd again. Sin happens among Christ’s people, of course. We’ve seen the fall of Art Azurdia, (adultery), RC Sproul Jr, (adultery, and also drinking), Tom Chantry, (child assault) and Mark Driscoll, (financial malfeasance, sexist comments, bullying, more…). However, the forgiving Jesus will forgive the sin but He does not forget that the line was crossed. They forfeit their role forever.

For us Christians, it’s doubly important to daily call upon the Spirit in us to continue mortifying sin. We have to be active and focused on putting off that old man-

to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, (Ephesians 4:22).

Undealt-with sin will cause a Christian to ‘fall.’ (Though we can never again be lost; John 10:28). Our fall is worse than an actress’s wasted reputation, because it’s the reputation of Jesus that we besmirch. We’re ambassadors of His name and character. We are trophies of His grace.

In the secular world, celebrities and actors whose reputations were shattered overnight include Mel Gibson, Paula Deen, Martha Stewart, Miley Cyrus. Sometimes the brotherhood of sinners will eventually forget and forgive. Sometimes not. Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle’s acting career never recovered from his 1920s scandal. It does not look like Roseanne will recover from her racist tweet. Matthew McConaghey’s reputation failed, started to come back, failed again.

Time will tell of Loughlin’s reputation. However, one must ask, was it worth it? The half a million she allegedly spent on her daughter’s bribe, plus the $1M she spent on bail, plus the $1M her husband spent on bail… all for naught, as apparently their daughter Olivia Jade “didn’t know how much time she was going to spend in class” because she “doesn’t really care about college, as you guys know.”

I am personally disappointed, because I like Lori Loughlin’s work. I’m sad that her sin not only crouched at the door but entered and eventually opened the door wide for all of us to see the seaminess of her heart and mind. I’m disappointed, but not surprised. Sin is what sinners do. I think of the earnest college kids and their honest parents whose way was perverted by allegedly unscrupulous people like Loughlin and the others who were indicted.

The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice. (Proverbs 17:23).

But it did not stay a secret.

Woe to those who bribe. God said that bribery engenders His wrath. (Proverbs 21:14). My prayer is that though she claims to love God (as a Catholic), this event that’s shattered her reputation and career will cause her to do some introspection and hopefully, repentantly, call upon Jesus as her savior.

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

Only Jesus ever satisfies. All else is vanity.

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