On my soapbox

When was the last time you told someone you would do something, and then not done it? Or you did it so poorly that you would both have been better off if you had said "no" to begin with?

If you don't care what people think of you, then maybe there's no reason to worry about it. After awhile, those who know you will just assume that you're not reliable, and they'll just stop asking you for commitments. Those who don't know you well enough to avoid asking you will find out soon enough, and they'll stop asking you too. After a while, the only people you'll need to worry about are the ones who either don't yet know you, or haven't yet asked you for anything.

If you have a great personality, or lots of money, or a wonderful spouse, you may not even notice the lack of esteem others have for you. They will continue to invite you to do things -- they just won't count on you. Whether you show up or not, no one will be inconvenienced anymore, because they're not expecting anything from you.

Even if you either don't care, or don't care enough to do something about it, if you are a Christian you have another problem. The Bible tells us to let our "yes be yes and our no be no". (Matt. 5:37). When we say yes and are consistently unreliable, we do more than damage our own reputation -- we damage God's reputation in the eyes of those who see Him through us. Not only do we discourage other Christians, but to those who do not know God, we provide a witness that they will likely have to overcome to even want to consider becoming Christians.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about the person who just occasionally doesn't live up to their commitments. We have all experienced that from time to time. No, I'm talking about the person who acquires a reputation for not being reliable.

I have two friends each of whom is unreliable. One is unreliable because they think they want the freedom of not being organized. The other friend is unreliable because they think they're better organized than they really are.

Both of my friends have the same problem: they both say yes when they should say no and vice-versa. The Bible tells us that our yes should be yes and our no should be no. It also tells us in Luke 16:20 that whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. Although the context has to do with money, the principle is universal. If we cannot be trusted to do what we say we'll do, neither God nor man will trust us to do greater things.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox now...thanks for indulging me...