Living Off Your Reputation

The showdown was set. It was scheduled in the bathroom. After lunch. Just him and me, and 15 other spectators who gathered to see who would be crowned king of Holy Redeemer.

His name was Ralph. And he had dared to challenge me, the most feared fighter at Our Holy Redeemer Elementary School on 37 Ocean Avenue in Freeport, New York 11520. It may surprise many of you, but in my earlier years I was a notorious brawler. My two brothers and I grew up in a multicultural environment and attended private schools. From third grade until I graduated from high school, I was usually the only African American male and sometimes the only African American in most of my classes. I still remember my running buddies from elementary school: Joe was Irish; Gus was Greek; Mario was Italian; Danielle was Haitian: Chris was a spoiled rich kid who wore glasses, had braces and wanted to be a cryptologist: Charmaine was a sister who regularly beat me in races; and then there was Peter—my arch rival, nemesis, and on whose humiliating defeat my reputation as a warrior my reputation rested.

Peter had called me a “nigger” on the first day of third grade. I laughed because I didn’t know what a nigger was. When I went home and informed my mother what happened, she was horrified. When she told my father, he was horrified that I had laughed. He then explained to me the history of the term, and instructed me to retaliate on Peter or he would retaliate on me. The next day, I cornered Peter in the cafeteria, started a fight. If I remember correctly, I broke his nose and was suspended for a week. For the next two years, we fought almost every day. And I never lost. Soon, my name began to ring out during recess. Whenever I appeared, the sea would part, as if I were Moses. Those were heady days.  LOL.

Then one day, several years later Ralph showed up. Ralph was from Belize and was much bigger than I was. He was also younger. And he grew tired of hearing of my exploits and was eager to usurp my crown. So he challenged me to a fight. After months of delay, I finally agreed. And so we met in the bathroom. After lunch. Just him and me, and 15 other spectators who wanted to see who would be crowned the best fighter on the grounds of Our Holy Redeemer Elementary School.

Well, the showdown wasn’t much to see. I was actually scared of Ralph, because he was so big. I knew if he hit me, it would be over pretty quick. So we just circled each other, traded insults, and then a teacher who caught wind of the scheduled bout came and broke it up. Although I maintained my reputation, I knew I had lost. I think Ralph knew it as well. The showdown with Ralph occurred when I was in the seventh grade. My last fight with Peter had been in the third grade. That means I hadn’t had a fight in four years. I had been living off my reputation.

I was reminded of this incident while I was reading an article in National Geographic Magazine about Martial eagles. This species of eagles is unique because although they usually only weigh between seven and ten pounds, they have a wingspan exceeding six feet, and….love to hunt lions! In fact, they are known for hunting leopards, rhinoceroses, and even elephants. Although they are aware of the risks, the author said that these eagles aren’t afraid because “they are unaware of the lion’s reputation as king of the jungle.” Moreover, lions are kings of the jungle—not the air. Other animals may be afraid of coming too close to a lion’s lair. But that fear does not apply to martial eagles. A lion’s reputational advantage shrinks to zero when martial eagles enter the scenario. It might even cause them to relax their usually fierce safeguards. Awareness of their reputation may lull them into a false sense of complacency.

Like lions and like me, the church at Sardis was living off their reputation. In Revelation 3:1, the Apostle John wrote them a letter on behalf of the resurrected Christ. This is what the letter said:

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars:

“I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead.

Wake up!

All of this leads me to today’s question: In what areas of your life are you living off your reputation? What past victories are still fueling your present confidence?

It had been years since I had had a fight. And sometimes, we can spend years patting ourselves on the back for triumphs that happened years ago. You hear snippets of self congratulatory conversations like this all the time:

Five years ago I went on a fast

Fours years ago I apologized to my auntie

Three years ago I lost the weight

Two years ago I saved some money.

Last year I ran a marathon.

Well, maybe nobody ran a marathon last year. LOL.

The point is that past victories are wonderful. They should be cherished, celebrated, and used as anchors. However, we should never allow our past victories to lull us into a false sense of complacency.

Somewhere, a martial eagle is watching.