Reputation is the belief or opinion that are generally held about someone or something. In our present context it’s how people see others, through the various mediums of society such as, work, career, family life, social influence, economic strata and even the type of house that we live in or the car that we drive. It’s a broad spectrum that shapes the narrative of a person or a group of peoples’ reputations.
Reputation is important and at the same time, depending on the context, it’s not important. Let me emphatically state that there are circumstances, faith and social issues that require us to go beyond our reputation, where it would, in a sense, not matter. I want to make that clear before I move on.
The Apostle Paul, in his first epistle to the Corinthians explains how we should not take our brothers and sisters who are Christian to court. Furthermore, he talks about how we should accept being wronged rather than make an issue out of something by making it public or taking it to the law. Now, St. Paul was specifically writing about the circumstances in the Corinth church; but we can also take what he said and use it to examine our present circumstances.
I want us to look at reputation in terms of our church overall and our parish in particular.Our church in India has been embroiled with the court case against the Jacobite faction for over 100 years. Although the Supreme Court of Indian verdict clearly declared that our Church was in the right, the fight goes on with no clear end in sight. In a way, the Church in India and its reputation is synonymous with the court case and our conflict with the Jacobites. It is important to mention that the Jacobites have the same reputation, if not worse. It’s not my position here to lay out what we need to do regarding this problem; but to state that with such a reputation, we as a church in India will NOT grow. In fact, statistics show that we are on the decline in terms of population--factors such as emigration, low birth rate and no evangelism have caused this decline. It’s often said that we as a Church are growing in America (U.S.A), but if we examine what is happening, there is really no growth, except in parish buildings and other property. It’s just a placement exchange, from people in India to America, or India to other parts of the world. Again, there is no real growth in terms of believers, just a minus in one part of the world to a plus in another part of the world. In order for this to change we have to change our reputation to one that is focused on evangelism, spiritual revival, family and individual restoration. And that takes a lot of work. Reputation is formed on the work that we do or don’t do.
But let’s talk about our parish. What’s our reputation? How do people see us? I would like to explore these questions in a positive and constructive way, which will hopefully lead us to future discussions:
Have we reached out enough to our local and surrounding communities that are marginalized or under privileged?
It’s always important for a parish to be involved in the community that they are located in. It brings a sense of unity and oneness to the parish and the people living near the parish. Without this type of outreach evangelism cannot be fruitful.
Are we doing enough in the area of evangelism?
Without evangelism a parish is simply an organization. Inviting, welcoming and wanting the people in the community that we are in to be a part of our parish is the heart and soul of our existence. Without it we will die out.
As a parish after the pandemic, we are slowly moving back to normalcy. But have we connected with others who might not be coming?
Some families have come back, others not so often as pre-pandemic, and others not at all due to various reasons. Whatever the case may be, let's do our part to connect with each other and build up the fellowship we had prior to the pandemic and make it even better.
Do we as a parish resolve conflict with love and understanding? Do we have a reputation of being a loving community?
No two human being are going to agree on everything. There will always be disagreement but it’s how we handle it that makes us a strong community. We have to deal with each other in love and understanding. If we don’t, there will be divisions within our community.
Do we have a reputation of being a prayerful, worshipping and spiritually serious community?
Our parish is first and foremost a worshipping community. The bare bones of the parish is the Qurbana, the climax of our worship-life. Are we taking the Qurbana seriously by making every effort to attend? Are we taking part in the prayers and fellowships that are offered?
All these questions are ones that I have thought of in order for us to think about the subject at hand. Let us pray that we continue to grow as a parish and fulfill the purpose that God has entrusted to us. Let us also pray for our Church all over the world, especially in India, that we would live up to the calling that God has called us to.