What do Terrell Owens, affectionately referred to as T.O. and a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, Lehman Brothers, and AIG have in common? One might say all have worked hard to get where they are. Another might say money. Still someone else could suggest each has a reputation for something.

T.O. has a reputation for being a quality receiver and will likely be inducted into the Football Hall of Fame one day.  He also has the reputation for being an arrogant individual who is a distraction to the members of the teams he has played for in the past. Both the San Francisco 49er's and the Philadelphia Eagles were divided and destroyed because of his actions. Listening to sports radio yesterday, I heard T.O. tell Michael Irvin, a retired Dallas Cowboy, that "he tries to choose his words carefully, but he is going to say what he feels. The media is gonna turn it into what they want to turn it into."  Then he goes on to declare his gifts are from God and he will make the most out of them at every opportunity. I applaud his last comment but somehow his reputation and arrogance speak louder than the actions he credits God for. Wonder why? Wonder if he's ever read "out of the heart the mouth speaks"?

Then you have the executives of Lehman and AIG before Congress defending their leadership and the millions of dollars they and other executives made as their respective companies' troubles mounted. The CEO of Lehman made "a little less than $250 million" by his own admission while the company was headed into financial troubles. Then four days before the bankruptcy filing, he recommended to the compensation committee that three departing executives receive more than $20 million in "special payments". Couple that leadership with AIG's executives who spent $500 thousand while at a resort after the $85 billion bail out!

Why does that make me so angry and disgusted? It has a whole lot to do with the lack of character and abrasive arrogance these men exhibit who call themselves 'leaders'. 

T.O., Lehman and AIG have reputations as leaders that reflect the true character of who they are. Reputation is what others 'see' by one's actions. To really stand for something you have to make really tough decisions about what you say, do and don't do. Actions are a result of the inner reality or character from within a person or an organization.

Who are the people you admire? Chances are the common quality in the people you esteem is inward character. What you see in others and others see by our actions is a reflection of the heart or what's inside. 

I am the first to admit I'm not perfect.  (I can hear my wife shouting amen.) But God forbid I should ever work with or consult for a company whose leadership's actions and arrogance are as criminal as apparently the character of Lehman or AIG.

And finally, T.O. is learning he's not perfect.  I hope he is learning what I am, which is that God is on a quest to continue to chisel, hammer, file and shape me into a man whose reputation is reflected in the character of the divine nature of what God is doing in me.

What about you? Next time you look in the mirror ask yourself if your actions reflect the true character of the person you really want to be.

For further reading check out 2 Peter 1:5-8.

rb

  "Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed". Michael Pritchard