Who am I?

One of the hot buzz-words these days is "personal brand." They say you need to manage your name as carefully and intentionally as a company manages its brand, with good marketing and PR. Make the world see what you want to be.

I'm not convinced, although I value a good reputation, but it does raise an interesting question:  How do I want others to see me?

Paul answers in 1 Cor 4:1-2, when he says the world should regard us "as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy."

We hear a lot about being servants -- they work only toward the goals of their master -- and even about stewardship, but stewards of the mysteries of God? What's that all about?

Well, stewards do a couple of things: They protect and conserve the resource, and they make sure it is put to use, wisely, for its intended purpose.

God's mysteries aren't going to run out, but I can think of three ways we can protect them: First, by not allowing God to be mocked because people can't make sense of creation or the trinity or election or some other hard concept; second, by disciplining ourselves not to avoid Biblical ideas just because they are hard; and third, by not allowing other believers to modify or mis-interpret what is revealed about these mysteries.

As to the second role of the steward, we can use the mysteries of God both to teach what they do reveal, and to give God honor for being far beyond our ability to understand. Both uses can bring us and others closer to Him.

So in the end, Paul is saying that my personal brand should be understand by the world like this: Faithful worker toward the goals of Jesus Christ, and defender of all of the Bible's truth whether it's easily explainable or not. 

What I do beyond that is an add-on: I'm a servant of Christ who manages paint plants. I'm a defender of the Truth who writes. If the world only sees the paint plants and the writing, my brand doesn't stand for the things it should. In that case, it's time to rework my image.