Living Above Reproach

"He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him" - Colossians 1:22

"Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach..." - 1 Timothy 3:2

"if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined." - Titus 1:6-8


The Bible talks a lot about living a life that is above reproach. But what does that mean? Does that mean not doing anything that could be rebuked in any way or by any person? Do we sometimes make up extra rules that are not Biblical (legalism?) to ensure that no one could criticize a thing that we do? And if we do, are we then hindering the work that God could be wanting to do through us?

In many ways, Jesus was not above reproach to our standards...

"And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" - Mark 2:15-16

At that moment, Jesus was being rebuked. Granted, not for the right reasons, but in the Pharisees' minds, and maybe even his disciples' minds, he was not above reproach.

Perhaps, in our venture to live holy lives, we have jumped too far. We have turned something that God can use for good, and turned it into a situation that could be the 'appearance of evil' so we then don't act on the things we feel like God could be leading us to do.

So I guess my goal is to define what it means, and doesn't mean, to live above reproach. I want to get back down to basics. I don't want to live in fear of what something could look like to others and in the process miss out on God's mission for me.