Juan Barrena

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. The rich and the poor meet together; the LORD is the maker of them all. The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:1-6 ESV). While reading the headlines recently I saw an article on the top five “cons” of all time. It was interesting reading to say the least. One involved Juan Barrena. Operating in Mexico in the 1930s and 1940s, Barrena worked the "Spanish Prisoner" con. Hooking up with American tourists, a distraught Barrena would claim that a wealthy relative had been wrongly imprisoned. If only the good-hearted gringo would help, Barrena would gratefully give him or her half of his relative’s vast financial cache. Sounds impossible that people would actually give him any money. However, before he was finally arrested and sent to prison, he had collected thousands of dollars from sympathetic tourists. Berrena's pitch sounds a lot like a tear-jerking letter from a wronged Nigerian government official that many of us have received in recent years. Well, Barrena went well beyond a pleading e-mail. He also employed a colleague to pose as the jailer holding the unfortunate relative — a police officer who, remarkably enough seemed to soften with the more money the mark ponied up. One gullible American businessman reportedly handed over tens of thousands of dollars. Barrena and his associate were hailed as heroes by the Mexican press, which called them "patriots" looking to right the financial disparity between the United States and Mexico. There is a wonderful lesson for us in this story. Solomon speaks to this truth in our reading today. We ought to be concerned with our reputation. We may learn this lesson from Robert E. Lee, After the American Civil War the managers of the infamous Louisiana Lottery approached Robert E. Lee and asked if he’d let them use his name in their scheme. They promised that if he did he would become rich. Astounded, Lee straightened up, buttoned his gray coat, and shouted, “Gentlemen, I lost my home in the war. I lost my fortune in the war. I lost everything except my name. My name is not for sale, and if you fellows don’t get out of here, I’ll break this crutch over your heads!” How’s your reputation? Are you known for qualities that would point to Christ? If not, make your commitment today to be more like Him! That’s the reputation we should all desire to have.