According to 1 Corinthians 4:2, the servants of the Lord are required to be found faithful. The apostles were the group specifically named to be examples in 1 Corinthians 4:9-17. In the early days of the church, the members were still new and unsure how to act. They looked to the apostles to see how they should live their lives because the church was still so new and there was no precedent of behavior to follow at that time. The apostles were CONSTANTLY being looked at so the early members could follow their example. But we do not have that problem now. The church has been restored for over 190 years and the expectations for behavior has been set. Now, we the members are expected to live in a way that our behavior will be a good reflection of our beliefs and of the church so that we can set an example for non-members. In Alma 39, Alma is talking with his son about his behavior. Alma makes it very clear: his son's behavior has caused many good people to go astray from the church and that his son will have to be held accountable for that. We cannot ever be sure of who is watching our behavior or how our behavior might cause another person to justify their own sins. Personally, I would not want to be accountable for another person's sins because they fell away because of my poor example.
When we live what we truly know, people will be able to better trust our word. In the first verse of 3 Nephi chapter 8, the people know that their records are accurate because the man who was in charge of keeping them was a just man. The people all had faith and trust in him because this man was known for using his faith in Christ for completing many miracles. This man (whose name is never given) had such a reputation of faith and good deeds that people had no doubts of his integrity in keeping the records.
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