Can you imagine a world where nothing is named? How could we make sense of what we’re seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling? Everything – and everyone – would be experienced randomly. Without a name to assign to a face, how could we build a relationship? Without a name for our favorite foods, the tool we found so useful last week, or the place we’d like to visit again, how would we revisit them or let someone else know what we’re looking for? Sure, we could point at it, but what if it isn’t in our immediate vicinity? What if our powers of description fail us?
The Only Wise God knew how important names would be for an orderly and predictable world. So the very first task He gave to Adam, the man made in His own image, was assigning names to the animals in the Garden (See Genesis 2). After Eve was made by God, Adam got to name her too. We don’t know which of them named Cain and Abel, but we know it was Eve who named Seth, their third son. “She gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, ‘God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.’” (Seth meaning “granted” according to the NIV Bible notes.)
In the Bible, names often describe the circumstances taking place around the birth, or express a hope for the child’s future. Other times they are more prophetic … indicating something that will be accomplished in the person years down the road. When the angel of the Lord told Joseph what to name Mary’s baby, he not only told him which name to use but also why it was selected. “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Jesus … from the Hebrew name Joshua … meaning “the Lord saves.”
The name assigned to any child serves several purposes. It gives individual identity … a way to be differentiated from others. It also describes origin – the particular family group they are being born into. The surname or family name gives context to the child’s birth in the larger human family that spans generations. In Jewish culture property rights were given on the basis of family lines, so it was important to keep track of which family children belonged to.
We all know how it feels to hear someone mispronounce our name, or misspell it in written communication. It’s tremendously disappointing, even though we know it wasn’t done on purpose. There’s something almost sacred about our name in our own minds, probably because it’s an extension of who we are. For someone to not get it right seems like an affront, making us feel like we don’t matter to them.
When I was growing up I quickly decided to drop my first name (Nell) and use my middle name (Jeanne). The reason for that was simple. Invariably, as I began a new year in school, my teacher would get my first name wrong, probably because it was an uncommon name at the time. (My dad found my name in a book he was reading to my older brother.) The new teacher would either mispronounce it or reinterpret it as “Neil” … implying I was a boy! You can see the problem. It was just too embarrassing for a child like me, who didn’t enjoy getting unwanted attention. So I soon became Jeannie, even at home.
Where he was growing up in a small town in mid-America, my husband Tony experienced a different kind of problem with his name (in his case, his surname). When he misbehaved and it came to the attention of people beyond his immediate family, he was sternly lectured about it. His mother would wag her finger at him and say something like “You have the name ‘Hedrick.’ That means something in this town! You need to remember that what you do reflects on your dad!” (His dad, you see, was a local preacher.) When Tony didn’t change his ways or the problem didn’t go away, he knew he would hear the unforgettable rebuke that stung like no other: “Shame on you!” (Parents back then weren’t as concerned about their kids’ self esteem as they are now.)
We can now laugh about her style, but the truth is … she had a point. When we belong to a family, we do represent the lot, not just ourselves. We need to be careful about our character – our attitudes and behavior — because it reflects on them as well as us.
Cultivating a Good Name
A “good” name – a name associated with honesty, reliability, trustworthiness, fairness, and generosity — is something to be cultivated and valued. As it says in Proverbs 22:1, “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.”
There are lots of ways to “make a name for ourselves” in the world. Far too often, celebrities become known more for their outrageous behavior than their exceptional talent. It buys them their fifteen minutes of fame, but it also gives them a reputation for being inconsequential in the long run. Their careers, like a brilliant but imploding supernova, burn out long before they’re fully developed.
Building a “good” name is a slow and painful experience, requiring us to crucify our flesh when we’d often like to indulge it. When we’d love to retaliate with anger towards someone who’s wronged us, or are tempted to do something underhanded to get ahead, we are stopped by the knowledge of what the consequences will be. We pay for our short-term gratifications by losing our good reputation. It’s a lot harder to regain someone’s trust than to win it in the first place. Sometimes we never fully recover our good name after it’s been dragged through the mud of public opinion.
An exemplary reputation is hard work and usually associated with self-sacrificing behavior. To put the interests of others ahead of our own is something that may go unnoticed at first, but over a long span of time, people like that are so rare they inevitably stand out from the crowd. People like Mother Teresa are highly respected, not because they’re trying to make a name for themselves, but because they are willing to freely serve others when to do so is extremely costly to their own lives.
We know why Jesus was given “the name that is above every other name” (Philippians 2:9). Though He had every right to be served by His creation and to be exempted from the suffering of the sinful world, He willingly chose to empty himself of the privileges of divinity so He could bring others to God. His good name came from how He lived His life and how He unselfishly submitted to the death that would benefit everyone else. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus” Hebrews 12 urges, “the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (v. 2). Jesus’ greatest ambition was not to make a name for himself in some independent way, but to glorify the Father, who had sent Him. “By myself I can do nothing … for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me” (John 5:30).
Honoring His Name
Throughout the history of the Old Testament God tried to hammer home to His people how important it was for them to obey Him because they were His representatives to the rest of the world. As His chosen people, God wanted them to reflect His character and bring honor to His name. The prophets reminded them of the great privilege and responsibility that came with their special status. Yet, all too often, they acted quite opposite to their God. While He was holy, righteous, merciful, and just, they were idolatrous, unmerciful, sinful, and unjust towards others. By their bad behavior they defiled God’s name (Malachi 1:6, 12).
One of the great pleasures any parent can have is to watch their children doing something praiseworthy. I remember how excited Tony and I were watching our oldest son, Sky, play football for his high school team. When he excelled, either at defense or offense, our hearts would swell with pride, as if his triumphs were our own.
But our joy was tempered by the fact that the name on the back of his jersey was misspelled. We wanted our family name – Hedrick – to stand out for all the other spectators to see when he did something spectacular. But, sadly, the name displayed prominently on his back was not Sky Hedrick, but Scott Hendrick. It just didn’t sound as good to hear the commentator on the loudspeaker congratulate an imaginary player named Scott when it was our son who’d just made a terrific play!
Somehow Sky’s coach had misunderstood him when he told him his name, so when the uniforms came in, Sky’s jersey wasn’t right. New to the team, Sky was too embarrassed to mention it or ask the coach to have it reprinted, so he acted like it didn’t matter to him. “Everybody knows who I am” he’d insist when we asked about him about it. We didn’t press him, but to us, it was extremely irritating. We wanted the connection between him and the rest of our family to be clear and unmistakable.
I’m sure God understands that parental instinct. When He sees His children displaying His name honorably, it pleases Him. You can hear it in how He talked to Satan about Job … “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8). It’s wonderful to think that we – mere mortals – can elicit that kind of admiration from Almighty God. When we take our “family name” seriously and display it with honor and integrity, we communicate who He is to the world around us.
Personally Invited … by Name
I think it’s so precious, to know that God calls us to himself by name (Isaiah 43:1, 45:3; John 10:3). His offer to redeem us from our sins wasn’t a blanket invitation, generic in its address, like some of the advertising pieces we receive in the mail. It didn’t say “Occupant” … it was a personal call that had our own name on the invitation. (Which, incidentally, wasn’t misspelled!) In spite of how messy and sinful we were and how often we’d brought dishonor to Him, He still invited us to be a part of His family — to wear His holy name and to participate in His kingdom, warts and all. It’s unbelievable that He’d trust us with that!
An earthly parent would not have the patience with their children that our heavenly Father shows to us. That’s because he’s committed to seeing every member of His family wear His name honorably. He believes in us, not because of how wonderful we are, but because He knows that the Holy Spirit — who took up residence in us when we become His — has the power to make us like Him.
Peter, who messed up plenty while following Jesus, wrote, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3). Because we are “In Christ,” every Christian has what it takes to represent our Father well. We can bring honor and glory to His holy name. It’s our choice how we wear His name.
Our heavenly home will be filled with brothers and sister who have carried His name with us and have shared in our salvation story. Though our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ is also our brother in this family of God. He’s encouraging us to live up to our full spiritual potential, to follow Him in living to please our Father. Incredibly, He freely identifies with us in our struggles and is always ready to help us. “So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. For he said to God, ‘I will declare the wonder of your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among all your people.’ … It was necessary for Jesus to be in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Since he himself has gone through suffering and temptation, he is able to help us when we are being tempted (Hebrews 2:10-12, 17-18, NLT).
Making a name for ourselves apart from Christ makes no sense to the Christian. Our “good name” comes from choosing to share in His victory over sin and to declare the wonder of God’s name by living to bring honor and glory to Him. We are His. He knows us by name. And He trusts us to represent Him to a lost and dying world. He has given us the resources we need to do that and He promises to be with us, helping us, encouraging us, and comforting us every step of the way. What could be better than that?
Adventuring with God 
Jeannie–I so enjoyed your thoughts here. Everyone can identify with the self-importance of their name. Your words lead us so clearly to understand how serious it is to rightly represent our heavenly Father & how that identity with Him gives us the privilege of carrying His name. Thank you for the wonderful reminder of how He personally knows each of us by name. Teresa
Thanks, Teresa! Loved your comment!!
Jeanne, I read this after our meeting today and the reminder about Peter seemed to coincide so perfectly with what we were saying about David and Peter: “Peter, who messed up plenty while following Jesus, wrote, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3). Because we are “In Christ,” every Christian has what it takes to represent our Father well. We can bring honor and glory to His holy name. It’s our choice how we wear His name.” How good to be reminded it was Peter who said these words and that ALL of us can represent our Father well because of what He himself has provided for us. Beth
Yes, I guess I had this passage in mind when I brought up Peter today. I love both 1st and 2nd Peter. To think that a fisherman could write such beautiful testimonies about the Lord is so amazing. I love his language! thanks for writing and commenting, Beth. I always love to hear from you.