Name Bearers

I don’t know what parents are thinking nowadays when naming their kids. Whatever happened to spelling names the way they ought to be spelled? I can understand a couple variations on a name but it’s getting to the point where the sky is the limit and anything goes when naming a child. Even as an ‘adult’ you can decide you want your name changed to things like "Chad Ocho Cinco" or "Metta World Peace". (Chad Johnson NFL, Ron Artest NBA) Parents in many ways want their children to feel special and what better way to kick off that uniqueness than with a name they can’t spell until the 3^rd grade because it defies every rule of English spelling and pronunciation.

Recently I’ve been reading in Genesis and it’s funny what names were given to kids and the meaning of the names. I’ll just mention Esau (hairy) and Jacob (heal grabber or figuratively ‘he deceives’) for example. There’s nothing really special about those names by today’s standards. It’s interesting to note that God has a habit of changing people’s names as Abram, Sarai, and Jacob become Abraham, Sarah, and Israel. But what is of utmost significance is the name we find in Exodus 3 when Moses asks who he is to say sent him to free the Israelites and God gives him the name by which he is to go to Pharaoh. God’s name becomes the ultimate source of authority and identity for Moses and all of Israel. Previously God told Moses that He has seen the misery of His people and heard their cries and in Exodus 6 He states that He will free them, redeem them, and take them as His people. These people will bear the name of their God who rescued them from captivity and all other nations will know them by the God they serve. They bear the name of their God.

In the New Testament we see something similar happening after the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the very early history of the church we see a name get placed on followers of Christ. People on the outside of the church start referring to them as Christians and so they end up bearing the name of the one they are following. Their identity becomes connected to a name. Paul says in Philippians 2:9-11

"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father."


His name carries all authority and power and his people end up bearing not just his name but also trials and suffering. We read in 1 Peter 4:12-16


"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name."　

A couple months ago a friend and I were talking the third commandment and what that looks like in today’s culture. The third commandment deals with using the Lord’s name in vain, or misusing it in some form but what does that look like? I remember learning about the commandments as a kid and back then it meant not saying God or Jesus Christ in a swearing fashion. This included all of the variations that could be used as a way to avoid actually using a name in vain. Oh my ‘gosh’!  Is that what it’s about? Not saying His name in a vain or improper way?


The purpose of bearing God’s name went beyond a simple name of identification and had everything to do with the covenant relationship He had with His people. The covenant had an impact on what they ate or didn’t eat, how they worshipped and even had a physical element to it via circumcision. His name had a bearing on how His people lived their lives. For the early church the name of Christ had a bearing on how they were to live their lives and it should have an impact on how people in the church live today.  What if someone bears the name of Christ but their lives do not reflect Christ? What if someone bears the name ‘Christian’ but consistently speaks behind the backs of co-workers just like everyone else? What if someone bears the name ‘Christian’ but is unforgiving and harbors bitterness towards others? What if someone bears the name ‘Christian’ but engages in questionable ethics when it comes to how they run their business? When we bear the name of Christ but refuse to let it change how we live our lives isn’t that a form of using His name in vain?

In Matthew 5 Jesus raises the bar on many of the commandments mentioned in Exodus. Hate becomes equivalent to murder and lust becomes equivalent to adultery. I can’t help but think Jesus would have upped the ante when it came to using God’s name in vain as well. Media is quick to point out when religious leaders, political figures, celebrities or athletes who bear His name fail miserably but who takes notice when you or I aren’t reflective of Christ? Co-workers? Family members? Grocery clerk? Bank teller? Customer service person on the phone? Unless you have a Jesus bumper sticker on your car and only have shirts with a church name on it there are many people in this world that you will come across who won’t know whether or not you bear the name Christian. But I’m guessing that there are a ton of people you interact with daily or weekly who do so don’t take the 3^rd commandment and the name that you bear lightly. There is no other name like it!

Acts 4:8-13

"Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is
‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the capstone.’

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."