Name-Calling

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
- Romeo and Juliet (Act II, Sc. II)

Zy-Za and I were brainstorming (well, more like braindrizzling) in a coffee shop on what the title of her blog will be a few months ago. Since we were feeling particularly loony that day (trust me, drinking coffee when you’re already hyper is totally not a good idea), the stuff that came out were titles that bands would probably sue us for practically mangling their names. Some notable ones were Switchsock, Sonicpatak, Bangang Putik, Baby Katina, and other such mutilations that are practically lawsuits in the making. She eventually didn’t take one of those titles, though, as you can see.:D

It took some time to percolate in my head to come up with an entry with at least a bit of sense, but that instance got me thinking on the value of names. From time immemorial, names were given to objects, the name-giver exerting authority over what has been named. God giving Adam the authority to name the animals in the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:19-20) shows that He allowed man to be the caretaker and overseer of His creations. Nowadays, some inventions or discoveries are named after the creator or founder, probably to preserve the memory in a more lasting way. Names were given to label an object as something. The scientific names of cats (felis domestica) and dogs (canis familiaris), for example, are dead giveaways. In the past, monickers were also given to warriors depending on their attributes, and end up being their title of sorts. Names are also given to denote belongingness to a certain organization, such as surnames that let other people know that the person belongs to this or that clan/family, or membership to a group. Some names, on the other hand, seem like quirks of fate. A fish might not have been called a “fish” and instead a “book” if the circumstances made the person who coined the word think of the latter word. People who end up with unpleasant names (I’d rather not give examples of these, so as not to disrepect them) are victims of these. This doesn’t completely negate the Bard’s declaration, however, especially if the object belongs to the last category – names that are given almost by accident. A person may still remain the exact same being regardless of the name given to him/her – but then again, maybe not, we will never know. What I understood from the philosophy given by William Shakespeare is that the name in itself is not important – it is the core of the person/object that would matter. Some people go off and have their names changed for whatever reason they might present, but be it their old or new name, it would still be the same person at the end of the day.

Yet names are not worthless. Not at all. A person’s identity becomes so intertwined with his/her name that one virtually cannot be separated from the other. Once a person acquires a name, s/he has the responsibility to take care of it, unless s/he wants to bring dishonor to that name.

As Christians, we have a greater responsibility in protecting the name, not only for ourselves and for other people but for God as well. The word “Christian” itself gives a two-fold definition – one that is intrinsic, and another that is extrinsic. We are Christians in that we believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour. Being a Christian also means that we have to be Christ-like, for we belong to Him. That’s why we have to be careful in our demeanor, whether or not other people may see us or not, because we are of Christ, and we should not bring Him dishonor. What right do we have to do that, when He gave everything for us? He did more than just die on the Cross for us – He gave us a second chance at life, life that He Himself gave in the first place, and which we abused and wasted heedlessly. He does not impose on all people to go and act in a restricted fashion – the freedom of choice that He gave us. Yet upon knowing what He has done for us, would we really still want to turn our backs from Him? That is why protecting the name of Christianity is important. We don’t just go and proclaim to the world what our belief lies in, but we also serve as witnesses for God. We have the responsibility not only to ourselves, but more importantly, to other Christians whose name might be tainted to some people because we, upon proclaiming that we belong to God, proceed to act as though we don’t.

Sure, it’s just so easy to keep it up there in your head, but the practice of that is much more difficult. We might go and pray, read the Bible, and attend Bible study or other such similar activities, but outside of that, we go off and act as though we don’t know God at all. Sure, we have the tendency to think highly of ourselves (the pride talking) because we do those things compared to those who don’t, but that’s just self-righteousness. A friend once told us a story of a guy who is the son of a pastor. He tells people who know him that he’s a Christian, yet his actions show otherwise: He does substances, parties all day and all night, and does just about everything to please the flesh. One day, one of his friends approached him and asked him if he was a Christian, to which he replied proudly that he is. The other guy looks at him and then says, “So Christians aren’t different from other people, after all.” The guy was so shocked at that that he immediately repented. Once we accept Him in our life, it means that we offer our whole lives as a pleasing sacrifice for Him, and that means to live for His glory and honor. If we go and proclaim that we are and yet do what is contrary to this, we also affect other people, especially those who don’t know Him yet. They might think that it’s ok to those things since we, who are forward in shouting His name, do these anyway.

God wants not just a chunk of a person to worship Him – He wants the entire person, and that means that a person who genuinely desires to have a deeper relationship with Him has to surrender all facets of life to Him. He’s not only asking for our Church life or our family life – He wants everything. It’s not about being a perfect little angel in front of your parents and to those you have fellowship with, and then act completely different in front of other people because it seems that it’s what the situation requires. If that is the case, then you’re following not Jesus, but what the world is saying. It’s faux Christianity, because you’re doing it only to please some people and not really God. Yes, it cannot be denied that we fall – it’s human nature. We can never be perfect no matter how hard we try; there is only One who is perfect, and that is God. Does that mean, then, that however hard we try, we will never be able to please Him? No. This is where the first definition of our faith comes in, that we belong in His Kingdom (Rm 8:38), as long as we humbly offer ourselves to Him and acknowledge our sins. Reading the preceding chapter of this from Romans, the text talks about Christians who still commit sin (Rm 9:13-25). We know that certain actions are not pleasing in God’s eyes, and yet we still do these anyway. In effect, we do things that we hate. What can we do then? It is to rely in the power of God’s grace through Jesus, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn 14:6). We submit our lives to Him. It’s an honest and sincere move on our part to live for Him alone. That is what genuine repentance means: to not only feel sorry for our sins but to make an honest and genuine commitment to not do these again. We’re standing up for Jesus, and we must take care that we truly do live for Him. Our actions, our thoughts, everything that we are should be done for His glory and honor. Our whole lives should reflect who Jesus is. We should live for Jesus, period. We might go and do a “Christian deed” as it appears outside, but our motives are completely different. God knows that (Lk 12:2-3). We might do these to impress other people and not really for Him, but He is aware of that (Lk 16:15). In the end, it’s about truly living for His name and not a shadow or imitation of it. We proclaim our faith because we truly do live for Him.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord (Matthew 23:39).