Last week I went to the library
and picked up a few Christian books that at first glance seemed to be
unrelated. But as I’ve gotten into them I’ve found several similarities. Two of
them,
Mourning into Dancing, by Walter Wangerin, and
To Be Told, by Dan Allender, talk particularly about the names we are given.
Allender states:
“Today it is rare that parents
first study a child in order to give the child a name that fits. Far more often
we pick a family name, or we choose a name that sounds good and has a meaning
that we like. The Hebrew process of naming was exactly the opposite. A name was
chosen that reflected the unique calling and character of the child. It is for
this reason that many Bible characters were renamed later in life... Each
change in name points to a day when we will receive an entirely new name. The
Bible tells us that those who seek God will one day be given a new name:
‘Everyone who is victorious will eat of the manna that has been hidden away in
heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be
engraved a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.’ When I
stand before God, I will be given a new name in a moment of tender, inconceivable
intimacy” (29-30 quoting Revelation 2:17).
He also reminds us that we’re
living in-between times. “We are between two names. We know our name; we don’t
know what our new name will be... [E]very one of us human beings experiences
the tension between who we are and who we will one day become.”
Like many kids, I went through a
time when I didn’t like my given name and wished I could choose a different
one. Mostly what I didn’t like were the derogatory names given to me by the
school bullies. One classmate threatened to hurt me when she found out that we
not only had the same initials but the same middle name—Christine. (Why she
blamed me for that I’ll never know!) While waiting in the graduation line at
college (arranged alphabetically), I was amused to learn that two of my friends
standing beside me and I would have all had the same first name if we’d been
boys.
These days I’m okay with the
name I was given. It has family significance as well as spiritual meaning. But
I do wonder what name God has for me. I’ve occasionally thought that God
renames us multiple times throughout our lives depending on what we’re going
through and how God reveals Himself to us. After all, God is known by multiple
names throughout Scripture, so why shouldn’t we have multiple names? I can tell
you some of the names He’s given me in the past: Grace, Beloved, Daughter,
Faithful, Enduring.
The other day at the gas
station I overheard a heated discussion between a couple men. One emphasized
his point by using the other person’s name, but I got the feeling he would have
rather called him “Idiot.” It reminded me of times when even a term of
endearment such as “Honey” is spoken with such a tone as to convey a much
different meaning. Those kinds of names don’t make you feel loved, appreciated,
or special.
Jesus said, “The sheep hear His
voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out” (John 10:3).
There’s a frequently circulated email of quotes from kids about love. One says,
“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know
that your name is safe in their mouth.” We know that our names are safe with
God. He always speaks our names with love, even if we are in need of
correction. He doesn’t use them in a derogatory manner. His voice breaks the
power of the names the world heaps on us, along with the names we put on
ourselves: failure, broken, mistake, unwanted, forgotten. He calls us by name
when no one else knows who we are.
God spoke through Isaiah,
“Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands” (49:16a). If I were ever
to get a tattoo (which is not on my bucket list), it would be something that
reminded me of who God is and who I am to him. More than anything else, that is
a reminder I need to see every day. God doesn’t need the reminder, but He
always has us in His sight and in His hand.
“The nations shall see your
righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new
name that the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in
the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no
more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but
shall be called My Delight Is in Her...” -Isaiah 62:2-4
