I am a student of leadership. The study of leadership and bettering myself so that I can in turn better others around me is a passion of mine. One thing that is HAMMERED into your head in almost any basic leadership class is to use a person's name as much as possible. Why? Because people feel special when their name is used. They recognize that to the one calling them by name, they are more than a number, a demographic, or an employee. Names matter.
Any company that has survived years of building a brand around a name will tell you, names matter. There is a lot riding on a name. Reputations, lawsuits, promotions, guilt, and innocence can ride on a name. One of the first responsibilities ever given to man by God after creation was naming the animals. God gave Adam and Eve their names. Your parents probably named most of you! Names count. They matter. People, organizations, countries all respond to a name.
As I look through and read scripture, I see this fact drilled home as I see those whose names were changed after significant events in their lives. Here's a short non-exhaustive list:
Jacob - Genesis 32:27-28
Paul - Acts 13:9
Abraham - Genesis 17:1-5
Gideon - Judges 6:31-32
Each of these men had something significant happen in their lives and their names were changed as a result. And their new names reflected the events for which they would be known.
As a leader, when I'm coaching someone else, I've started doing something that I've seen a mentor of mine do with those whom he is helping to develop a God-centered vision for their lives. I now have people write out their own obituary and their own epitaph. Macabre? Maybe a little. But see, these two things are how those who come behind you who may not have known you or anything about your life will remember you. They will look you up on the Internet, or they'll pass by your headstone in a graveyard somewhere, and there engraved in marble will be the one phrase summation of what you meant to the world while you were here.
Take a moment. Try it. Your obituary can be a little longer - a paragraph maybe. Your epitaph, what will be written on your headstone, must be much shorter. How do you want those who follow you to remember you? What do you want said about your life in one simple phrase? What difference do you want to have made when you breathe your last?
Gideon was the last name I listed above. I recently did a study on the few chapters in Judges that record for us the life of Gideon. There's not much there. But what is, is powerful! He was raised in a society that worshipped an idol named Baal. There was an altar to Baal in Gideon's parents' home where he had grown up. As a matter of fact, Gideon's first act of obedience to Jehovah God was to go to the home of his father and tear down the altar of Baal! The verses above pick up right after this event. We see the people calling for Gideon's life! Yet the name that he ended up getting was one that meant "let Baal contend for himself." Basically, "Baal Fighter."
In Revelation 2, we see the letter to the Church in Pergamum. At the end of this brief letter, click on the reference link that follows and read what is written. Revelation 2:17
Does this mean that all of us who claim the name of Christ, who have placed our faith and trust in Him as Savior, who devote our lives in the pursuit of holiness have received a "new name" that only we will understand? I think it just might.
Those of you who know me personally call me, Kevin. It is how I am known and the name to which I respond. But I believe with all my heart that there is another name. I believe it may even be the name referenced in Isaiah 43 (and surrounding chapters) when the scriptures continually remind us that God has "called you by name." (Isaiah 43:1) "I have called you by name and you are mine." It tells of how when we are overcome by waters, we won't drown. Or when we find ourselves in the fire, we won't be burned up. We are HIS and He has a name for every one of us!
So if our names represent who we were while here on this earth, what great things we did for the cause of Christ, what do you want your name to be? When you walk through the gates of heaven and you look your Savior in the face for the very first time, and He says, "Welcome home, _________." FILL IN THE BLANK! I'm afraid for so many of us, we may be trying to leave Jesus at a loss for words because we're not doing anything to earn a name greater than "Warmer of Many Seats!" As a matter of fact, when I'm coaching people in the future, I may add this to the list of assignments. Write out the name for which you want to be known by your Heavenly Father.
For me? Messenger of Hope, or Hope Bringer. That's not a very pretty name in English, but it really is how I want to be remembered! Whatever my name is that is waiting for me, aside from seeing Jesus, it'll be the best moment of the beginning of my eternity... when I get to hear my name for the first time. What's your name?
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