What's In a Name

I’ve chosen 20 first and middle names for my children and named numerous pets and even dolls through the years. I even chose names for my yet unborn children when I was a kid,(Chad Sebastian and Ocean Aurora!). My Grandma taught elementary school and had a list of names that no one in the family could ever use because she “once had a student with that name”. The names we ultimately chose for our kids either mean something that we want our kids to exemplify or honor someone we love and respect. Our last name identifies the family we belong to and the people we claim as our own. Names are important!

Throughout the first chapters of Acts those who followed Jesus were referred to as “followers of the Way”, “brothers and sisters”, and “saints”. As the gospel spread to other people groups and regions, they began to be called by a new name. “In Antioch, the disciples were first called Christians” (Acts 11:26b). The believers didn’t choose this name for themselves, but it was how those in the community referred to them.

While Christian is not the name used most frequently in the New Testament, in twenty-first century America it is the one that has endured. I briefly entertained the idea of surveying my FaceBook friends to see what came to mind when they heard the name Christian, but quickly decided against it. I can guess what the answers would be. For those who are settled in a church and growing in their relationship with Christ, they would predominantly have positive things to say. Others have perceptions of some Christians, that deserved or not, they apply to all Christians. After all, we are part of the same family. We all bear the name of Christ.

When my smaller kids have been angry with each other, they’ve been known to say “you aren’t my sister!” If I’m honest, there are Christians that I sometimes feel this way toward. It would be easier, wouldn’t it, if we could just deny our relation and move on? But this is God’s family. We have all been adopted into it, and we don’t get to choose who else is part of it. “Love one another”, Jesus told His people. “By this all people will know you are my disciples.” They will know who we are because we love our brothers and sisters even when they aren’t behaving how they should, or when they hurt us, or disappoint us and even when we wish they weren’t part of the family. Because of His grace, we repent, we forgive, we love, and by His grace we are healed and changed.

We take our family name everywhere go. People who have encountered one of our family members may have preconceived ideas about us because of an experience they had with someone else who is part of our family. There have been times we’ve reminded our kids that they represent our family. Similarly, everywhere we go we represent Christ. It’s a privilege and a responsibility. We are His ambassadors, showing the world what He is like, and pleading with them to be reconciled to God.

How are we representing our brothers and sisters in Christ to others? How are we representing our older Brother and our Father to the world? For the sake of the world, may we bear His name well and show them how good our Father really is. There truly is no better family to belong to!

-Natalie Runyon