Written by Dawn Rutan
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
