In His Name

I remember when my wife and I were trying to name our first son. My wife suggested a name she liked, and I immediately said, “No, I knew a guy with that name and…” I realized that my experience with knowing that man caused me to dislike his name. It was a perfectly good name and it actually had a great meaning, but the guy I knew had tainted my view of that name so much that I refused to give it to my son. (A similar discussion took place over many other names as well)

Reputation

“A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth” (Ecclesiastes 7:1)

In the Bible, a person’s name is more than an arrangement of letters, it is his reputation, authority and character. Having a “good name” has little to do with what your mother called you at birth, and is more about what people call you when you are not around. If you have a good name, that means you are spoken well of by others, and respected among your peers.

Have you heard the expression, “my name is mud”? It doesn’t mean your mother called you “mud” when you were born, it means that you have soiled your reputation. You have done something to embarrass yourself, or cause others to think less of you than before.

Read more »

Religious Titles

"they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.' "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Matthew 23:6-12)

Stop using Religious titles of authority and exaltation.

Authority

Jesus taught a lot about authority, but his teachings differ significantly from our modern understanding of authority in the church. Basically there are two kinds of authority: authority that is taken, and authority that is given. The kind of authority that is taken by rulers who “lord it over” people is set in contrast to the authority that is given to the one who humbles himself as a servant. Jesus describes both of these types of authority in the following scripture.

In the Name of Jesus (Authority)

What does it mean to do something “in the name of Jesus”? It is a phrase that we hear and say often in our prayers, but do we really understand what it means? Are we truly speaking and acting in Jesus Name, or are we simply giving lip service?

Servant Leader vs Leader Man

Jesus taught us to be servants, and gave us a perfect example of what that looks like. He did not seek a platform or an audience, but as he spoke people listened because they recognized that he was authentic. Jesus came to serve and to save, can we do anything more than that?