What’s In A Name?

I thought of a quote from Shakespeare today.
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose,
By any other name would smell as sweet.

The quote is from Romeo and Juliet.
Juliet argues that it doesn’t matter what something is called.
It matters what is.

I saw this demonstrated in a precious little boy.

This little three year old is the youngest of four boys.
Without warning, he decided that he wanted to change his name to Chilly.
Apparently, Chilly is a snowman character in a cartoon.

I saw him after Bible study, standing with his Mom.
I asked him about his new name.
He is most definite about it…and sees no problem in making the change.

His brother was standing there and announced that he was changing his name, too.
Except, he is taking his oldest brother’s name, which means there will be a #1 and a #2.
I played along and asked them if they would like to change my name.
Of course, this was great fun for them.
Without missing a beat, the youngest boy said, Yes…between giggles…Frosty!

We said our goodbyes and called each other by our new names.
We were the same people as we were five minutes before.
Only our names had changed.

The Lord’s hand was with them and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God , he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. (Acts 11:21-26)

Christians…belonging to Christ.
Christians…saved by grace.
Christians…bearing His name.

This is where Juliet was wrong.
It does matter what we are called.
It does matter what we are.

Being called a Christian matters a great deal.
We are sanctified by the Holy Spirit…
We are set apart…made holy…made new!

John Newton, who wrote the hymn, Amazing Grace, said it best:
I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.

After coming to Christ, it is impossible to stay the same!

Saul, who was also called Paul, persecuted Christians…followers of the Way.
As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied. “Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.”
(Acts 9:3-5)

In the town of Damascus, there was a disciple named Ananias.
He was told in a vision to go to a certain address and ask for a man named Saul.
Ananias was afraid.
He heard reports of all the things that Saul had done to Christians.

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” (Acts 9:15,16)

We don’t want to hear that!
Suffer…for the name of Jesus?
We do everything we possibly can to avoid suffering.

Often, people mistakenly believe that once you become a Christian, things get easier.
In many ways, things get harder.
Bearing HIS name changes you.
Bearing His name makes you more like HIM.

The little boys and I walked away today with our pretend names.
We were not terribly different than we were before.

Not so with the Name of Christ.
You begin to love what He loves.
You begin to want what He wants.
You begin to find that the old ways just don’t fit anymore.
You can’t put old wine into new wineskins.

Being a Christian is not a pretend game.
You either are…or you are not.
You can’t walk away and expect to be unchanged.
It is the real thing.
It matters.