You Name It

At church on Sunday the pastor talked about the power of names. I'll be honest and say that I don't remember much about the whole point of it, other than we've lost some respect for Jesus' name. In the Old Testament, once God gives His name to Moses, the Hebrews only use the consonant letters: YHWH. And it got to the point where only the high priest could say God's name and only one time on the Day of Atonement. And Jesus comes along (Yeshua - Yahweh saves; Emmanuel - God with us), and we have a Name that we can call on anytime, anywhere. The pastor wondered if we need to reclaim some of the wonder of the name.

Names have power. Throughout the Bible, people are given names with meaning. Legends and stories are filled with examples of the power names have (Rumplestiltskin, for example).

I've been discovering in the last couple months how naming sin loosens its power--especially when you name it to other people. Not just sin, but the things, situations and even people who trigger sins for you. James tells us to publicly confess our sins to one another. But at best, the church is good at confessing only to a priest/pastor in privacy; at worst we dis-acknowledge our sins all together.

One of the things I need in my life is more true fellowship with others--especially other men. I haven't built the deep relationships I need to keep me out of isolation. That's what the church is called to be--a place of fellowship, communion, where Jesus is present when 2 or 3 gather in His name. That requires that we go beneath talking about the weather and claiming that everything in our lives is "fine."