It's All In the Name

 

Kobe Bryant. Regina George. Al Capone.

Listing the above names probably brought action shot pictures, scenes from movies or memories from book reports to mind. What those names evoke from us are memories that are seeped in thoughts of honor or shame. These are people we have either cheered for or adamantly booed. The reason we can get sweaty palms at the mention of an old childhood nickname is because names hold identity markers by which those around us tell us what our status is and who we are.

So what is shame and how do we find true honor?

To start, let’s call shame what it is: an identity thief. 

When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them the highest honor: giving them an identity that was created in God’s image. He blessed them with an environment to live their identity confidently in through a relationship with their Creator. Audrey Frank, author of “Covered Glory” says:

“Honor is essential to both relationship and belonging. Honor is unquestioned value. Honor is reciprocal. It is given and returned. Honor nurtures a sense of belonging and, creating and facilitating deep, meaningful relationships. This is the rich and fulfilling environment into which man and woman were created, invited, and included in the circle of fellowship with God and each other.” (Frank, 33). 

Satan came along and planted the seed of doubt against the Source of their identity and honor in the world. Shame sneakily causes our eyes to turn and withdraw from God and others, to curve inward with insecurity and radically transform into stony individualism. Like a group of robbers, shame cuts us off from God and each other, works doubts and fear into our hearts so that we don’t trust the Gospel and leaves us stranded in despair like the man from Luke 10 who encountered robbers that stripped, beat and departed from him, leaving him half dead.

In our daily exhaustion from wrestling with shame, where do we find true honor? The joy to any person being held captive under shame is that the Lord is more powerful. It’s wild to hear and believe, but True: He actively works to restore us to places of honor. True and original honor from the Creator is that we are invited by name to hear of His cherished love, acceptance towards us and an ability to find our identities in Him. Isaiah 45:4 records the Lord saying “I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor.” Not only that, but God gives us a new name to find our honor in. We are given the Lord’s surname to be our new name and to be worn with pride!

This relief in learning that our names are restored by the new family name of God motivates us to share this name with the world. We now bear the name of Jesus so we can showcase the joy and security of belonging in Him and invite those around us to experience Christ-Given honor. This honor has originated with God, is fulfilled in Jesus, and made glorious in us by the Holy Spirit. 

We live in a world where we feel the pain of shame and relief may feel distant or not for you. Speaking to you - one shameful human to another - I hope you hear that the name of the God-Man Jesus and His work on the Cross are weightier and more true than what Shame tells you. The world does not begin and end with what you have done or what you will do. Jesus' intentions on earth were to conquer sin and the grave and to give seats of honor and healing to the shamed. God has done it all to save you- because he really does love you and delights in you. Being restored by the Lord allows us to be unashamed before Him because our eyes are looking at what Jesus has done and who he is. (1 John 2:28)

Friend, let me ask you to consider this: What do you think would happen if, instead of working to make our name clean and great, we learned to embrace the glory-filled, healing name the Lord offers us through Jesus? We do not make our names worthy. But there is healing and honor found in gazing and being loved by the Lord.

The names he offers us are: Beloved. Chosen. Daughter. Son. 

A Child Restored by God’s Own Love.