What's in a Name?

“What’s in a name?  That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

    This is the famous and oft-quoted line from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. (I would be remiss here- and probably hunted down by my Junior and Senior AP English teacher- if I did not acknowledge that Shakespeare, the man from Stratford, most likely did not write this or any play). Regardless, the playwright’s point is that a name is merely that: a name.  There is no mysticism or special meaning when a name is given.  A rose is still a rose if we call it by another name: it would still smell like a rose, be red like a rose, and have thorns like a rose.  So, it is implied, the name a person bears does not have any impact upon who they are at their core, even if it does change the way they are perceived.  And perhaps, given the circumstances surrounding Romeo and Juliet’s love affair, this would be a fair point in this case.  But, with all due respect to Shakespeare (or Sir Francis Bacon, or Edward de Vere, or whomever), I disagree.

    I believe it is abundantly clear in scripture that names bear great significance.  Why else would God be given so many if not to tell us more of His character? Why else would God instruct that his son be given the name of Jesus, Immanuel (God with us) but to tell us that this was his Son, his very presence on earth in human form?  And what about the numerous Biblical examples of name changes?  After losing her husband and both sons, Naomi (meaning “pleasantness”) requested to be called Mara (meaning “bitter”), saying that the Lord had “dealt bitterly” with her.  The name Ruth means “friend”, and Ruth certainly owned that role to her mother-in-law.  After wrestling all night with God, the Lord changed Jacob’s name, which meant “holder of the heel”, referring to his birth, to Israel, which means “God contended”, or “wrestled with God”.  Jesus changed Peter’s name from Simon (meaning “he has heard”) to symbolize that he would be “the rock” upon which Jesus would build his Church.  And, when Saul, which means “prayed for”, met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he became Paul, which means “humble”.

    I would say that Naomi felt bitter; Jacob did indeed wrestle with God; Peter was the rock upon which Christ built his Church in Jerusalem and beyond; and, I believe it’s pretty evident that Paul was humbled on that dusty road.  So, it seems abundantly clear that names bear spiritual significance.  Whether they are given prophetically at birth and God intends us to live up to them, as in Ruth’s case, or whether God renames us, as with Peter, to build us up in our identity in Christ and walk therein, I believe it is abundantly clear that names bear great significance in the Kingdom, and God intended it to be so.  This is a common theme biblically: as people are redeemed, made whole and changed in the Lord, they receive a new identity and name in God.

“...I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.” -Isaiah 56:5

    This, I believe, is a part of our development in Christ.  We know that in Christ, we are “new creations”.  If new creations, it follows that we would have new names, new words and concepts with which to identify ourselves.  Sure, maybe we don’t go legally change our names, but as we solidify who we are created to be in Christ and as Jesus affirms our new identities in him, I believe new names will emerge that both symbolize who we are in Christ and show how He has created us to walk.  For me, God has moved powerfully in showing me my identity both as a δοῦλος (the greek doulos, meaning bondservant) and a υἱός (the greek huios, meaning son), both of which I have tattooed on my wrists.  He as also move powerfully in showing me the significance of my Swahili name, Mshindi.  One of the girls at an orphanage gave me the name last year while I was living in Africa, saying that “it fit me”, and I believe her word were truly inspired by the Spirit.  It means “conqueror”, and God has used it powerfully to speak to me the strength and courage he is providing me in His Spirit to walk victoriously in Christ, and it has truly changed the way I view myself to match more closely with the way God views me.  It has empowered me and given me confidence and freedom: all because he chose to work through the simple process of selecting a name in a foreign language.

“...and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.” -Isaiah 62:2

    So the question that follows is this: who are you in Christ? Who has he created you to be, and how is he trying to build you up into a new creation in Him?  What is He teaching you about yourself and what identity growing you to become?  What new name is he placing over your life and sealing you with upon your heart?  Called by your new name, you will smell infinitely more sweet!