Take the Name of Jesus With You

“Take the Name of Jesus With You” is a song that I have sang throughout my life. It focuses on the need for us to constantly bring into remembrance the name of Jesus when we find ourselves in life’s trials and difficult situations. It is through his name that we find ultimate satisfaction and contentment. The title of the song caused me to think about the idea of taking the name of Jesus with us. While not the focus of the song we sing, some people look at taking the name of Jesus with us as something that is optional. After being buried with Him in baptism (Colossians 2:2), we take His name everywhere that we go. Whether we want to or not, we take it to school, to work, to worship services, to a grocery store, to a mall, to a bar, to a nightclub, and any other place that our legs take us. As Christians, we are called to a higher calling and if we fail to live up to that calling in the way that we act and the places that we go, the world still sees the title of Christian on us.
Throughout our community, the company Healthsouth was something that we took great pride in only a few short years ago. We believed it was a company who stood for the very best in health care and it stood for the very best in a home-grown company. That was until the truth about the company came out. Now, anyone who has their name attached to the word Healthsouth is trying to remove any connections. No one wants to be a part of a fraud. While there were many lives saved and innovative procedures performed at Healthsouth facilities, because of the poor decisions of a relatively few decision makers, the name is scarred forever.
I hope and I pray that the name of Christian does not become a name like those of Enron and Healthsouth. I fear that as secular men look at Christians that they see a group of people who have performed some good deeds in the past but now fail to live up to the reputation that Christ died for. Some of this has happened through no fault of our own. Many have counterfeited the name of Christian and have broadened its horizons to include anyone who believes that Jesus walked this earth. A Christian is not merely one with knowledge of Christ but a follower of Christ (James 1:22-27, Luke 6:46-49). This is not the focus of this article. Nike can’t and shouldn’t have to take the reputation of what is sold at a flea market or on the back alleys of third world countries. We cannot answer for those who bear His name and forsake His ways. Christ will judge those who counterfeit His people’s name (Matthew 7:21-23)
I am talking to the Lord’s Church, the people called to His own possession, the chosen race, the holy nation, the royal priesthood (I Peter 2:9), the called out (Christian by definition), and those who walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). I beg of you that as you walk daily in the service of our Lord that you take His name and you display with pride and not with shame (II Timothy 1:8-13), you love Him with consistency and not grudgingly (Ephesians 3:17-19), and you treat the name of Christian as if it were the special pearl that Christ compared His Church to in Matthew 13:46-47. We are the light of this world and while we should not live a life of arrogance and self-pride, we cannot bear the name of Christ in the way He desires if we hide ourselves from the world that so desperately needs to know our Savior. The name of Christian is precious and needs constant and fortified protection. Let us hold fast to our confession of hope (Hebrews 10:23). Let us cling tightly to the name of our precious Savior by making our lives as much like Him as possible and let us never be complacent in the work of the Lord’s Church.

I pray that we wear our name, and I pray that we live our name.

Hebrews 11:16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.