Names are funny things. They give us our individual identity, but they also connect us with those of the same family lineage. For instance, I am Dale Lloyd Isom. My father is Billy Bascom Isom and my grandfather was Leon Lloyd Isom. We are all Isoms and we all belong to the same family. Our names say so. If I chose to change my name to say .... Tommy Jones, I am not sure how my father would feel about that. (more on that later) While I might go around explaining that I am really an Isom, my name would tell the world something entirely different. Some would say to me, "If you are an Isom, why do you wear the name Jones?"
In Peter's first letter, he discusses the importance of a name. "However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name." (1 Peter 4:16) Praise God that you bear that name! He talks about suffering for many other things and contrasts those sufferings with the sufferings that come as we follow Jesus. He tells us that when we suffer for His name, we should be "rejoice" and that we "are blessed". When we suffer because of His name, we are blessed. Suffering in any other name is just suffering; suffering in His name is something to praise God for.
So what? What does that have to do with anything? Many people that follow Jesus today wear many other names. Some will say they are Baptist, some will say they are Presbyterian; some will say they are Lutheran and so on. None of those names are found in the scripture. (John was not a Baptist, he was a baptizer) So why is that important? That gets us back to the question above. How does a father feel when his child would change their name? How would I feel is my son, Daniel changed his name? He could say to me that he is the same person that he was and that the name means nothing. He could say that he tells everyone that he is my son and that changing his name was only meant to identify him with a particular group. It might mean nothing to him.... but it would mean something to me. As my son, he wears my name and by that name he is identified as my son. Any other name identifies him with someone or something else.
"He is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:11-12) No other name under heaven, not any other name... given to men in which salvation is found. We are told in Acts 11:26 that Jesus' disciples "were first called Christians in Antioch." We don't know the circumstances surrounding this name, we are not told; but we do know that it is the name that Peter says we are to wear.
The question becomes what other name should a disciple wear? In the scriptures, disciples are described as saints, brethren, children of God, elect, chosen, called and many other things that are descriptions of status or relationship. The only name that they are given in scripture is Christian. (That I can find, correct me if I am wrong, please) As a group they are called the church, but individually, they only had one name, Christian. While the scriptures might not command us to wear the name Christian (might not), why would we choose to wear a name that describes a man or an organization over our Savior?
Everyone that identifies with Jesus and claims to be His disciple should wear the name Christian. The next time you are asked what religion you are... say Christian. When they ask what kind... say there is only one kind and that is Christian. Tell them we aren't hyphenated anything, we belong to the One and Only Savior, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. Wear that name with pride and know that if you suffer as a Christian, you are blessed! Peter says so. :-)
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