Wrong Name

Welcome! Today is our second message in this series on common mistakes that Christians, both those new to the faith and those who have been believers for decades, can make in their lives. Our first message was entitled “Wrong House,” and we looked at how people can have misconceptions about the Christian life that lead them to go to the wrong “house”, the wrong spiritual “place” that they think God wants them to inhabit.

Specifically, we looked at three such “wrong houses.” The first was adding rules, that is, either misappropriating Old Testament rules as applying to all believers today or simply adding requirements to the instructions of Christ and the New Testament letter writers. This behavior is like what the Pharisees did at the time of Jesus, and Jesus condemned them for this practice. Although we did not look at the following verse last time, it certainly applies:

Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.” – Luke 11:46

Loading people down with burdens is a very apt description of what legalism does to people. It replaces the joy of a life-giving relationship with Christ with fear and the need to be extremely careful in all you do. Those who teach such legalism not only present to you a wrong house, they prevent you from getting in to the right one. This is what Jesus meant when he said a little later in Luke 11,

“Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.” – Luke 11:52

The second wrong house we looked at was the mistake of focusing on outward actions to the neglect of the heart. A symptom of this wrong house consists of becoming overly enamored of the things of this world combined with a generally lukewarm response to God. The solution to this problem is to make sure you really understand from Scripture the goodness and love of God, and then call out to Him asking Him to change your heart, for it is by His Spirit that we love Him with whole hearts. You find these themes even in the Old Testament. From Proverbs 2:

My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright, He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for He guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. – Proverbs 2:1-8

The third “wrong house” we looked at last week involved the unfortunately common practice of trying to live out the Christian life without other Christians. Rather than having a consumer mentality when it comes to church, we should, to misquote President Kennedy, “Ask not what your church can do for you, ask what you can do for your church.” And just to be clear, by “church” I do not mean a building – every such building is definitely a wrong house! What I mean is a local group of believers. Last time we looked at the many “one-another” verses in Scripture, and we saw that living as an interdependent, loving extended family is the clear model in Scripture for how the church should live. In such a church even the youngest “freshman” believer can build into the oldest “senior.” Even the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 1,

I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. – Romans 1:11-12

Today’s message is entitled “Wrong Name,” and I realize there are at least two possible interpretations of the meaning of the title. One is that, similarly to last week, where we looked at wrong houses for God, we could be talking about wrong names for God, that is, wrong ideas about who God is. We actually looked at this idea a little last week, and in any case that is not what the title is meant to apply. Instead, this week I want us to look at wrong names we give to ourselves.

Names are a big deal in the Bible, and in the Old Testament, the names of people and places often reflect something about their characteristics. Naming things was in fact the first job; Adam named each animal in the garden as God brought them to him. Adam also named Eve, called the one who would become the mother of all the living. The name Eve is related to the word for “living.” It is a fascinating and insightful process to explore the names of people and places in the Bible and what they mean, but what I want to focus on are names that are changed. I want to first talk about names changed by other people, and then look at the implications of names changed by God.

In the Bible, we see that leaders would change people’s names as a way of emphasizing that their subjects were about to enter a new way of life, and that they would never be able to go back to their old ways. Perhaps the best known example of this is described in Daniel 1, where we are told that the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar took over the land of Judah, the culmination of a long period of prophetic warning to the Israelite people that if they did not repent and resume following God, this very thing would happen. Nebuchadnezzar set his chief official, Ashpenaz, with the task of finding some smart, promising young men of Judah to be trained in the ways of the Babylonian empire and then work the rest of their days in the king’s service.

Ashpenaz found four such young men, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and to each he gave new names. Daniel’s name, which meant “God is my judge,” (the “El” at the end was short for Elohim, one of the names of God) was changed to Belteshazzar, which meant “Bel is my protector.” (Bel was a false god the Babylonians worshiped. The name Bel was Ba’al in earlier times.) Hananiah’s name, which meant “God is gracious” (the “Yah” at the end was short for Yahweh), was changed to Shadrach, which meant “Aku is in command” (the “Ach” at the end was short for Aku, another false god of the Babylonians). Mishael’s name, which meant “Who is as God is?” (El) was changed to Meshach, which meant “Who is as Aku is?” And the name Azariah, which meant “hearer of God” (Yah) was changed to Abednego, which meant “slave of Nebo” (another false god). Note not only the change from God to false gods but also the change from the true God who is known for love and grace to the false gods that are only known by their harsh rule. The implication is that these new “recruits” were to learn complete and total submission not only to the Babylonian gods but also to their new human masters.

In the case of Joseph, Pharaoh’s new name for him was far less sinister, as Pharaoh was genuinely appreciative of Joseph at the time he gave him a new name. Joseph’s original name meant “May God give the increase.” Pharaoh’s new name for him was Zaphenath-Paneah, which meant “One who discovers hidden things.” This name was incomplete, because although it was true that Joseph told the king about the famine that was to come and made plans accordingly that saved the nation from ruin, Pharaoh was wrong about the ultimate source of this discovery. It was God who not only gave the king the prophetic dream but also gave Joseph the correct interpretation.  

When people give new names to other people, they frequently do not capture the true essence of a person or their situation because their knowledge is limited or because they have their own agenda. But when God gives someone a new name, the name is always appropriate, because it is based not only on God’s perfect knowledge, but because God is a God of love who sees the amazing potential of what people can become when they rely on Him.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before Me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make My covenant between Me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. – Genesis 17:1-6

The name Abram meant “honored father.” God changed the name to Abraham, which means “father of many nations.” And as we know, everything God promised came to pass. Even Jesus, the King of kings, comes from Abraham’s line. Abram’s wife Sarai was also given a new name:

God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” – Genesis 17:15-16

The change is similar to that of Abraham. The name Sarai means either “princess” or “quarrelsome” while the name Sarah means “mother of nations.”

Later in Genesis, we read the account of Jacob wrestling with a mysterious man through the night. Jacob’s hip was injured in the struggle. The account continues:

Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” – Genesis 32:26-30

The name Jacob meant to follow, to be behind, but also to assail, to overreach. The name Israel means “he struggles with God.” This is actually a name very deep with meaning, as it describes not only Jacob’s weaknesses in his life but also the long struggle of the Israelites against God, their deliverer. From their time with Moses in the desert, to the times of the judges, to the times with the kings and prophets, Israel continually struggled with succumbing to its own sinful desires rather than seeking after and following God.

Another example is Gideon; the account is in Judges 6. Normally angels greet people by name in the Bible. When the angel greets Gideon, however, the angel effectively gives him a new name (speaking for the Lord) by saying, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Gideon had never done anything deserving of that name. But God had a plan for him, just as He had a plan for Abram, and that plan would “grow” Gideon into that name as he relied on God.

Sometimes, God corrects names that either we have applied to ourselves or others apply to us. On example from the Old Testament is in Hosea 2, where God speaks prophetically of a future time when the people forsake false gods and return to God. God says that the people will no longer be called Lo-Ammi (“not my people”) or Lo-Ruhamah (“not those receiving mercy or love”) but that God will call them Ammi (“my people”) and Ruhamah (“those receiving mercy and love”). If you are a believer, these are names that apply to you! You have received mercy. You are part of the people of God.

Last week I put all the “one-another” verses on a single slide. Today I want to do something similar with who we are in Christ:

We are God’s possession, children, elect, chosen, beloved, heirs, temple, soldiers, ambassadors, witnesses, workmen, and workmanship. We have been adopted, justified, purchased, sprinkled, redeemed, washed, cleansed, sanctified, rescued, bought, made alive, raised, seated, predestined, chosen, forgiven, given the Spirit, indwelt by the Spirit, and sealed by the Spirit. We have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

(That last part is 2 Timothy 1:7.) Think of each of these as names, your new names in Christ! This is who you are, or God is a liar! (And God is not a liar!)

But most of us, at least some of the time, forget some of these names. This is a freshman mistake as well as a senior one. What happens when we forget our names? We go by old ones, names we have placed on ourselves, or names others have fixed onto us. These names can be severely damaging! They can destroy our ability to love God and others. They can cause us to sell ourselves far short of what God wants to do through us. They can cause us to try to live the Christian life apart from God or even abandon the attempt to live for God entirely. I just want to give a few examples of ways this can happen.

One big example is in the area of body image and what I might call personality image. Some people assign names to themselves (or others put them on them) such as fat, skinny, unattractive, awkward, unlovable, and so on. These are not names that God would use! First of all, God made you Himself! So when we speak poorly of ourselves we are speaking poorly of God who made us. Now some aspects of our body image and personality we can work on, while others we really cannot. If we are significantly overweight or underweight, we should focus on eating healthily. If we have significant issues with shyness or awkwardness, these are also things we can work on to improve with the help of good friends or counselors. If we have medical issues we should see doctors, and if we have major emotional issues we should also see medical professionals who specialize in this.

But at the same time, we should be working on seeing ourselves as God sees us. These aspects of our physical appearance or emotional makeup are not our identity! Biblically speaking, even our race is not our identity. Our cultural background is not our identity. Our sexual orientation is not our identity. Our true identity, our name, is defined by God, not our culture. Are there some behaviors that are within God’s will and others that are outside it? Absolutely! And that is part of the point. When we give ourselves names that God does not give, if some of those names are outside God’s will, we place our own names for us above what God says, and if we persist in this, we will severely damage our ability to love, relate to, and submit to God.

In some areas of our lives, such as weight issues or addictive behaviors, for example, we can try to improve ourselves in our own strength and for the wrong motivations. If by doing this we seek to change our name, that is a wrong motivation. Our name is already changed! People who do not believe this often suffer from feelings of guilt and shame when they fail to do what they set out to do. Then, they add a new name to themselves: Failure. God never sees you as a failure, even when you sin! He sees you as in need of repentance, of returning to Him, and of learning to sit at His feet and learn from Him, availing yourself of His wisdom and His power. He is patient with us and will keep on forgiving us. Something is wrong if we beat up on ourselves while God does not do so.

There is a battle to be fought here, but it is not a battle over behavior. It is battle of the mind, a battle over believing truth or lies about your identity, your name. Are you going to continue to believe the false names you have put on yourself or that others have put on you, or are you going to believe what God says you are, the names He has given you?

Understand that lots of people, in choosing to believe the lies, turn to drugs and excessive games and entertainment and other addictive behaviors to provide numbness so that they don’t have to think about who they are (that is, who they wrongly think they are). This causes them to add more false names to themselves. And also understand that Satan and the other demons are only too happy to assist in this process. Remember that the very name HaSatan means The Accuser, and that is exactly what he does!

Satan’s favorite name for you is probably Failure. He will call you this when you lose your temper with your spouse or children, when you have debt issues, when you lose your job, when you get behind at work or just feel overwhelmed in general. If you identify with this, I ask you, why are you listening to him? He is a liar and a murderer. Do not allow his thoughts to infiltrate yours.

The battle is not over what your name will be. The battle is over whether you listen to God about what your name is or whether you listen to someone else. Winning this battle is a necessary first step to seeing change and victory in your life. Winning this battle will win you back joy, and love, and hope, and peace.

Change your thought processes! Understand that doing this, like doing anything important in life, requires prayer and dependence upon God rather than upon self. But also understand that it takes work on our part, work in persisting.

But the good news is that it will not be a battle forever. Eventually new thoughts (Biblical ones) will start to replace unbiblical ones and new thought patterns will become established. Eventually you will be able to catch yourself when you begin to fall back to old patterns and say, “That’s not who I am anymore. That’s not who I am in Christ.”

Will this fix all your problems? No. But it will fix many. Note that genuine addictions often require more than understanding your identity in Christ, and one should be open to getting professional help in such cases. The same can be true in some cases for depression and other psychological issues.

But our God is alive! He is powerful! And He desires to have us understand who we are in Him so that we can live lives of freedom, joy, and purpose in Him.

I have shared this before, but it has been a few years. There was an old science fiction TV series called Babylon Five. In this series, there was one group of aliens who had some similarities to angels, and there was another group of aliens who seemed more similar to demons. The “demon” group liked to ask people the question “What do you want?” whereas the “angel” group liked to ask “Who are you?” I know that the author of the series came from a Christian background which unfortunately he rejected, but I wonder how much Christian theology influenced his writing without him noticing it. Actually, I think he noticed it halfway through the series, and maybe was disgusted with himself, because he managed to “wipe out” both groups of aliens later in the series. But the “angel” question is a good one to ask yourself. Who are you? Who am I? What do you answer? Your answer should not contradict scripture. God has new names for you!

I love this passage from Isaiah:

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you [Hephzibah], and your land will be married [Beulah]. As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. – Isaiah 62:1-5

I love how these two new names are not even based on the person’s own characteristics at all, but on the Lord’s. There is something profound here. Our true identity as Christians (even that name) is in the relationship between us and the Lord. We are married, and God does and forever will take delight in us.

At the same time, God cares about each one of us individually, and He has names picked for us that are just for us. From Revelation 2:

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. – Revelation 2:17  

We must wait to see what these names will be. But we know they will be names given in love, seeing the unlimited capabilities and potential in us as we submit to God and allow Him to change us and empower us by His Spirit.

In our remaining time today, I have an activity for us. I am handing out to everyone a small blank piece of paper. We are going to spend a few minutes in silence, during which I ask that you prayerfully ask the Lord to reveal to you one, two, or three false names that you place on yourself. I ask you to write these names on your paper, and then, in prayer, tell the Lord that you agree with Him that these names are in fact not your names at all. Then rip up the paper. At the end of this time we will pass a trash can so that these false names can go exactly where they deserve to go – in the garbage.  

Father, I thank you for the glorious truths of who we really are in You! It is astounding, overwhelming, and entirely undeserved. We know that you desire that we live by these truths and choose to reject the false names we give ourselves and that others have put on us. We ask for your help and power to win this battle of the mind so that we consistently believe true thoughts about You and about who we are in You and reject the lies. In Christ’s name we pray, amen.