At another church, a lady was getting ready to teach her Sunday school class for four-year-olds when a little boy showed up without an identifying name tag. The teacher managed to discover that his first name was Brian but she was having absolutely no luck finding out what his last name was.
First she asked him, "Brian, what’s your daddy’s name?" to which he innocently replied, "Daddy." Then she asked him, "Brian, what’s your mommy's name?" Again out came the innocent reply, "Mommy." Suddenly she realized exactly how she could extract the information she needed. "Brian what does you daddy call your mommy?" After a moment the little boy’s face lit up with a grin and in a deep voice he replied, "Hey, Babe."
Speaking of names, do you remember when you first learned to write your name? If your first name is Tom, you probably didn’t have too much trouble. If your name is Nebuchadnezzar it probably took you a little longer. In Sweden there was a six-year-old boy who was named Brfxxccxxmnpckcccc111mmnprxvc1mnckssqlbb1111g. Imagine writing that with crayons on construction paper! The parents of this poor tormented soul say that his name is pronounced Albin. When asked to explain their child’s name they said, "It’s a meaningful, expressionistic, typographic formulation which we consider to be an artistic new creation in the pata-physical tradition in which we believe." I wonder what these parents will name their next child?
The importance of names.
Names are important. They reflect our identity. They define us. They stay with us. Over the last few weeks we have explored the background of the Christian Church. We believe in the book all can believe, the Bible, the Holy Scriptures. For us there is no book but the Bible. Where the Bible speaks we speak. Where the Bible is silent we are silent.
We embrace the creed all can accept. There is no creed but Christ. Our beliefs are grounded in Jesus Christ, the living word from God.
We are united with the unity all can achieve. This is a unity that does not compromise the truth in any way and a unity that is achieved for the sake of world evangelization, so that all might believe.
We are living out the faith all can live. This is a faith that is holistic and is a simple New Testament faith that involves our heart, mind, body, and soul. This isthe faith that Jesus modeled.
Today we conclude this series by focusing on the name all can wear. As you have noticed, our church is called Lakeside Christian Church. Lakeside designates our geographical location, and it's descriptive of our ministry context. The word church simply refers to a gathering or a collection of people. But the name Christian is special. It has great significance. It is very intentional.
Other names.
As you survey congregations across the United States you will notice that their names almost always contain their denominational loyalty. For instance, in Pleasant Plains you will find the Peter Cartwright United Methodist Church. They are a very active and faithful congregation. They love Jesus and it really shows in so many different ways. Inside their church they have a museum that contains artifacts from the ministry of evangelist Peter Cartwright, who heavily influenced area churches.
Their name reflects their loyalty to Peter Cartwright’s vision, but also to the work of evangelist John Wesley whose methods the entire Methodist denomination is patterned after. John Wesley started a grass roots revival with open air preaching. Though banned from the formal church, he organized coal miners and common people into small groups that studied the Bible and emphasized personal holiness. The term united reflects unity efforts within the Methodist denomination. So there a lot packed into that one name.
A major problem has arisen with the names churches have chosen for themselves. There are a lot of good things our church can affirm about Peter Cartwright, John Wesley, and the historic Methodist church movement. We can affirm their commitment to God’s word. We can affirm their undying loyalty to Jesus Christ. We can affirm the work God did in and through them. But the trouble with these church names is that they announce loyalties to godly men and their respective creeds and systems of doctrine.
A while back I met a Lutheran pastor from an inner-city Chicago church. I was browsing his library and noticed that he only had one set of commentaries, which were a translation of the original works of Martin Luther. Martin Luther devoted his life to studying and translating the book of Romans. His most notable accomplishment was translating the Bible into the language of the common people so that they could discover God’s will with their own eyes. Luther loved God. His beliefs and actions revolutionized the Church for the better. We would not exist as a church apart from the efforts of Martin Luther. But this pastor wore his allegiance to Martin Luther proudly. Luther was it! And this particular man loved Jesus at the same time, no question about it. He was a Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor.
Now I just picked these two churches by way of example. You may insert any group. It would be an insurmountable task for these two congregations to unite given their undying loyalties to different men of God and to their respective systems of belief. One says, "I follow Luther." And the other says, "I follow John Wesley." And still another says, "I follow Peter Cartwright."
If they were to unite, how would they ever sort it out? Who would have to give in? How could they ever affirm both the strengths and weaknesses of the very men they profess their denominational loyalty to? And what if you were to throw a Pentecostal church into the mix? They have a professed loyalty to the events of the day of Pentecost as detailed in Acts 2. And what if you were to throw a Baptist church into the pot? They have a loyalty to the system of beliefs as set forth by John Calvin.
The issue is not whether these congregations love Jesus Christ, because they all do! The issue concerns their name. By our names, are we creating unnecessary division?
The godly men behind these various denominations never formed denominations after themselves bearing their own names. The godly men behind these various denominations never called people to be loyal to themselves. They only wanted people to be loyal to the cause of Jesus Christ and the gospel! Their loyalty was first to Christ, before all things. Martin Luther was first a Christian before he was a Lutheran. John Wesley was first a Christian before he was a Methodist and so on.
Our name is Christian.
And so at issue is getting our name to reflect our first love, Jesus Christ. We are loyal first to Jesus Christ. He gets the glory. He is our focus. Every man of God from the apostle Paul to Billy Graham takes his place underneath our Lord.
In 1 Corinthians 1:10-12 (NIV) Paul addressed this issue in Corinth. "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, 'I follow Paul'; another, I follow Apollos'; another, 'I follow Cephas'; still another, 'I follow Christ.' "
And in 1 Corinthians 1:13 (NIV) Paul concludes, "Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?"
Members of the Corinthian Church had become divided in their various loyalties. And Paul’s solution for them, his appeal, is that they find unity under one name. Unity should be found in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord who died for us and in whose name we were baptized.
The point is that Christ is not divided, not in any way! As long as we focus on God’s servants, division will ensue. But when we put our focus on Jesus Christ, we find the potential for great unity. So why not adopt a name for every church fellowship that has the same universal appeal as does the name of Jesus Christ? Lutherans believe in Jesus. Methodists love Jesus. Pentecostals confess Jesus as Lord. Presbyterians and Baptists have Jesus at the heart of all their creeds too. In the spirit of those men who founded these respective denominations, why not set aside our denominational men and movement-focused labels and unite under one banner, under one name, Jesus Christ?
Our church’s name in one sense is generic. Christian. Yet it quite specifically announces to all that Jesus Christ is our first loyalty. Everyone who shares that Jesus is his first loyalty is welcome here. The name of Jesus is the one name all men of God subscribe to. So it makes sense that all of us can achieve unity by coming together where our loyalties are strongest, namely in Christ.
Our church has adopted various slogans to reflect this unity, but one stands out above all the rest. "We are not the only Christians, but we are Christians only." Sometimes our denominational labels reflect a self-righteous attitude, as if by our name we are suggesting that we are the only Christians or if by our name we are suggesting there is no truth or morality anywhere else on the church landscape.
By taking on the name of Christ we are not suggesting this in any way. We are simply inviting everyone to embrace the simple name of Jesus. This is the only name given under heaven by which we can be saved and become united. "We are not the only Christians, but we are Christians only."
The name Christian reflects our identity in three ways.
First, our name Christian identifies us with the right person.
In Acts 11:26 (NIV) we read that, "The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch." The people of Antioch were well known for giving clever nicknames. They nicknamed Christ’s people Christians, because Christ was always on their lips. Our name Christian reflects our desire to hold out the person and work of Christ. To be a Christian is to preach and promote Jesus Christ. We are deeply indebted to those who have carried the mantle of the gospel down through the centuries, but these men are not the focus of our faith or practice.
Second, our name Christian identifies us with the right choice.
In Acts 26:25-29 Paul shares Christ with King Agrippa. The king asks in Acts 26:28 (NIV),"Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" Paul was attempting to persuade King Agrippa to crown Jesus Christ as both king and savior of his life, and King Agrippa was indicating that he had no desire to make such a choice. To be a Christian is to choose Christ as one’s personal Lord and Savior. It is to choose the way that Christ opened up for us.
Third, our name Christian identifies us with the right kind of life.
In 1 Peter 4:16 (NIV) Peter says, "However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name." To be a Christian is to have a desire to live as Jesus Christ lived.
As a church we are the first to acknowledge several truths. We are not the only Christians. The kingdom of God extends far beyond these four walls and beyond our brotherhood of churches. There are many who have identified themselves with the right person. We are not the only ones who have chosen to follow Jesus Christ as the way, the truth, and the life. There are many who have identified themselves with the right choice. And we are not the only ones who are striving to live the Christ-like life.
The bottom line is that we are not the only Christians. We are Christians only, simply and completely. And our name is one all can wear and unite behind.
Parade Magazine ran a story of an engagement ring that slipped off the finger of its owner and fell into the sea off the coast of Sweden. The owner immediately lost all hope of ever seeing the ring again. But a few years ago, that ring mysteriously found its way back to its owner. A mussel that was caught by fisherman Peder Carlsson consumed the ring. Carlsson was able to return the ring because its owner had engraved her name on the inside of it.
If we have identified ourselves with Christ, if we have engraved the name of Christ on our hearts, we are truly his forever. Let us never forsake his name, but let us unite under his name for his glory, forever.