“What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”*
Why did you chose the name of your children? Was it a characteristic you saw in them? Possibly it was a family name. Could it have been that it rolled off the tongue as you spoke it with your last name? Maybe it started with the same letter as all the rest of your children. We all have different reasons for choosing our children’s names. Rebecca and I tried to chose names that were noble and strong biblical names. Rebecca’s name means noose or snare. Mine? Well it means small.
I don’t know why my parents picked my name. Was my size less robust compared to my brothers or the other children in the nursery? There are no family members that bear the name, and as far as I can tell there isn’t any continuity in my siblings name. John (my oldest brother) bears the name of my uncle and grandfather. Brian (just a year older) doesn’t seem to follow the family dynamic, isn’t biblical, or popular. Then there is my name —Paul.
There are famous and infamous people named Paul. Paul Revere, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Paul Newman, Paul Castellano (criminal), Paul Stanley (KISS), Paul Goebbels (Nazi Chancellor ) and of course, the Apostle Paul. When I think of all these personalities (except for Revere and the Apostle) they were over compensators. Could it be they were performers, criminals, Nazi monsters because they felt so inadequate and small? Did they feel that way because of their name, or was their name prescient?
The Apostle Paul wasn’t always Paul. His birth name was Saul. It is a Hebrew name meaning “asked for, or inquired of God.” His parents had probably entreated God for a child, and when the baby was born they named him Saul in honor of God’s answer. But all of a sudden in the book of Acts there is a shift where Saul is forever going forward as Paul. No one knows for sure why the change, but it makes sense for two reasons. Paul is a Greek or Gentile name. Taking on the mantle of Paul would have been logical since Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles.
Paul was also given a thorn in the flesh to humble him. Paul even considered himself the least of the Apostles. The monicker, Paul, would be an appropriate reminder of his mission and his attitude before God. He was to be small in the same way that John the Baptist said he must decrease and Jesus increase.
I think it is important to have reminders of who we are in the great scheme of things. When tragedy strikes, when persecution arises, when we don’t get our own way it is easy to start complaining and blaming God as if He has directed the universe against us. In those moments it is good to remember what the Psalmist asked, “who are we, oh God, that you should be mindful of us?” It is in the contrast of our true nature that our exaltation in Christ is all the more glorious!
Who I am now is a result of the name of Jesus. In Christ I am made new, redeemed, adopted, blessed, filled with the Spirit, transferred from dark to light, and made alive! One day God will hand us a white stone, and written on it will be a name known only to the receiver (Rev.2:17). I wonder what my new name will be? Don’t peek, you’ll get one too, and it will be glorious! I’m just saying…
From the Bunker Day 42
*if you know where the line of this poem came from without googling, let me know.
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