Name Droppers

 "Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven, and on earth and under the earth." Philippians 2:9-10..."In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." Acts 3:6....."The only thing that distinguished His servants was that they were authorized to use that Name." Watchman Nee

Somewhere along the line in life you've probably met a "name dropper." You know them. The people who like to "drop" a name of someone who's usually well known, and who they know. A celebrity, or person of influence. People who are important, and when they "drop" those names, the desire is that they will be seen as important also. Such people can be very tiresome and most of us avoid them. However, when it comes to Jesus Christ, the use of His name is not for the purpose of bringing attention to ourselves, but all attention and glory to Him. We who are His are really a people of no name serving the One whose name is above all names.

There's a refrain in one version of the song, "No Longer Slaves" that goes, "There is power, in the name of Jesus. There is power, in the name of Jesus. There is power, in the name of Jesus, to break every chain, to break every chain, to break every chain." Another song goes, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. There's just something about that name." Something glorious, powerful, majestic, mystical is in His name. I know in my life there have been times in prayer where I was so weighed down with need that I couldn't even put into words what I was feeling in my spirit. In those times, all I could do was say His name, over and over again. And in response came a deep, abiding peace. That which seeks to oppress, hinder, even harm us, cannot stand in the face of His name. There is power in His name, but do we really live like we believe that?

In Acts 3:6, Peter and John were in the Temple when they walked past a man crippled from birth. He was begging for money. Peter told him he had none, but he gave him what he did have, the healing power of Christ. And the healing came not from Peter and his name, but from Christ's. As Watchman Nee says, those who are His are authorized to use His name. The authority of Christ has been passed on to His followers. It is not a power and authority that we can use indiscriminately, and at our choosing, but when He leads us into situations where a word of healing, or victory, or deliverance is needed, we may speak His name and know that whatever it is that holds that person or situation "in chains" is broken by the power of His name.

This is what we, the church, have been raised up for and called to. We're to speak life into death, sight into spiritual blindness, peace into chaos, and joy into despair. Young and idealistic people are often told by someone that they can "change the world," and seek to do so through social and political means. But as the lyric goes in the classic song by The Who, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Whatever change is wrought almost always takes them into deeper darkness. It is for His church to go forth in the power of His name and "heal the sick, raise the dead, and cleanse the lepers," but instead, we've mostly been sitting in our pews and chairs, singing and preaching to each other inside the walls of whatever structure we meet in. Oblivious to the power of the name of the One we say we follow.

May we be "name droppers" of the King. May we freely go out speaking, singing, sharing and proclaiming His name. When we do so in the power of His Holy Spirit, chains will break, and lives will be made free. Let us be those who look for lives and situations into which we can "drop His name." His name, like His word, never comes back empty.

Blessings,

Pastor O