What's in a Name?

The following comments refer to chapter five in Batsell Barrett Baxter's book, The Family of God.  In this chapter are some thoughts on what makes a good name for the church and why.  This study is a great help in learning about the church.  Most people come in with the idea that names are like opinions--everybody has one, and in the long run there is not much difference among them.  Let's take a closer look and then decide.

Whether it's in a class like ours, in which we try to define the church, or just a general lesson on why we do some of the things we do, the topic of what name we use comes up every few years.  The discussion often starts on the premise that the exact name doesn't matter, but it's who we are that matters.  It eventually concludes with someone saying the name does matter and should never be changed.  Classes like that can reveal some truth, but usually people are more confused afterward than when they started.  Now we have an opportunity to lift ourselves above all that.

Let's explore the question, "Can a name provide the intended unity to the church?"  This line of thinking sends us on a search through the New Testament for a name that stands above any other to represent the hope we have and the way we should approach God.  What is the source of our hope?  That narrows things down quite a bit.  If you found yourself in the presence of God, what name would you utter to show whether you were friend or foe?  Your own name?  No, that even brings to mind the hymn phrase, "my worthless name."  The Koine Greek word for church, ekklesia, might work, but that is just a practical designation, used to show that the church was not just any cluster of people.  Pulling a name out of thin air would not do the job, and we need to keep that in mind as we search.

In Matthew 16 Jesus told Peter that, on the rock of his statement of faith, "...I will build my church."  Then, as He went through the gruesome work of providing the very foundation for the church, Jesus prayed for its unity, as shown in John 17:20-21.  Baxter makes two really good points here.  First, Jesus prayed for as much unity in the church as He had with God the Father.  What a staggering thought!  How can we achieve that?  Next, He asked for that unity so that the world would believe that God sent Jesus to save us.  Check it out--it's in John 17.  Baxter comments that, if we settle for division in Christianity, the price we pay for that is an unbelieving world.  Take a look around and see if you agree.

Names can be divisive or unifying, based on the scope of what is referred to in the name.  Looking at Baxter's examples of divisive names, we are motivated to avoid any name that would jeopardize fellowship across all of the Lord's church throughout the world.

Back to the search, we see that Peter asked the potential respondents to the first gospel sermon at the beginning of the church to repent and be baptized, every one of them, "...in the name of Jesus Christ..."  Then, in Acts 4, Peter explains a miraculous healing as, "in the name of Jesus Christ...  And in none other is there salvation..."  Evidently Peter was convinced of whose name he would hold up before God as well as other people.  Jesus Christ is the foundation and the key unifying force among Christ-ians, who were first called Christians at Antioch in the first century, according to Acts 11:26.

There are several terms used for the church in the New Testament, and among them are church of the Lord, body of Christ, and churches of Christ.  These names also do what Peter would do, because they hold up the name of Christ.  Even with these slightly different alternating terms, there was no serious division in the church until the years began to roll on and separate doctrines, leaders, and causes led to the use of divisive names that ripped the Lord's church into hundreds of self-exiled, isolated groups.  If we see the church as the body of Christ and Jesus Himself as the head, we must ask why any part of the body would separate itself from the head in this way.

Baxter shows that even the leaders of some prominent divisions in Christianity pleaded with others of their time not to substitute their names or the names given to their modified doctrines for the "name which is above every name," as we read in Philippians 2:9-10.  Bam!  Please go and read that.

Paul writes by the inspiration of God in Colossians 3:17 that we should do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.  In that light we can see how much less effective it would be to use the name of a doctrine, an ordinary person, or an arrangement of church government as the name of the church.  That is enough to convince me that it does matter what's in a name for the church.  The name of Christ is the obvious choice.  Maybe next time we discuss this topic, we can start and finish on that level.  I plan to keep this lesson in my heart as long as I have any teaching to do.