What's in a Name? Everything!

When parents are expecting a child, one of the tasks, indeed, privileges, is to choose a name for the boy or girl to be born. Sometimes they choose a name because of its sound. Sometimes they want to honor someone, a relative or famous historical figure. Despite such intentionality, it is not always the case that a name is chosen for what it means. And I doubt if it is ever chosen with an understanding that this is who this child is. In this regard, names in the Bible are of a different ilk. They very often signify something about the person: Abraham, the father of many nations; Jacob, supplanter; Nabal, fool; Moses, drawn out, which refers to his having been drawn out of the water by Pharaoh’s daughter, but also that he would draw out God’s people from Egypt. 

This association of name and person takes on eternal weight when we consider the name of God. Though there are several names by which the one true God is known, in an exchange with Moses we learn of the name that is unique to him: “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”’ God also said to Moses, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, “YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you”’ (Exodus 3:14-15). From this name we learn of God’s transcendence and his imminence, his aseity and his covenant faithfulness. He exists, dependent upon nothing. But he is also near, carrying out his promise to Israel’s forefathers. 

We can then understand why God places such a premium on his name, why it is that his people are not to “take the name of YAHWEH your God in vain.” His name is his, it is holy, it is revelatory. If we use his name as a cloak for evil, such as to validate an oath we have no intention of fulfilling, or if it is woven into colloquialisms that express our surprise or frustration, or defame it by making it interchangeable with some “four letter word,” we have gravely diminished the glory attached to the only true God for we have treated his name as though it were worthless, signifying nothing.

God’s name is to be reverenced by all, but this is a particular obligation for his people. As he places his name on them, calling them his own, it is to be borne well by them as they live their lives. And because it is name of the God of salvation, revealed to us in Jesus Christ, we are to confess it before all for “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Cretans Being Cretans, Not Christians

Paul presents a stark contrast between those who are fit to lead a church and those who are not. His instructions to Titus make it clear that Titus should be looking for men that have been sufficiently shaped by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that they will be able to nurture the flock and defend the faith. The need was immediate for there were some moving among the churches who were still acting like Cretans, not Christians, and offering teaching that was gainful, not biblical. The result was that “whole families” were being troubled. Paul directs Titus to sharply rebuke these men that “they may be sound in the faith.” The circumstances on Crete demanded this strong response from the apostle. If the unbiblical cultural commitments in which these new converts had been nurtured continued to hold sway in their lives, they, and the church, would not prosper. Biblical authority and truth needed to be established (see Titus 1).

The challenge that the early church faced on Crete is the same challenge that the church has faced in every generation and location. How can people have their minds renewed and their lives ordered so that they think and act like human beings are created to think and act? As Paul’s counsel suggests, they must learn “sound doctrine” based upon the “trustworthy word” and allow it to become the definitive voice in their lives. 

Now, I doubt if many of the people reading this reject in principle the need for sound doctrine based upon the trustworthy word to be authoritative in the church. In practice, however, it can be a hard won battle. This is particularly so when the teachings of Scripture run contrary to the prevailing culture.  Believers are then forced to choose and if they are not yet sufficiently trusting of Scripture’s authority, the prevailing culture wins out. That appears to be what happened to those on Crete who were teaching “for shameful gain.” They were just doing what Cretans were known for, what everyone else thought was perfectly acceptable.

There’s a standing warning in this letter. It tells us to reexamine our thinking when what we allow as perfectly acceptable runs contrary to Scripture, no matter how much it is being embraced in the prevailing culture. Each generation will have its own challenges in this regard, but submitting to the truth of God is the wisest, the only, choice.

A Wise Master Builder

In the opening greeting of Paul’s letter to Titus, as a wise master builder he implicitly lays the foundation for the central issues he addresses in this short letter: authority and truth. By describing himself as “a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ,” and stating that his preaching ministry is a task “entrusted” to him “by the command of God our Savior,” he establishes the authority by which he will insist that his “child in a common faith” act with dispatch to put “what remained into order” on the island of Crete. Additionally, when he says that his calling is for “the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth” he asserts the standard by which false teachers will judged and the people of God will be protected.

Authority and truth are two inescapable realities that are hard for human beings to accept. We have challenged them from the beginning and, as a result, have been forever plagued by the fallout (see Genesis 3). That this is true for all humanity is evident from an even cursory look at history. That the church has also fallen prey is evident from the fact that falsehood always finds a hearing, creating havoc. Why should this be except that even those within the church are hesitant to accept God’s full and final authority in our lives? John Stott asks, “In the final analysis this is the big question for the church: is there such a thing as divine revelation? Do we concede that truth, having been revealed by God, ipso facto has authority over us? Are we ready to submit to it, that is, to him, in humble faith and obedience? Or are we brash enough to behave like unruly children and reject God’s authority?”

Jesus warned that “false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect” (Mark 13:22). We can appreciate, then, the wisdom of Paul to minister as boldly as he does for “the sake of the faith of the elect and their knowledge of the truth.” He knows that without embracing the twin realities of divine authority and truth the people of God leave themselves open to deception and to suffer the attendant consequences.