Jezebel. Adolf Hitler. Paul. Mao Zedong. Augustine. Fidel Castro. Martin Luther. Joseph Stalin. John Calvin. Donald Trump. Joe Biden. Names provoke various reactions, from respect to revulsion. They have this effect because they are not benign tags to distinguish one person from another but carry with them the revealed character of the person.
Should we care about our name? Should we be concerned about what people think when they hear our name? Joan Jett says she doesn’t care about her bad reputation, but Solomon says that we should care about ours. “A name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor (that is, a good reputation) is better than silver or gold” (Pr 22.1). There is something else in Proverbs that is worth more than silver, gold, and precious jewels: Wisdom (cf. Pr 3.14-15; 8.10, 11, 19; 16.16). Solomon is making a connection. Your name ought to be “Wisdom.” When people speak your name, the speaker and those listening ought to think, “well-ordered life, integrity, faithful, diligent worker, a reflection of God’s character, fears God.”
Names exist because God himself is “the Name” (see Lev 24.11, 16). He gives names to what he creates because they all reflect some aspect of the glory of his name (Ps 19.1). Man, the apex of God’s creation, is given a name because he images God in a particular way. God is concerned about his name (Ez 36.23), and, because we are his image, we should be concerned about our names.
Your name defines your mission, your calling in God’s world to bring order to disorder, arranging the world under the lordship of Jesus. From the beginning of your existence, you are given a general name: male or female. These are not interchangeable, superficial tags. They define you through and through, defining for you how you will relate to God, others, and the non-human world around you. You are to submit to this calling–your name–and fulfill the responsibilities God has given you.
As you mature and your glory grows, new names are given to you: husband, father, wife, mother, electrician, plumber, doctor, lawyer. Your mission becomes broader yet more focused. These names define how you are engaging the world around you to fulfill your part of the mission of Christ’s kingdom. You are responsible to make sure that wisdom fills up your name(s).
Having your name characterized by wisdom doesn’t just happen because you exist. To have a name of wisdom requires focused, diligent effort that learns and walks in the way of wisdom, fearing the Lord and walking in his commandments. As you progress in wisdom, you are building your name. This building begins when you are young. “Even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right” (Pr 20.11). When Jesus was young, he grew in wisdom and stature and in favor–reputation–with God and man (Lk 2.52). Jesus “built” his name. We begin developing our names when we are children. In our youngest days, parents have a great amount of influence over our reputations. If they refuse to discipline us so that we are terrors to those around us, we gain a bad reputation. As we grow older, more and more the responsibility of our name falls upon us. As adolescents and young adults, we are making names for ourselves that will go with us for the rest of our lives.
You need to be diligent about building a good name because, created and re-created in the image of God, you bear his name (Mt 28.19). Your name is a stewardship. It is required of stewards that they be found faithful (1Cor 4.1-2).
You need a good name because it is vital to your dominion vocation. We are called to order our relationships so that they are relationships of peace and productivity. Fundamental to that task is the ability to trust. If you don’t have a good name, if you can’t be trusted, you can’t fulfill the mission God has given you. Trust comes through doing skillful work in the right way with other people so that they know who you are and what to expect. Cutting corners, shoddy craftsmanship, or simply doing less than the best you can do with what you’ve got is giving yourself a bad name. This hamstrings your future work.
A good name, like the pursuit of wisdom itself, is a life-long project. Building your name will go on until your body rests in the grave. Your name, while it can grow to be quite strong throughout your life, is also fragile in many respects, so it can never be neglected. One sin, if it is serious enough and well-known, can do damage to your name from which it may take a long time to recover if you are ever able to recover. So, guard your name.
