Saturday, June 21, 2008

NAME DROPPING

Charles Stanley has said that some people are not really Christians, but are merely 'name droppers.' These readily report 'I am a Christian' and 'I'm blessed' (which necessarily implies that they are blessed by God or Jesus). The ubiquitous phrase 'Oh My God!' in innumerable -- and sometimes completely incongruous -- circumstances begs the question of what those uttering it are actually doing; it strains credulity to suppose that all of them are redeemed through Christ, rather than simply needing some filler to cover the inadequacy of vocabulary to express a bubbling emotion. Only recently the cross was seen everywhere -- and some places that it shouldn't be seen -- and this seems to have become the new cross, typed without thought into history through texting -- or saying -- 'OMG' whenever space demands.

Rather than being a mere name-dropper, we should, instead, be sure that we are 'name-callers'; not in the schoolyard taunt sense, but in the sense that we 'call upon the name of the Lord,' in recognition of our weakness and inability to save ourselves, and his utter capacity for strength and salvation.

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