May 10: In the Name of Jesus

So they called them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in God's sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard." (Act 4:18-20)

As I read this I’m immediately reminded of a problematic area for our life of faith. It all comes to a head in that this idea that someone would tell Peter and John that they cannot speak or teach in the name of Jesus. Only today I think – more often than not – it is that we tell ourselves that we cannot speak or teach in the name of Jesus.

I’ve come across this problem in many places and ways, lived it in my own life as well – do you see some similarity with any of these…

I want to raise my children to make their own choices about faith.

I don’t want to pray in Jesus name and be exclusive to those who don’t believe in Jesus.

Mentioning Jesus makes some people feel uncomfortable so I don’t… well praying in front of them, or for them, does too for that matter.

I want to respect that there are other ways to experience truth and not just my own.

I don’t want people to think I’m a Jesus freak!

Not all of these are necessarily the same… there are different nuances at play here and different reasons we each may claim one or many of these excuses. However at some point we all realize that we are in a place of conflict with two equally good and – perhaps – true ideas, that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, and that we live in a world in which we want to honor and respect our neighbors even when they believe differently than we do.

I want to make both these claims. I do believe that God calls to us to honor and respect those who understand God differently. God is a God of covenant. In our own scriptures we read of God covenanting with the Jews and with the predecessors of Islam – and we all share ancestry through Abraham. And as Ishmael’s journey splits from Isaac (this can be read as those who will be the Muslims going on a different journey with God than the Jews) God promises them both a “people”. (Genesis 17:20)

However…

This does not mean that we cease to be confessional in our own faith. We cannot “leave Jesus at the door” in the name of having an open and non-judgmental conversation… when we do so we cease to be Christian.

If our faith defines who we are, if God is at the center of our being, than we cannot choose to stop “teaching and preaching in the name of Jesus,” to do so makes Jesus optional in our lives.

I do not believe that we think Jesus is just a choice we can make. Jesus is the way of life for us. Now what that may look like, and how that might be claimed in our individual lives looks very different – but I do not believe it looks like ceasing to do anything that we do in our lives “in the name of Jesus”.

Let me take the risk of going a bit too long here to share one quick story. I had a friend who sat on a panel to speak in an inter-faith conversation. It had representatives from many faiths and he was very conscious that Christians often get in a place of judgment that their faith is the only true way to God and so he tried to make his answers very open and accepting and not to claim anything that would be exclusive of other faiths. Half way through the talk there was a break and the Imam (a leader of an Islamic mosque) came to him and asked him if he was Christian. When my friend responded that indeed he was, the Imam asked him why he wasn’t being Christian in the conversation... and it was a like a light going on in his world. After that he started claiming his Christianity and the whole second half of the conversation went much better than the first half.

When we choose to remove essential parts of who we are from the conversation (and from the living of our lives) than we are not helpful to anyone – least of all ourselves.

Are you claiming Christ in your life?

Do you engage others in the name of Jesus in ways that honor who they are and invite them into conversation?

Are you making life choices that are consist with who you are in Jesus Christ?


Lord and Savior, We claim you as such in our shared lives together – we recognize that you give life and love. Help us to claim these truths in our lives in all that we do. Guide us that we may live these truths in ways that invite the world to share in your redeeming love. Amen.