You Carry A Name

You Carry a Name

Richard Sherman, All-Pro safety of the Seattle Seahawks, made sure that everyone knew his name with his obnoxious behavior after swatting away a potential game-tying pass from San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick to Michael Crabtree in the 2013 NFC Championship game. In my opinion, Sherman, in a variety of postgame interviews, went on to embarrass himself, his family, and his teammates by the way he acted.

Do you think of all the NFL players in a certain light because of one man’s comments? Maybe you do. Maybe you don’t. But Sherman’s unsportsmanlike actions certainly didn’t boost the NFL’s reputation.

Are you creating problems for yourself, those you work for, and your family by your actions? You see, you carry a name, and what you do with that name really does matter.

I often tell my kids, “You carry three names: Jesus’ name, my name, and your name. Let’s protect all three of those names because that’s all we have.” The most important of those names is Jesus’ name. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, then you are his representative. You carry his name with you everywhere you go. Second Corinthians 5:11 states, “Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.”

So what impression are you making on others? Does it align with what you say you believe? Are you pulling people toward Christ or away from Christ? Be consistent. Be gracious. And if you follow Christ, seek to be like him.

Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.

2 Corinthians 5:11