Across Church Street
Living with fictitious names
As Christians, it matters how we present ourselves to the world. We are not ashamed of Christ and the Gospel. Yet we become all things to all people in order to save some.
When we surrender our life to Christ, we're given a new name. Like Abram became Abraham and Jacob became Israel, we're handed a new identity and a new vision.
But we still live in a world far from God—among people who can't comprehend this new identity. So we use fictitious names. We present ourselves in ways people can understand. These fictitious names fall into two categories: 'also known as' (aka) names and 'doing business as' (dba) names.
'Also known as' names are meant to conceal one's real identity. Christians use aka names to hide their new identity in Christ, fearing rejection. Some use an aka name hoping no one will ever discover their true identity. Others use an aka name with the secret hope they can one day spring their real identity on people and 'win 'em to Jesus'.
'Doing business as' names are meant to present one’s true identity in engaging ways. Christians using dba names know that people won't fully understand their real identity until there's a relationship. Their hope is that understanding will come progressively over time.
Aka's are used to obscure. Dba's are used to relate. So we can all ask ourselves:
Am I able to connect with people far from God?
If so, is it by concealment? Or by making my true self more accessible?
A mental mission trip
Several years ago our family spent a month in Belarus. There we befriended a couple who went to church but didn't know Jesus. Over several meals we enjoyed each other's company and conversation. Then came their questions—and we were able to share glimpses of the beauty of Jesus and his kingdom. We later learned this couple traded everything they had (including their wedding bands, which were later returned) to enroll in a discipleship training school.
For the most part, missionary life is normal life in an unfamiliar culture. Imagine yourself going to a foreign land. There you study the culture, compare and contrast it with God's kingdom, embrace what you can, make friends, and live life with people. You pray and you watch for opportunities to share. This makes you a missionary.
Now come back home. How can you do these same things here?
- love
- friendship
- beauty
- thankful
- attunement
- communion
- discipline
- video
- hope
- hania rani
- holiness
- serving
- seth godin
- dean sherman
- across
- covenant
- music
- eternal life
- justice
- embodiment
- wonder
- gracious
- hesed
- welcome
- poetry
- rest
- image
- brokenness
- disruption
- invitation
- companion mode
- resonance
- steadfast
- observer mode
- framework
- pastoral
- oneness
- caritas
- difference
- shalom
- john stott
- worship
- status
- care
I practice the spiritual discipline of rescuing earthworms on paved surfaces. It's a reminder to me that I can pause what I'm doing, get a little dirty, and help. Also, that I've been given the responsibility to care.