I Dared To Mention His Name

I spent more than 20 years of my ministry working as a Chaplain. As a chaplain, you are often called upon to speak at churches and to various church groups that are not your own denomination. This was something I liked to do a lot as it opened the door for me to meet new people. In most churches and groups I spoke to, people really liked my messages. In a very small few, my messages were seen as a little strong but it was not rejected. I make no apologies for being Evangelical and straight forward in the way I speak and in the messages I give.

 

There was one speaking engagement however which will always stick in my mind. There was this one church group who invited me to speak, which I accepted, but when I got there the group leader said to me, ”Talk about God but leave our Jesus”. Why I asked, somewhat taken aback. The leader explained, “some of our prominent members feel uncomfortable with Jesus. Just use God and we’ll be fine.”

 

There was no way I could accept such instructions, I said to the leader “Without Jesus, I have no message.” I went on to explain that something similar was asked of the followers of Jesus in the days of the early church. Local religious leaders conferred together to warn the disciples not to speak about Jesus (Acts 4:17). But the disciples knew better. “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard,” they said (v. 20).

 

To claim to believe in God and not in His Son Jesus Christ is a contradiction in terms. In John 10:30, Jesus clearly describes the unique relationship between Himself and God: “I and the Father are one”—thus establishing His deity. That is why He could say, “You believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14:1). Paul knew that Jesus is the very nature of God and equal with God (Phil. 2:6).

 

Believers need not shy away from the name Jesus, for “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). In fact we are told numerous times though out the New Testament that we should do just the opposite.

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