The Power of Naming

What’s in a name? Everything! Knowing and being known by name are keys to our relationships with God and with others.

“A person’s name is to him or her the sweetest sound in any language,” said Dale Carnegie. However, many people struggle to remember a person’s name.

That’s especially true when there is a power imbalance in a relationship. Think of a professor with a large freshman class in an auditorium, where every student knows the teacher’s name, but he has to learn the names of a hundred students. Or maybe a high-ranking official in government who doesn’t know the names of the people who work for her. Or, closer to home, consider the pastor of a mid-size to large church who runs into an occasional attendee in the grocery store. The pastor may recognize the face but not know the name, while the church attendee yells out, “Pastor Jim!” in an enthusiastic greeting that causes the other people in the cereal aisle to look askance.

Forgetting or failing to know someone’s name can be a real disconnect and creates social distance between...