Three Ways to Name People

I have recently been playing around with the concept of "naming". What I mean by "naming" is that as God spoke (words) like "let there be light", out of darkness came light. There is power in words. We have the power with our words to "build" people up, and we also have the power with our words to "tear" people down. These words have the ability to help make people or to help break people. It is my experience that there are three ways to name people, in essence to "build" people up to "encourage" people, to speak light and life into darkness.

1. The first way to "name" is through the truth that everyone in the the world is created "in the image of God". This means that every person is valuable, important, unique, full of dignity, full of glory, and full glory. People need to be named these words on a regular basis because deep down this is who we are and we tend to forget. Desmond Tutu is the best I have seen at doing this well. Yes, it is simple, but it is powerful!
2. The Second way to "name" is that we are "In Christ" This is what Paul is talking about in his letters. Ephesians chapter one is a perfect example of how Paul renames that church. By naming the church he is speaking fresh life and power into their lives. For example "In Christ" every blessing of the Spirit is ours. We are "sons and daughters", we are "adopted" into God's family, and we are "saints", which the church continues to forget. That is a topic for another time. As we "name" who we are "In Christ" we are speaking the power and truth of the gospel into our lives, our friends lives, and into the the world.
3. The last "naming" is the naming if "gifts. It is important to always take notice when someone is good or "gifted" at something. What we are "naming" is that this person has been given a gift from God so that they can use it to bless others. By noticing the gift being used, we are encouraging people to keep using it. Again these things are so simple. Yet we need to be continually reminded that we as people have the tendency to forget.

It is easy to take the path of most people. Which is to be negative, cynical, and skeptical. These are the people that sit on their ass and don't have the courage, imagination, and creativity to follow the path they are created to follow. We might need to "name" these people first. This is what I have thus far... I hope that there will be fruit in people's lives as they grapple with the power behind our "naming" others.

May we grow in how we speak to people...