Authority for the Believer? Perhaps Not.

Have you ever noticed how life is bursting with illustrations that reveal quality and authenticity?  For example, my wife and I collect McCoy pottery which was a highly regarded stoneware / decorative pottery company in its day.  It is also collected by many people worldwide.  When we peruse the shelves at the local thrift store and see a piece of pottery that has the appearance of the “Real McCoy” (sorry, couldn’t help myself) it is important that we flip it over and check the bottom side before we go running to the check-out line.  What’s on the bottom is extremely important! It is the location designated for the McCoy insignia that is always inscribed into the raw piece before it is fired in the kiln.  If the signature is not there, chances are good that the piece is a “knock-off” and isn’t authentic.  Without the authoritative mark of McCoy, the piece is worthless, at least on the McCoy scale.

The same standard holds true to how I present myself throughout the course of my life, or exemplify the name given to me to the community at large.  Do I successfully live up to the character of that name?  A “name” has great significance and carries with it the authority or essence of its host.  If you have a name, someone else is responsible for the giving of that name, probably your parents from whom you are derived.  That is not the only thing you received from them.  You also received your DNA, as well as several characteristics that are passed through that DNA.  You might walk like them, talk like them and may even have some of the same allergies that they have.  You are a “chip off the old block.”

In Phillipians chapter 2 it states that Jesus, or Yeshua, was given His name as an act of high exaltation from God the Father which is a name above all others.  It goes on to say that at the mention of that name every knee would bow.  Why?  I believe it is because it carries with it the authority; the signature, of God. It echoes what God speaks of Himself in Isaiah 45:23.  Jesus came for one purpose and one purpose only – that the Father would be glorified.  In fact, He took it further and stated these words:  "Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, the Son can do nothing on His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing, what The Father does, the Son does likewise" (Jn 5:19).  Or, how about this one: "Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does" (Jn 10:37).  How would you like to qualify your life's testimony with those words?  Yeah, I hear your objection.  Jesus was responding to the charge of blasphemy because He claimed to be the Son of God.  But, what are we if not the children of God?  Is that not what we call ourselves?  Is that not what God Himself calls us?  1st John chapter 3 indicates we can know who the children of God are by the deeds they perform.  That sounds a little like John 5:19 to me.  John 1:12 supports this view by stating that "as many as received Him to them gave He the right to be the children of God."   I could go on with Galatians 3:26, but you get the idea. 

However, there is a benchmark which identifies, with authoritative certainty, who these children are.  In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus addresses the issue by declaring that "not everyone calling Him Lord would enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do the will of the Father" (Mt. 7:21 emphasis mine).  Jesus goes on to say in chapter 12 that "whosoever shall do the will of My Father, the same is my brother and my sister."  He refers to us as His siblings but injects a qualifier which requires action on our part, namely doing the will of the Father.  This naturally leads me to ask "what is the will of the Father?"  The answer is plainly illustrated within the actions of Jesus throughout His ministry.  He healed the sick, gave sight to blind eyes, spoke life into the lifeless, fed the hungry, clothed the naked and exhibited the "Kingdom of God among you" through his teaching and by living the example.  This is where being a Christian - one who is like Christ - gets interesting as we bear the name of Christ to the world with the same authority he displayed. 

 John 14:14 is, in my opinion, one of the most miss-applied Scriptures in all of Christiandom.  It states: "If you ask anything in my name, I will do it."  How many prayers have you heard concluded by the words "in Jesus name?"  I cannot count the prayers I have uttered, or the requests I have tried to validate by saying those very words.  I believe there is more than a slight chance that I might be missing the context of what Jesus is saying here.  If there has ever been a drought epidemic anywhere at any time there is one within  Christianity as I experience it in that the signs that are purported to follow all who believe are somehow mysteriously missing.   Perhaps I am alone in this desert place, then again maybe not.    The glaring question reverberating through my spirit is "am I truly walking and living in Jesus name?"  That phrase was never intended to be the catch phrase that it has become within many Christian circles.  I have used it many, many times (sadly) in the attempt to speak into existence that which had little or nothing to do with the Kingdom of God, but everything to do with the kingdom of Scott.  It was my bid to Christianize and legitimize the cravings of my flesh.  Those are hard words to type, but truth is robbed of all power to change me if I attempt to cloak it under the guise of anything other than what it is.  It must be accepted and embraced in its raw state.  It's straight up or not at all. 

 To live "in Jesus' name" is to live life as if Jesus was living it.  To ask in Jesus' name is to ask as if Jesus was asking."  The two cannot be separated; they are one with the other.  We cannot ask until we "live."  It is interesting, the Greek language.  The word for "name" is "onomah" which is derived from the base of "ginosko" which means "to know by way of experience."  It speaks of the realm of intimacy.  The word "derivative" can also be translated as "offspring."  In this sense onomah - name- is the offspring of "to know intimately."  Therefore, if I am not asking the things Jesus would ask, or doing the things Jesus would do based upon my intimate knowledge of who He is, is it any wonder my prayers seem to go unanswered, or my life seems to lack authority?  I have to ask the questions "What activities consumed Jesus' life?  What activities consume mine?  Is my life a true representation of who He is?"  The ultimate question is "Am I living my life worthy?"  To put it another way "Is my life worthless or am I the 'Real McCoy?'"