We may not wear the collar, but we wear Him.

Taking the Name
By Edward Waters
(Copyright © 2006)

‘To be a witness ... means to live in such a way
that one's life would not make sense
if God did not exist.’

(Emmanuel Suhard, Cardinal)

I once heard a pastor tell how he had come to something of a change of heart concerning clerical collars. At first he had entirely disapproved, regarding them as sanctimonious status symbols which he felt had the effect of keeping ordinary people at a distance, or causing them to behave artificially while such clergymen were around. Eventually, however, after spending time with some very godly men who did wear the collar, he gained a new respect for it. He realized that if he were having an 'off' day, he could be short with a waiter or honk at another driver or stare too long at vulgar magazine covers in the grocery store check-out line; and while he might feel badly about it later and ask God's forgiveness, most of the time no one else would have known who and what he was to judge him. His colleagues, however, could never relax their guard. Their collars continually reminded them of their accountability to be try to be faithful models of Christ -- an accountability which really applied to him as well, however he might choose to dress.

In fact, this accountability applies to all of us who call ourselves Christians, or followers of Christ, or people of God. We may not wear the collar, but we wear Him; for in identifying ourselves with our Lord we invite the world to see us as His witnesses, to see Him in us, and to understand Him better based in part on what we show them. He taught us to pray, 'Hallowed be Thy name' -- in other words, 'May Your name be treated as holy.' As His people, we bear His name; and the best place to begin hallowing His name is with what our lives say about Him.

Then too, Jesus authorized His disciples to pray in His name, work in His name, and speak in His name. This is very much like what we now call 'power of attorney'. It is a kind of stewardship. When you authorize a lawyer to represent you in some business or judicial matter, you assume he will manage your interests faithfully. If he does not, if he uses your name to embezzle your money for his own indulgences, if he publicly attributes to you values or goals which in fact are not your own, or if, in your name, he launches some venture contrary to your wishes, then he has abused both his authority and your trust. He has taken your name in vain.

We tend to forget that the third commandment, 'You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,' was first addressed to God's own people. It is concerned far less with the careless blasphemies of those who profess little or no faith to begin with, and far more with the careless blasphemies we ourselves commit when, to give our opinions or actions more credibility, we attribute to God what is not truly of Him. 'I was led by the Spirit to do ... [thus and such]'; 'God told me to say ... [so and so]'; 'The Lord has called me to ... [whatever].' These are far more serious and holy claims than we may recognize, and we must be very, very careful how we invoke them.

For though He is often impersonated, God is not mocked.