What Name Are You Repping?

by Dale Reeves

Story Pastor

This past week U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename one of the Great Lakes, “Lake America,” amid a trade fight between the U.S. and Canada. This lake that sits between Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, and New York state, has been known as Lake Ontario for almost 400 years. Dating back to written records from 1639, the name comes from an indigenous Iroquoian word, Oniatari:io, which translates to “lake of shining waters.”

In response to Trump’s executive order, Canadian officials and the State of Ontario rejected the change, installing large “Lake Ontario—Now and Always” signs along the shoreline. If you access Apple Maps on your smartphone, as of Monday morning, it remained “Lake Ontario.” But, if you look at Google Maps, you will see the name change. Google said in a statement last Saturday that if you live in the U.S., you will see “Lake America,” while in Canada, they will still see “Lake Ontario.” Beyond the U.S. and Canada, people will see both names displayed on their map, with “Lake America” appearing in parentheses. Google commented further, “These updates follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country.”

My purpose today is not to get into any political argument and talk about what a president can and cannot do, but to introduce the idea of how important using appropriate names are to all of us. This past week as I enjoyed watching several baseball games played at the Little League World Series (LLWS) in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, I saw more than one twelve-year-old boy gesture to the name on the front of his jersey after getting a base hit. Congratulations are in order for the outstanding all-star team from just up the road in Hamilton, Ohio, as they made it all the way to the U.S. finals, losing to the team from Henderson, Nevada, before going on to play in the consolation game with Japan.

Jerseys, Hats, and Tees

As our lead pastor Brad Wilson concluded our “Training Camp” series at Christ’s Church on Sunday, he encouraged everyone to come to the church building wearing his or her favorite sports jersey. If you missed Brad’s message Sunday, in which he encouraged us to “take the field,” obeying Jesus’ command to help others find their way into God’s kingdom, you can check that message out here. As Brad preached Sunday, he was wearing his “Honolulu Blue” Detroit Lions jersey with running back Jahmyr “Gibbs” name emblazoned on the back.

It was fun to see all the jerseys that people wore last Sunday. I saw several jerseys, T-shirts, and hats supporting the UC Bearcats, Auburn Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, an L.A. Dodgers jersey, numerous Bengal jerseys displaying #9 Burrow on the back, local school colors like Mason, Kings, and Moeller, Michigan Wolverine jerseys, lots of Ohio State Buckeyes jerseys, and a number of jerseys representing various teams from the NFL—Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, da Bears, Green Bay Packers, San Fran 49ers, Oakland Raiders, and the Seattle Seahawks. One of our cameramen even sported a Utah Jazz jersey from the NBA. On Sunday morning as I was getting dressed, I couldn’t decide which team to represent, so I chose my favorite shirt announcing, “My favorite slugger calls me Pop Pop.” That applies to all four of our amazing ball-playing grandkids.

But the jersey that wins the prize this past Sunday? Joseph Bakhit’s wife had a black and grey jersey made for him that simply stated across the front, “TEAM JESUS.” The back displayed the words, “His Team. His Playbook. His Victory.” As Joseph stated, “I am glad to be on this team. The signing bonus is out of this world!” Joseph and his family are “All in” with Jesus. He owns a coffee shop in our area known as “Joseph’s Cup.” One of our men’s Saturday morning Bible studies meets there, and it is filled with a diverse group of men from different backgrounds and nationalities. He and a friend who recently accepted Christ blessed our church staff last week by providing an amazing Cracker Barrel breakfast for us.

Team Jesus Forever

I asked myself last Sunday afternoon, “How can we get more people in our church to be ‘All in’ like my friend Joseph?” How can we get more people in our church to get serious about the mission of reaching their “One Mores” for the cause of Jesus? How can we get more people to look at others with compassion, to see through the eyes of Jesus? We are just two Sundays away from the beginning of this year’s NFL season. Can I get a WHO-DEY!?! A full slate of college football games begins this coming Saturday. High school football games under the Friday night lights are in full swing. Major league baseball playoffs will be coming soon. And, my wife and I will be attending lots of fall baseball and soccer games of our grandkids this season. But can I challenge you as you cheer on your favorite team in person, at BDubs, at a friend’s home, or from your comfortable recliner to represent Jesus first and foremost?

I’ve heard a lot of “church hurt” stories through the years. When people who are supposed to represent God fail us, it can become difficult to separate their actions from God’s character. But God is not defined by the brokenness of people. He remains faithful, even when those who profess to follow him are not. Renowned pastor and author A.W. Tozer once said, “If being hurt by the church causes you to lose faith in God, then your faith was in people, not God.”

In chapter four of the book of Acts, after God used the apostle Peter to heal a disabled man, Peter and John were arrested and brought before the Jewish high council to answer for healing the lame man at the temple. Peter was very clear when he boldly told his accusers, “Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:10-12, ESV).

So, no matter what jersey you are wearing this season, make sure that Team Jesus is the one you represent daily. He is the only One whose name has the power to save us from our sins, and give us a victory that is far beyond any short-term victories our sports teams may accomplish on this Earth. Through his death for us on the cross and his bodily resurrection, Jesus has already won. As my friend Joseph reminded me the other day, “Jesus’ signing bonus is out of this world!”