That is only one of he nick-names I had. There is a story behind this name too, and I think you should hear the story before you hear the name. I like information. I like facts and figures. Yes, most of it is useless, like this little tidbit: did you know that if you took all Eiffel Tower apart and laid each piece end to end you would probably be arrested and prosecuted by the French government? Or how about this.: if you gathered all the Legos that have been made since the company started and redistributed them evenly everyone in the world would get approximately sixty-six Legos! This earned me the nick-name Walking Encyclopedia.
Take that useless information and couple it with a construction crew and the nick-names get a little more colorful! I worked in construction for several years as a mason. On one of the crews we had a Native American working with us and he told me one day that he wanted to give me an Indian name. I felt honored and was excited to hear what he had chosen for me. He said, "I will call you Walking Eagle. It means you are so full of it that you can't fly!"
Our nick-names are earned. We do not get to choose them; or do we? Nick-names are given to us base do the choices that we make. What are you known for? What choices do you make often enough and consistently enough that people take notice? Matthew 7:29 says that people are know by the "fruit" they produce in their lives. John 13:35 says that people will know we are Jesus' followers if we show love to each other. What fruit are you producing? Do you really love others?
This topic really hit home after I read the book "Unchristian" written by Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman (2007). The book is based on three years of research on what non-Christian people think about Christians. The results were staggering. According to the research, most non-Christians think that most Christians act in a way that is unchristian (hence the name of the book). The top responses were that they thought Christians were judgmental, anti-gay, too political, and too focused on getting converts to be genuine.
These nick-names may sound harsh, but we have to remember how nick-names come about. They are based on what is observed. Now, my Indian name may not have been deserved fully, I was full of useless information sure. But did that mean I was full if "it" too? Not necessarily. So we do have to balance the name with the perspective of the one giving the name. Where I tend toward intellectual information and academia, my indigenous friend thought differently and held a different worldview than I held. However, the way I presented myself had to go through his filter first that led him to believe that I was indeed full of it.
We have to remember that the way we present Christ and his unconditional love has to go through the filter of someone who holds to a different and often opposing worldview. They often have very different value sets and mores. This does not mean that we write them off or think that they just don't get it (or us). What it does mean is that if they know we claim to be a Christian then the way we present our everyday lives to them directly relates to them what they ought to think about Christ.
Matthew 5:16 says, "In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your Heavenly Father" (NLT). How are you presenting Christ in your everyday life?
C. s. Lewis was once quoted as saying that everyone ought to strive to be a "little Christ" and that becoming a Christian is none other than to do just that. Interestingly we see in Acts 11:26 that the disciples were "called Christians." This was not a nick-name that they chose. They did not "become Christian" as we often say. But they were called Christians. People looked at them and said, those people are obviously followers of Christ, or of Christ, or even "little christs."
We often call ourselves Christian, but is that what others call us? Remember, you don't get to choose your own nick-name. What nick-name do you have?
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