A New Name

Today I received a new nickname. Nicknames are an interesting thing. Everyone has been given a name by their parents or guardians. Yet for a large majority of people, what they are called by changes depending on who is talking to them and in what social circle they happen to be in at the time. Take me for instance. To the people that I went to high school with, I am Schibby, Schibster, Big Schib, Big Schibby, or pretty much any other variant of my last name. To my friends from my church back home I am simply Cory (what a concept, using someone's actual name to refer to them). To my newest group of friends I have become Coco or Pastor or Pastor Coco. Then today I was given the nickname Mama. Which has quickly transformed into Pastor Mama Coco. Now for those of you that are blind or do not know me, I am in fact a male, so the nickname Mama might seem rather strange. If you knew my roommates, you would probably understand a little better.

Now of course the normal reaction would be to get terribly upset at the fact that I am being called Mama by some of the my closest friends. But you see I'm not the same person I once was. This new chapter in life that has begun is a completely new me. And God revealed to me today that being called Mama is really an honor, nay a privilege. You see, my friends care about me enough to come up with new nicknames for me. If they didn't really care, they just wouldn't speak to me at all. So why not embrace a new nickname, however weird it might be. This has also led me to be reminded of what is most likely my new favorite song. It's by a band named Philmont (look them up on itunes, they are great) and the name of the song is Another Name. It talks about how we should begin to live without the blame of our old lives and take on a new name under the freedom of Christ.

You see, I figure since I'm starting a new chapter in life, a new nickname may not be so bad. Sure, I don't want to be called Mama, but if being called Mama is something that I have to endure to spend time with the people that mean the most to me in the world at this point, I think I can handle it. But by what name are we called? The name that we as believers have taken on for centuries was used as a derogatory term to describe us; look at all those little Christs, those Christians. And frankly, believers probably didn't like being called that at first, until they realized "hey, maybe it's not so bad to be called a little Christ; we are striving to be like him after all."

I see it the same way with this new nickname. You see, I don't really know where the name actually comes from, but I would like to think that my friends see me as someone who is going to watch out for them. The one who takes them into their arms when they are hurting, the one who will dry their tears if need be. Their guide and their protector, just like a mom. So if that is the origin of the nickname I have recently been given, then I whole-heartedly embrace it. Because that is the role I want to fulfill in their lives. To be a guide, and a protector, and one that they can trust.

What are you called? By what name do you answer? Have you received a new name? The changing of the name is an important theme in biblical stories and we can have a spiritual new name today. Let us listen, let us learn, let us embrace our new names.

Pastor Mama Coco