The Police Chat

When the musician Sting was a young man his family didn't have much money. In the end he didn't own very many shirts and would often wear a yellow and black stripped jersey. The other kids in his class began making fun of the way that he dressed and called him “Sting” because they said his shirt made him look like a bee. As he became older he decided to rework the harassment of his classmates and find an empowering meaning behind their taunts. Thus he took the name Sting as a badge of honor, using it to overcome his insecurities and turning into a representation of a masculine and successful identity that was built on his ability and not on his showmanship.

Author and counselor Neil Anderson shares, “No person can consistently behave in a way that is inconsistent with how they perceive themselves. It is not what you do that determines who you are; it is who you are that determines what you do.” In short, our need to remain consistent with our identity drives countless decisions and beliefs and in our lives.

In a culture where the average person receives close to three hundred commercial messages each day, it is imperative to consciously choose your true identity based upon who you really are as God has called and created you to be. Unfortunately many have adopted unhealthy self images based upon their past experiences or upon someone else's careless remarks.

Peter Scazzero shares, “A child (in an unhealthy atmosphere) doesn't say, ‘What's wrong with this environment where I am growing up?' They think ‘What's wrong with me?' So I grew up feeling inadequate, flawed…defective.” While every family has its own particular brand of dysfunction, some unknowingly carry a wounded spirit for years from these early incidents.

In the Hebrew scripture one of the Patriarchs is named Jacob. A more literal translation of his name is “one who trips another” or “one who deceives.” It would seem Jacob spent much of his life trying to earn this very characterization. He tricks his brother for his birthright, he lies to his father for an inheritance, and he takes his uncle for a ride on a business deal. Over the years he accumulates any number of victims until one day his sin catches up with him. Years after being deceived, Jacob's brother Esau has gathered an army and is coming to settle the long overdue score.

In a fit of panic, Jacob sends him bribes and then does what many people do when there seems little else that can be done, he prayed. In fact, he wrestles all night long with God, pleading for divine intervention before his angry brother finds him. As morning dawns, Jacob is exhausted from his all night prayer vigil that included striving against a divine visitor. Genesis then tells us the mysterious figure asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered. You can almost hear the sigh in his voice.

It is a groundbreaking moment; for the first time the one who trips others sees clearly and answers, “I am Jacob, I am the one who deceives.” Then in a dramatic transformation God tells him, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,” one who strives with and is saved by God.

The one who carried his shame every time someone asked him his name finally came to terms with who he was; more importantly he was given a new name and identity based upon who God knew along he could be. Now known as Israel, the former deceiver would go on to live a completely transformed life of love and sacrifice, impacting the face of a nation. Once his definition of himself changed, everything changed.

The theme of Jacob's transformation continues throughout scripture. In Revelation God shares, “I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name” (Revelation 2:17).

Perhaps you have been carrying around old labels that no longer serve you and maybe never have. Today, at this very moment you can claim a new identity that is based upon who you really are when you give of yourself at the highest level; when you see yourself as God sees you; when you freely receive a new identity.

There is a story about a monk who is passing by a military post when the soldier shouts at him, “Halt! Who are you and where are you going?” The monk asks him how much he gets paid. After receiving the answer the monk said, “I will pay you double that if you will ask me those two questions every time I walk by here.”

Why not take some time this day and consider your response to the soldier's words. The truth is, once you can answer those questions you will never have to fear being asked, “What is your name?”