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| THE POWER OF A NAME |
| Jesus' time on earth was running out. |
| He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me. 10:16 |
| Christians speak "in the name of Jesus." But that familiar phrase may have lost meaning for some of us. Consider: College sophomore Tom Bowers took a summer job as an intern on the governor of Michigan's staff. He spent the first few weeks cranking out memos, returning mundane phone calls, and straightening files. But one day a harried manager asked Tom to write a public statement on the state's new law enforcement program. Tom composed a brief announcement and took it to the governor. The next day, as he rounded the corner of a newsstand, his eyes snapped wide open. Headlined across the front page of the Detroit News was the announcement he had composed. It dawned on him that, all over the city, people would be reading his very own words as the governor's. Throughout that summer, Tom discovered the power of the governor's name. If he sent a letter to a mayor under his own signature, it would likely be filed under "Ignore." Who was Tom Bowers, sophomore summer intern? If, however, the governor put his name at the bottom, the letter got instant attention anywhere in the state. That summer Tom worked "in the name of the governor" - he represented the governor. Jesus' Crash Training Course It is one thing to represent the governor of Michigan; it is quite another to represent God and use his name. Yet Jesus had exactly that plan in mind for his followers. He hand-selected simple folk like James and Andrew to bear his name and represent him to the world. In the same way that a governor or president delegates authority to people acting on his behalf, Jesus gave his followers his own authority and power. |