Nameless

Last Saturday I was treated to a country breakfast in the middle of nowhere. Actually, it was in a little town that prefers to remain nameless - Nameless, TN. I remember while at Freed-Hardeman, Dr. Dowell Flatt used to speak of being from Nameless. He went to school there. I never knew that years later I would be invited to breakfast at the old general store next to where one of my mentors grew up.

How did Nameless get it's name - or how did it become Nameless? One version of the name's origin holds that when residents applied for a post office, the place for a name on the application was left blank, and the U.S. Post Office Department returned the application with "Nameless" stamped on the form. Another explanation was that residents there decided to call it "nameless" after one of them said "This here’s a nameless place if I ever seen one, so leave it be." Bill Flatt, Dowell's brother, was once told that there were three families that wanted to run the store and post office, but they all wanted it to be named after their own family. So the compromise was to give the store and the town no name at all. In any event, that little stopping post in Jackson County will probably remain forever, "Nameless."

When it comes to the human population, God chose to give us a name. It was to be an everlasting name, better than that of sons and daughters (Isa. 56:5). It was to be a new name, for both Jew and Gentile, coming directly from the mouth of God (Isa. 62:2). The Father of spirits had a plan to adopt every human being into His spiritual family. He does not want us to be homeless, hopeless, or nameless.

Therefore, how sad it is that many within the realm of religion prefer to remain nameless! Sadder still is the fact that many of God's people, though blood bought and gospel taught, never choose to tell others about the glorious name by which they are called. It is not nostaligic for Christians to remain nameless. Such is left only for quaint country stores in the heartland of America. The church is not a museum! It is the living, breathing, body of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Thank you, Lord, for giving us a name that is above every other name! Be patient with us, Lord, to do everything in your name and for your name, giving glory and honor to You!

"And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch." ~ Acts 11:26