What Is Your Nickname?

“And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men.” (2Sa 8:13 AV)

 

This is something we do whether we try to or not.  We get a name.  Or, we get a reputation.  This name is gotten over time.  Sometimes the name can change.  We can be known one way for a while, and then circumstances cause us to be a different person, so our name changes.  Our name can change depending on the context in which we find ourselves.  We could be with one group of people with a common goal or interest and we would have a name with them.  Given another completely different set of circumstances and people, our name will change.  This name is not one that we get ourselves.  It is bestowed upon us for better or worse.  It took a while but David gat him a name.  It took many battles from Goliath, Saul, and Syria before everyone agreed that David was a force to be reckoned with.  David got a name because he served God faithfully, was not intimidated in the face of the enemy, and showed great diplomacy as the king of a nation.  This name took blood, sweat, and tears.  It took time in the word of God and on his knees in prayer.  This name took humility.  This name took discipline. 

Something unique to my home state is our propensity for nicknames.  In grade school, I had a few.  Almost all of them were not good.  As anyone who has seen a movie with an airforce theme would know, everyone on the flight crew was given a call sign.  These call signs were nicknames.  Nicknames tend to stick.  In grade school, nicknames were derogatory.  They were meant to belittle.  It was usually some form of your last name.  It was warped into something of an insult.  But by the time we were in high school and outgrew the need to intimidate, nicknames got more civil.  Sometimes, they tuned out to be somewhat flattering.  In the factory I worked, we did the same thing.  Many of us had nicknames.  One of my good friends and a fellow Christian had a common first name.  Bob was an encouragement to me and I to him.  So, I called him Bobert.  His nickname distinguished him from other Bobs on our shift.  My brother-in-law goes by the first letter of his first name.  Sometimes, people use the name of his favorite movie character or the actor who portrayed him.  The point of nicknames is they are intended to eventually be names of endearment.  Or, at the very least, describe the individual as unique and different from any others who may share a common surname.  The point is, the name that they get is earned.  It is given by others as a way to complement the individual and find traits worth emulating.

David gat him a name.  He didn’t lobby for it.  He didn’t choose it.  His friends and enemies chose this name for him.  Which begs a question.  If you were to ask what your nickname might be, what would it be?  Would the nickname be flattering?  Or, would it be judgmental?  Perhaps it might be both depending on who you ask.  Whether we like it or not, we are getting a name.  We cannot buy it.  We cannot legally change it.  We cannot complain about it.  Nor, can we boast about it.  This name is based on the perceptions of others.  Our behavior, character, and priorities all shape the name others will bestow.  David did not obsess about the name he was getting and eventually got.  He knew if he walked with God, the name he got would be one which would please him well.  So, if you want a reputation, you must build habits.  Habits that affirm the reputation which you so desire.  Have you gotten a name?  Is it one that you like?  What must change so that the name changes?