| “He calls his own sheep by name.” |
| —John 10:3 |
We live in a wild and crazy world that seems overwhelmed by so-called “political correctness.” Our society today demands that we never, ever, offend anyone by the label we might give someone. The culture harshly legislates what we can and cannot call others. And, the “politically correct” terminology changes frequently.
The culture now dictates even what we should call males and females—and it’s certainly not those titles!
For the last 25 years at least, the hard-working people putting together translations of the Bible and hymnal texts have tried to avoid the use of the word “man,” or using male nomenclature in any description about God, for fear of offending women.
We seem to categorize every person and respond judgmentally to those who don’t abide by our chosen categories. It seems that this practice seeks to take away any quality of uniqueness in others by “leveling the playing field” of our verbiage.
Away with blue and pink for babies! Don’t you dare use the gender role images of “housewives” and “businessmen.” Even “Men at Work” signs have been reformatted to read “People Working.”
The latest declaration of war given by those enforcing “political correctness” requires us to eliminate even gender specific bathrooms.
One comforting passage of Scripture that stands in stark contrast with our culture’s insistance on “political correctness” is found in Galatians 3:28:
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And what makes that Scripture passage different from insisting on “politically correct” labels? Jesus knows our names. Isaiah 49:16 tells us that God has engraved us on the palm of His hands. He knows us individually.
We should, of course, always avoid rude or profane labels. But, when we know people, really know them, it doesn’t matter what label we use for them. No! Instead, we call them by name.
So many of the stories in the New Testament tell about people and refer to them as “the man born blind,” or “the woman with an issue of blood,” or “the Samaritan woman.” Do you think Jesus knew their names? Of course He did. But, the writers of the Gospels, like us, forget names and can only remember them by these labels. They meant no offense in using the labels. They simply used them to describe something noteworthy about them.
When you come to God, remember that He not only knows your name, He calls you by it. He knows that you are a unique and special person whom He created with beautiful qualities that He admires. Take comfort in His knowledge of you.
And, make it a point, in learning about others, to remember their names. Each one is a special workmanship of God, created in His image, and certainly represents someone worth knowing!
