From Noah Sutherland |Cool Water Bikes
“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” – Proverbs 22:1 (NIV)
I wrote a paper in my high school senior English class arguing the position that God didn’t need or even use names. I thought that names were superfluous – merely labels – and that if we really understood the nature of a thing, we wouldn’t need to call it by name. Over the years, I have seen that I was quite wrong. God “names” everything into existence and passes on His creative nature to Adam by commanding him to name the animals. Adam also names Eve and, presumably, their children. If names were merely labels, there would have been no reason for God to rename Abram and Sarai (Abraham and Sarah). He was saying something about their true nature (and ultimately about His own nature). He was saying, “I know who you really are. Let me tell you about it.” If names are superfluous, why was the angel so adamant to Mary and Joseph that the Son of God be named Jesus? Why couldn’t they pick anything they wanted?
The significance of names sometimes comes up here at Cup of Cool Water. Some of the youth we meet do not like to be called by their given names. They prefer to go by “street” names that either they or their friends have chosen. One young man in particular absolutely hated to be called by his given name. He sometimes got violent about it. He said that whenever he heard it, it reminded him of his father, who had abused him. Because his father had given him that name, he didn’t want to be associated with it any more. Wow! That is powerful. Without realizing it, this young man understood that naming something creates a bond. He thought that by rejecting the name, he could break the bond. Whenever I can (and I sometimes have to ask permission to do this), I try to call the youth by their given names. I believe that it is important to acknowledge the God-given role of parents to name their children. As distorted and broken as it may have been, the creative image of God was still at work when they chose that name.
My wife and I adopted our son Carsen on November 23 this year. Leading up to that day, we had to decide whether we would rename him. I had two competing thoughts running through my head: His name given at birth is important, and his identity in our family is important. His birth parents, acting in the image of God, named him Carsen. We, his adoptive parents, acting in the image of God, chose to make Carsen his middle name and give him a new first name of Francis.
Francis Campbell Sutherland was my great-grandfather. He was an Anglican priest in Canada, a stretcher bearer in World War I, a missionary to China, a professor at Northwest Nazarene College, a father of seven, and a faithful husband to Ann, among many other things. He was sometimes referred to by his initials, FC. He influenced countless lives. I have thought for many years that I might want to be able to pass on his name to one of my children. Doing this for Carsen seems especially appropriate. Adoption is often misunderstood. Unfortunately, many adopted children are treated as only partial members of families. By naming him after a patriarch of my family, I hope to signal to him and to others that he is really – truly and fully – a member. He is a Sutherland.
At the same time, we did not want to deny that Carsen’s birth family is still very much a part of his identity. We are grateful to his birth parents for their role in bringing Carsen into this world and eventually to us. Part of that role was to name him. Also, Carsen is the name he has known for 2.5 years. We didn’t want to confuse the boy needlessly. So, primarily, we will continue to call our son Carsen. But if you want to see Carsen smile, just get his attention and say (in a strong voice), “FC!”
