You Don’t Know My Name

Has a song ever struck a chord with you? By this, I mean that the song itself, the music and lyrics, resonate with your inner being. Lately, I have a new favorite contemporary Christian song. The title is Story I tell and is performed by Micah Tyler.

Here’s a link to it on YouTube (post continues below):

The recurrent theme of the song is “Nobody knows my name.” It speaks of the woman at the well, the leper whom Jesus commanded to tell no one of his healing, and the paralytic lowered through a roof for healing. It points out that such stories speak so much about Jesus, but no one knows the names of these people.

It often comes up in my playlist during my devotional times. This morning, it happened again, and I could do nothing but listen. Then something interesting and powerful struck me…struck me to the core.

It’s so easy for us to fall into pride. We want the world to know our name. We want to accomplish great things for God—not out of devotion but so others see our commitment and sacrifices. We want to earn a name for our service. As a result, the more anonymous roles in the church so often go unfilled. Leading worship brings eyes upon us and praise from the congregation. The same goes for preaching. Our name is known; our contribution, recognized. But the faithful work of those in the nursery or janitorial programs too often goes unnoticed—at least until that person stops doing it.

This morning, as that song played, I sensed a question: “Will you serve faithfully if no one ever remembers your name?” I found myself praying, “Lord, let me be anonymous and unknown. May your name alone be magnified and glorified. May all people forget me and praise you for what you did in their midst through me. Make me invisible.”

Such an attitude is a great corrective to many of the problems in churches. How many celebrity pastors have wandered from the faith or from the hard parts of it to keep their name? If we are worried about our name, about how we can increase our fame and reputation, then we have set our target for a moving goal.

Are you willing to serve the Lord faithfully even if no one ever remembers your name? It may be that God offers a choice: a good name in this world or hearing “Well done” from the mouth of our Lord. Seek His name alone. Raise His name in your household, in your community, and your church. For His is the only name worth proclaiming. All others will disappoint—even mine and yours.