Don't Lie About the Name
Ordinary Time
Today's reading · St. Gregory of Nyssa, On Christian Perfection
Since, by the goodness of God, we who are called 'Christians' have been granted the honor of sharing this name, the greatest, the highest, the most sublime of all names, it follows that each of the titles that express its meaning should be clearly reflected in us. If we are not to lie when we call ourselves 'Christians,' we must bear witness to it by our way of living.
Gregory starts with Paul, who imitated Christ so closely that, in Gregory's words, it seemed to be no longer Paul who lived and spoke but Christ himself. It is no longer I who live, Paul said, it is Christ who lives in me. Gregory takes that and turns it on us. The word Christian means you carry the name of Christ. You wear it. And a name like that, he says, is the greatest and most sublime of all names, which means carrying it is not a small thing. Here is his blunt conclusion. If we are not to lie when we call ourselves Christians, we must bear witness to it by our way of living. Lie. He actually uses that word. To wear the name and live nothing like it is not merely inconsistent. It is a kind of false advertising, a claim your life quietly contradicts. Gregory is not trying to crush anyone with guilt. He is naming something clarifying. The name is a gift, freely given, but it comes with a built in honesty test. Every title that belongs to Christ, every quality the name carries, is supposed to be reflected in the people who bear it, however faintly. So the question is not whether you have earned the name. You have not, and neither has anyone. The question is whether your ordinary day tells the truth about the name you are walking around in.
Today's intention
Today I'll let one ordinary action actually reflect the name I claim to carry.