I love college football. Back in the day, I really admired Penn State University. Not that I even knew any players or cared about Pennsylvania football, but because they were one of the few very successful teams that did not put their individual players’ names on the back of their jerseys…just the team name on the front. Everyone was playing for the team.
Somewhere along my son’s athletic journey, he came home with his new jersey from his new team. To my chagrin, the jersey said “Wimberley” on the front and “Stoever” on the back. I gave it a little effort, but I was not able to peel those stitched letters off the back. So instead, we sat down and talked about the importance of honoring the name on the front of the jersey and the responsibility of the name on the back.
The third commandment instructs us to be takers of the Lord’s name. As Christians, Jesus is the name on the front of our jersey. Our identity comes from being on His team. We are His children and His ambassadors. This command is teaching us to proudly display God’s name on the front of our jersey, not attempt to elevate our name on the back by living selfishly for our own desires, seeking attention and glory for ourselves, or worrying about what others think about us.
Are you clothing yourself with the jersey of Jesus? Whose name do you spend more time thinking about…His name on the front or your name on the back? Who are you trying to make famous?