Name-dropping

I knew a woman who always talked about other people, not negatively, but how nice they are, how good, how wonderful. She never gave a person a direct compliment; they were only given behind their backs to third parties.

This strikes me as odd. I concluded that she was using her relationships with ‘nice people’ to prove her own sense of worth, in a name-dropping kind of way. In other words, she pointed to the nice people she knew as a way of saying, “See, I am important.”

Last night I found myself doing the same thing. I was at a large meeting where I knew the names of some of the leaders and had been at other events with them. I started dropping their names to the person sitting beside me. “Oh, she is nice.” “Oh, that one is a good teacher.”

I didn’t realize what I was doing until after the meeting when one of those ‘nice people’ started walking toward me. I thought she was going to say hello, but she walked right past and began talking to someone else. I felt snubbed. It had been a good evening up until that point.

On the way home, I tried to analyze what happened. My first verdict was injured pride. I wanted to be part of the ‘in group’ this woman belonged to, and when she deemed me invisible, I felt left out. I confessed my pride to God, and turned my attentions elsewhere.

But God didn’t drop it. This morning He repeated part of yesterday’s Scripture: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Again, this verse convicts me.

Meekness has such a bad rap that most translations say ‘gentle,’ but meekness is used to describe both Moses and Jesus. It means gentle and humble, but also the attitude of “yielding all personal rights and expectations to God” in absolute assurance that He knows what is best. Someone also describes meekness as strength under control, like that of a strong, magnificent horse that is totally broken and responsive to the guidance of its master.

Also, a meek person is never concerned about snubs because a meek person does not listen to what others say or have any concerns about their opinions. If I were meek and humble, I would not even notice if anyone walked past me or even included me. My self-worth would be tied totally to my identification with Christ, not to anyone or anything else.

Yoked with Christ means being bound with Him in everything: self-worth, all my work, every conversation, and even in every meeting. He wants total surrender to His will, His commands, His attitudes. In all things, I’m to be like He is, meek and lowly in heart.

Besides, no one is impressed with a name-dropper. The lady I knew who did this didn’t impress me, nor will me doing it impress anyone else. I’m not a better person just because I know (or think I know) someone else whom I (or others) admire.

This revealing experience exposes my pride and whatever else is the opposite of meekness. I feel foolish, but I also see more clearly that if I’m going to do any name-dropping, the only name He will allow me to mention, besides the name of the person I’m talking to, is His own.