"There is power in the name of Jesus. There is power in the name of Jesus. There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain, break every chain, break every chain." ~ Break Every Chain, Will Reagan
Peter said in Acts 4:10-12, "Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (kjv)
It's also written that demons tremble at the name of Jesus. What I'm getting at is, we get so triggered at the names of people that wouldn't know who we were if they had a picture of us in front of them. From Bishop T.D. Jakes, Kirk Franklin, Tye Tribbett, Creflo Dollar, Brian Carn, just to name some. You mention those names in the midst of some people, watch the atmosphere change. Watch the mood change in the room. just because they were brought up. Some of these people have done nothing wrong, and I sit there and wonder, "What did they do?" To be honest, some of it is because they're different or they have made mistakes that were in the spotlight.
I don't think any of us understand what is like for anybody to be under the spotlight. I would imagine that it's harder for Gospel artists and ministers, because if they don't cross every "T" and dot every "I", the piranhas will eat them alive. Heck, even in the local church, if the piranhas smell blood, it's over. Why do you think B. Slade is not Tonex anymore? Piranhas.
Back on topic. We give people way too much power over us. I get it though. It's real easy to let anybody become a distraction. We as humans tend to find one thread of something we don't like about a person and then turn that thread into a sweater of reasons to not like the person. To the point where they get so much power that when we hear the name, our blood instantly begins to boil. I'm a wrestling fan, as some of y'all know, and when some of us here certain entrance music, our blood boils over. Examples being John Cena and Roman Reigns. Only reason is because the bosses see money in them. They see "box office", and as soon as we as fans realize that, we get so angry. John Cena and Roman Reigns really did nothing wrong other than doing their jobs. But because they are not who we chose to be the "top guys" we boo the decisions of the creative. Reason I brought that up is that some fans have given Roman Reigns and John Cena so much power that even hearing their names brings about an angry response. Some even begging to riot when Roman and Cena win at anything.
The only name that should have the kind of power to trigger anything in you is Jesus. At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. It is written that all power is given unto Jesus, so we need to stop giving the power away. I believe if we start pleading the blood of Jesus over these common names that trigger such emotion, and over our own minds, we'd be able to move forward as a body.
As my pastor often says, "You got to love me to go to heaven." Jesus is love.
Stay Saved,
Daniel Richerson