So, Who Hallows God's Name? We usually think it's our job. Think twice.

I read a great article by Carolyn Arends in Christianity Today and wanted to share a little piece of it:

Every name we have for God is a revelation of his character.  So making his name holy must have something to do with revealing him here on earth. But a review of the human track record tells us this isn't our specialty....

In the shadow of the Cross, did Jesus observe all the wrongs - catastrophic and petty - we'd credit to him?  Did he see inquisitions and gas chambers, defenses against slavery and "God hates fags" placards? Did he anticipate the way we'd use his name as a political trump card, or speak for him and pronounce his judgements in the wake of tragedies?....

We can only guess at all he endured in the garden, but we know for certain that when one of his friends sliced off a soldier's ear, Jesus put it back on. "You can't hallow my name," the gesture seems to say, "if you're associating it with something I would never do."

This article made me think of a conversation with a friend in Spain, who questioned why I believed in and loved God when He was behind all the pain and suffering caused by the church there in Spain (Spanish Inquisition, Dictatorship using the church).  It broke my heart that she thought that way but I can see why.  I told her that things like the Spanish Inquisition were never what God intended.  We can't interpret who God is by the terrible actions of other people who claim to do things in his name.  He is a God that uses love to bring others to him.  I hope and pray that my life and love will show the people around me that the God I know is not the God of the wrongs done in His name.  Father, may You make Your name Holy among the nations!