What is your name?

“What is your name?” or “what are your names?” are fully loaded questions we are often confronted with, in our everyday walks of life. The question is fully loaded because your name tends to portray who you are, where you are coming from and at most your descent.

Oftentimes, people chance upon me and ask me what my ‘Christian name’ is and as a rule of thumb, I quickly say Yayra, to which a few become disgruntled at my audacity, thus making them challenge my tenacious stance. I often reckon that they wanted me to mention Alfred which happens to be my English name that is if it’s really is.

Well, I do not blame them because, to a very large section of the public, everything foreign or English is Christian; since our history depicts the advent of the Whiteman’s religion and it’s imposition on the African continent as a whole. Personally, Yayra also known as Benedict is more Christian than Alfred which only passes as an English name.

There is evidence beyond reasonable doubt that the Whiteman did not introduce Christianity into Africa and there is nothing like Christian or Islamic names. Before the advent of the Whiteman’s purported civilization which they did under the cover of Christianity, there was civilization in Egypt and the Apostle Paul had also been to Alexandria, the capital of Egypt; thus the Whiteman only proliferated the Christian religion.

A Christian is not depicted by his/her name, but by his doings; his Christ-like nature. Christianity is a way of life rather than just naming one’s self in a fashion. Names have meanings and certainly have histories, thus their origins. Most names were passed on from generation to generation because they are cherished family names and they mean a lot to those who wield them. For example, the name Jesus is a name that can be found all over the world especially In Brazil but only the savior had Christ attached to his. Names like Zebedee, Bartholomew, Jabesh, Achitophel, Zachariah and Judas Iscariot are Jewish names and absolutely nobody changed their names after Baptism to portray their Christian faith or anything whatsoever.

The onus rather lied on them to live Christ-like. It was only Peter who had his name changed from Cephas because Jesus Christ said; he was the bedrock on which he will build his church. Africans or Ghanaians had their names changed because the Whiteman in Africa could not mention our native names thus resorting to names like John, Peter, Johnson, Mary, Agatha and these are not Christian names.

The Muslims also name themselves Abdullah, Mohammed, Faisal, Abubakar after their forebears, so it is quite absurd for new convents to change their names from Stella to Salamatu and from James to Jalal, a name he cannot possibly identify with. You could still be called James and worship the Islamic way or Mawusi and Akos and still be Christ-like.

Our names are not Christian or Islamic names because there is nothing like that. They are rather English, Jewish, and Arabic names. It is even unfortunate if the clergy, who is supposed to know better with emphasis on admonishing us to live Christ-like, rather goes on name changing spree; for what? No wonder they have shifted from their core duties of salvaging the poor and lost souls.

We live in a dispensation where you are branded disrespectful and labeled with all kinds of names if you question the status quo or ask perceived difficult questions. It is so because, they themselves do not know it and instead of portraying their ignorance, they will rather fault you for the effrontery.

Before I recap my write-up, Baptism is supposed to be done with the full consent of the individual being baptized. However we often see babies being baptized when they can hardly utter a word, and that amounts to imposition of a faith on that innocent child. It is right and just to present the child before the Lord and groomed in the way s/he should go just like Jesus Christ, the icon of Christianity was made to experience until the child is grown enough to decide whether he wants to be baptized into that faith or not and that is how come Jesus Christ got baptized by John the Baptist in his adulthood.

In the backlog of all these matters arising, it is in the right direction for some churches to introduce ‘confirmation’ where the already baptized baby could affirm his or her stand and to renew his commitment to the faith and become an eventual member of the church.

It is also imperative we cherish our names, especially the native ones that readily identifies you with a family, culture, a sub-region and what have you.

To this end, I would like to say Christianity or being a Christian is bigger than just attending church and changing of names but rather, it is a way of life; being like Christ, an example worth modeling and still being able to identify with your descent.