We are navigating through a time in history where the Church, more than ever, needs to reconsider the name the Lord has given to each of us. He called us His friends: “You are my friends if you do what I command, I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me” (John 15:14- 15). Friends will treat each other differently.

A name change reflects how the Lord sees us and how we will fulfill our calling. When the Lord established His covenant with Abraham, He changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s to Sarah.

Abram means an “exalted father.” He was a respected father among His tribe. When God expanded the calling of Abram, renaming him Abraham, the meaning of his name changed. He became “a father of a multitude” to reflect his expanded calling.

“This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations.  I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!” (Genesis 16: 4-6).

Sarai’s name was also changed from being “a princess” among her tribe to Sarah, “a woman of high rank” in God’s Kingdom. Her place among the nations whom the Lord would add to His expanding covenant would be like a princess becoming a queen. Her name would reflect a position that matched the calling of her husband, Abraham. 

“Regarding Sarai, your wife—her name will no longer be Sarai. From now on her name will be Sarah. And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be among her descendants” (vs. 15-16).

In the New Covenant, where the Lord called His followers His friends, we need to relate to each other as friends of God and with each other to reflect our name change. Much of the discord and condemnation we see taking place within the Church is because we have forgotten the meaning of our new name.

As we experience the challenges that will appear between believers, our first assignment is to remember who we are and how friends should relate to each other. Friends can offend each other, but at the end of the day, friendship can overcome those challenges and offer the world an example of what it means to follow Jesus as His friends.