It could by a mystery movie … or a football game … or a developing situation. And someone says, “Call it!” or, “I’m calling it!”
To “call” something is to predict it before it happens. It can also mean to claim something, like when a child yells, “I call the front seat” as she and her siblings race to the car.
Did you know that one of the most frequent one-word descriptions of the Christian in the New Testament is that he is “called”? In a letter to fellow believers, the apostle Paul writes, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9). In writing to another local church, Paul gives thanks for them, saying, “God chose you … to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:13-14).
Wow! If that doesn’t put wind in your sails, I don’t know what will. God called each Christian for himself, even before the creation of the world (Eph. 1:4).
God is the ultimate Caller!
But there is a sense in which he has also passed on this quality to us. In his book, Kingdom Man, Tony Evans talks about what theologians refer to as the dominion covenant (Gen. 1:26-28; 9:1-5; Matt. 28:18-20), which includes the concept of naming. We see this in the Garden of Eden, when God brought the animals to Adam and had him name them (Gen. 2:19-20). God then made one of Adam’s ribs into a woman and brought her to him (Gen. 2:22). “Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man’” (Gen. 2:23).
Evans points out, “To be in the position to name something … communicates ownership, responsibility, and the exercising of authority over it.”
“Wait a second,” you might be saying. “This idea of calling something … of naming it. Are you advocating some sort of ‘name it and claim it’ theology?”
No, not at all — at least not in the unscriptural way that prosperity gospel preachers do. As David W. Jones and Russell S. Woodbridge point out in their terrific book, Health, Wealth & Happiness: Has the Prosperity Gospel Overshadowed the Gospel of Christ?,
The prosperity gospel does not point people toward Christ. Instead, it points them to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (1 John 2:15-17). For the prosperity faithful, hope rests in accomplishments, dreams, money, and accolades. This is a superficial, temporary, and shallow understanding of the biblical message of hope.
Tony Evans agrees, stating, “A key element … in practicing and perfecting the art of naming … is tied directly to the rightful alignment of a man under God. This is not a blank check to name, claim, and gain whatever it is that you want. Unless attached to the overarching governance of God according to His kingdom agenda, the use of naming may actually leave a man vulnerable to loss.” (p. 110)
At the same time, if we are not careful, we can swing the pendulum too far the other way by exhibiting little faith in our all-powerful God. Jesus addressed his disciples, “you of little faith” (Matt. 8:26). The disciples said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5)?
Many of us echo this prayer. But in addition to praying, we should also become more proactive in exercising our faith.
My reading in Nehemiah this morning both challenged and encouraged me in this regard. God used Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in 445 B.C., after Israel’s time of captivity had come to an end. A century earlier, God had assured his people through his prophet Jeremiah, “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place” (Jer. 29:10). The Lord went on to say that he had good plans for his people, that when they prayed to him, he would hear, that he would gather them from all the nations where he had driven them and bring them back to the place from which he sent them into exile (Jer. 29:11-14).
Nehemiah believed God’s promise and acted on it. While he was in Susa, the capital of Persia, Nehemiah got word that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and its gates destroyed by fire. Upon hearing this, he wept and fasted and prayed for many days (Neh. 1). He then made request of the king to go and rebuild the wall (Neh. 2:5). Nehemiah made additional requests for official documentation and other materials he would need to undertake this task. Nehemiah noted, “And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me” (Neh. 2:8).
One of my favorite parts the story occurs in the second half of chapter two. Here’s what happened, in Nehemiah’s own words:
So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what y God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. (Neh. 2:11)
Upon completing his circuit, Nehemiah noted,
And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work. (Neh. 2:16)
Nehemiah called it! In bold faith, he predicted something before it actually happened! Afterwards he challenged the people, saying,
“Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem….’ And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. (Neh. 2:17-18)
The wall was finished in 52 days (Neh. 6:15). Before the people constructed it, Nehemiah had already claimed it!
In Kingdom Man, Tony Evans tells of a time when he drove by a beautiful 20-acre property in the heart of urban Dallas. Tony testified, “God had put it in on my heart that this building was going to be used for His glory. So while looking at the building, I said, ‘God, I name that. I name this entire place for the good of others and for your glory. We don't have the money for it right now, but God, hold it for us. Because I name it in Jesus’ name.”
God held it, Tony got it, and that property has become a pregnancy center “where the message of restoration and new beginnings is given to teen girls in crisis every single day.” Wow! Praise God! Tony says,
I now go throughout my day looking for something I can name, and then I watch in anticipation for God to bring it to fruition. Each day comes with a spirit of expectation because I have seen Him do so much already in response to the practice of this truth. It’s important, though, to realize that naming does not mean claiming anything and everything that you want. Neither is it naming something solely for your personal benefit. Naming … is always tied to God’s glory and the expansion of His kingdom. It is assigning direct involvement based on how God’s revealed will and Word says He will be involved.
That last statement is key. Tony follows it up by saying,
Does this require an intimate and abiding relationship with God so you are attuned to what He is bringing to you — either in your thoughts, across your path, in your prayers, or in the Word — to name? Absolutely. Is it worth every effort put into spiritual growth and a personal relationship in knowing and experiencing Him? Without question. The process of naming things is confirmed objectively by God’s Word and subjectively by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit & confirmation of circumstances. So the closer you are to God and His Word, the closer you are to knowing and naming what God has destined for you.
I’m still thinking through all the theological intricacies and practical implications of this reality. But one thing is for sure: I want to glorify God by greater faith.
Don’t you?
Jesus promised, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14).
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15). So, call it!
