Should Lakewood Baptist Church change our name?

Now that I have your attention with my sensational headline, I’ll give you a very clear and direct answer to that question – no, we should not change our name, period.  Why do I raise this question?  It’s not news to anyone that many churches these days are changing their name in an attempt to appeal to a wider range of people.  Marketing studies have even suggested that the word “church” may have a negative implication with some individuals.  For these and other reasons, we see many congregations changing their decades old name to new titles such as, “The Gathering” or “The Fellowship.”  Additionally, words like vertical, elevate, life, and point (or pointe) all seem to be in fashion.

As you may have guessed, I have a problem with much of this.  The name of a church should first and foremost be strongly biblically rooted.  But even going further, the title of the church should be unambiguous to the community and passersby as to how the congregation identifies itself.  I have heard the argument made that denominational names are considered divisive, and the word “church” will keep some people from even considering walking into the building.  The argument continues that softer and more socially pleasing words should be used, so that the surrounding community understands that the church is a place of God’s love.

My strong opinion is that, rather than bow to ever-changing whims of a culture in chaos (which is America right now), churches need to “own” their name by teaching and explaining exactly who they are and what they believe.  With that in mind, here is my understanding of our name.

Lakewood – Originally a combination of the local street names Lakeland and Woodberry, this says that we are a church made up by, and existing for this community.

Baptist – Baptism is one of the two ordinances which Christ commanded of His church after the resurrection (the other being The Lord’s Supper).  This communicates that we adhere to Christ’s mandate that all who believe in His name should be baptized (emersed) as an outward profession of faith in Him.  This is the method for joining Baptist denominations (Matthew 28:18-20, Colossians 2:12, Acts 2:41).

Church – The precise name which Jesus gave to the organized group of believers which He alone builds (Matthew 16:18).  The original Greek word used is “ekklesia” (pronounced ek-la-see-ah) and means “called out ones,” or even “the assembly” (from its Hebrew origin).  This is important, because Christ has called us out of the world and assembled us for His purpose.

As you would agree, the last word in our name is the most crucial and it is the very word that we cannot drop, lose, or change.  Jesus said that the world would hate us (John 15:18).  Their hate is not because of a name, but because of our faith in Him and our stand against sin.  If we stand strong on those principles, the world’s opinion of us will not change.  The solution is not to conduct better marketing campaigns, nor to use lingo which has been tested and approved by a focus group – the solution is to draw nearer to Him, His word, and His words.  Let us own the name of this church as it honors the One who founded it.

-Pastor Bruce