We love labels. They make life so much easier. How would you ever get dinner cooked if the cans in your pantry weren’t labeled? How would you find anything in your file cabinet? How long would it take you to find the movie you wanted on your 652-channel satellite? Yes, labels are wonderful. But they have to be applied by someone who knows what they are doing or they can be misleading.
The book of Esther is very interesting to read. It is relatively short and full of drama. The antagonist is Haman, a Persian, and the protagonist is Mordecai, a captive Jew.
We don’t think much about our names, our ‘labels’, anymore. But in the old days, names really meant something. ‘Haman’ means ‘magnificent, illustrious’. I picture proud parents naming their son Haman with the hopes that he would become magnificent. As it turns out, Haman did rise in the political ranks and become a very important person in the kingdom.
‘Mordecai’ is not a Hebrew name and was probably given by his Persian captors. This was a common practice, the same thing happened to Esther (a Persian word) who had been born Hadassah (a Hebrew word). ‘Mordecai’ is a Persian word that basically means ‘little man’. This label probably added to Haman’s hatred of Mordecai when Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman (Esther 3:5). Why wouldn’t this ‘little man’ bow to the ‘magnificent’ one? In fact, Mordecai showed little or no deference to Haman.
There was another thing Mordecai was known for – he was a Jew. The king (Esther 6:10) and Haman (Esther 5:13) both referred to him as ‘Mordecai the Jew’. Even though Mordecai was in a strange land surrounded by non-Jews he still lived a life that evidenced his belief and trust in God. He had the standards and practices one would expect from God’s chosen people. Mordecai knew he was of great value to God and refused to act like a ‘little man’.
Haman, however, took his name to heart as evidenced in Esther 6:6. The king asked what should be done to honor someone. Haman thought that surely the king was thinking of him. Haman was hoping to be treated like royalty but instead it was Mordecai that was to be honored. By the end of the book, we see that Haman has been hanged on his own gallows and Mordecai is promoted to great prominence.
The world often tries to label or pigeonhole Christians. If you are devoted and follow God with the best of your ability then you are a Bible thumper or religious nut. If you speak of God’s standards or the need to be saved from an eternity in hell, then you are hateful and judgmental. If you have a fault because this flesh we live in is weak, then you are a hypocrite.
Many will try to make you believe that you should keep your ‘religion’ to yourself. But Jesus taught that your light must shine before others (Matthew 5:16) and not be hidden under a bushel. Live your life according to the standards and principles outlined in the Bible. Like Daniel (Daniel 6:10), don’t change your Christian routines, habits or ways of behaving just because others tell you that you should. Make sure instead that you have the right foundation, then build on it. When people ask you why you do or don’t do certain things, let them know that it is because you are a Christian (Esther 3:3-4).
Read the story of Esther in the Bible and you will see that Mordecai didn’t allow his label to limit him. Instead, he relied on God and was exalted to magnificence. Likewise, it is what God thinks of us as Christians that is important, not the world.