Reaching those we know: Honour God’s holy name

If you've been watching Masterchef, you may have seen the 'Dalai Lama' challenge on Sunday. The contestants were charged with preparing a 7-course feast for the Tibetan Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama is often referred to as 'His Holiness', and in fact, as each contestant presented their dish before the Dalai Lama, they announced "Your Holiness, a dish I have prepared for you".

All contestants, that is, except for Kate from Orange. According to news.com.au:

The 36-year-old Christian from Orange was the only contestant who felt "uncomfortable" with the protocol, addressing him only as "Dalai".

His appearance created an emotion-charged challenge for the other five competitors, who all spoke of his "energy", "aura" and "amazing spirit".
But Bracks said she did not "see the Dalai as a holy man".

"My belief is that God is the only one that is perfectly holy," she said.

"So in terms of everybody calling him Your Holiness, that was probably the only aspect of the challenge I was uncomfortable with. I just called him Dalai Lama."

In taking this bold stand, Kate was ackowledging what we as Christians affirm - that God alone is holy. Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4 describe the supreme holiness of God, as the heavenly beings proclaim:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”

As Kate sought to honour God's holy name, her actions caught the attention of many people, from television bloggers, to the Indian Express. While few of us will be presented with the same dilemna as Kate on national television, we have opportunities to demonstrate to others the supremacy of God's name.

For example, I know of one person who speaks (privately) with colleagues when they blaspheme in the office. He explains that God and Jesus are both real and precious to him, and that he'd prefer that they don't use those names in that way.

Let's be clear - this won't necessarily win you friends. As one forum commentator concluded:

"sadly I liked kate, guess not so much now"

In the case of my friend, however, his colleagues have always been very willing to end the blaspemy - in most cases they had no idea that anyone might find it an issue. In this conversation, his colleagues learnt something about God - what he means to us as Christians, and the respect that is due to his name.

Regardless of the response we might receive, this desire to see God's name honoured is another way to reach those we know.