Our niece, Andrea, gave birth to her first child this past week. Jackson Homer weighted in at over nine pounds. Named after Andrea’s grandfather and dad, he’ll be called Jack. A lot of people have been praying for his safe arrival and are now excited to see him.

That got me to thinking: what are the most popular names parents give babies these days. So I did some digging. One web site says the most popular boy names in 2012 were Aiden, Jackson, Ethan, Liam, and Mason. Steve, Steven, and Stephen didn’t even make the top 100. What’s up with that?

So I dug a little deeper and, according to this site, the most popular boy names in 1880 were John, William, Charles, George, and James. These same five names topped the list, though in different order, from 1880-1909. In 1910 Robert replaced Charles on the list, but Charles was still #7. John was number one on the list until Robert knocked him to #3 in 1930. John remained in the top five through 1970. By 2012 John had fallen to #57 and George wasn’t even in the top 100 anymore.

Names have changed…a lot.

So have a lot of other things in life. Truth is things have been changing since the beginning of time as we know it. The real difference is not that things change, but the pace of that change. It happens so quickly now when compared to the past. That is what scares us. Not the change as much as the pace of change. We struggle to adjust.

The same is true in the church world. One result of that struggle is the birth of new churches that grow rapidly while a majority of older churches are dying a slow death. These churches often don’t see their approaching funeral. Often it’s like they’re holding to the names of 1880 while people want the names of 2012. Rather than fight a painful battle, many young pastors simply start new churches that will one day replace those which are dying that slow death.

George was, and still is, a good name. It’s just not very popular today. But all the baby boys with these new popular names are just like the baby boys of 1880…beautiful gifts of God that are loved by their families. So it is with these new churches and new ways of doing church. God is simply blessing His kingdom with new life in those places where it is welcome.

Pastor Steve Hogg