I enjoyed your post very much. It made me think of the time I heard an evangelist and speaker from Uganda Africa, who was visiting my former church, make an interesting observation.
One of the most prominent things he noted about American Christians versus those living in third world countries, is that American Christians tend to continue to apply the label “baby- Christian” or “new believer” to themselves even after several years of walking with Jesus. That belief typically amounts to fear of or an excuse to avoid getting more deeply invested in an area of ministry or service in the body of Christ.Sometimes it’s simply a lack of confidence…period.
The African evangelist went on to note that “if you are an native African, and have been a Christian for 2-3 years, you would be pastoring your own church!”
That reality stunned me… for many, many, many reasons but mostly I guess it made me think about how we ‘modern American’ Christians conveniently label ourselves sometimes for the purpose of avoiding the very experiences that will grow us up in GOD.
It certainly is thought provoking to imagine the spiritual ages of some of the people sitting in the pews on Sunday as opposted to those men and women in unchurched countries who are leading entire communities of people to the truth and eternal life in the Kingdom of GOD…having only known Jesus for a few months themselves!

It’s good to talk to (see?) you again and I’ve enjoyed your posts on here as well.

Still pondering the post, Abbi! :)

I have to agree with Heidi on the paragraph she quoted. Your entire post spoke directly to me. That’s often how I feel during a weekend experience–that God is speaking directly to me through Craig or one of the other LC campus pastors.

I grew up in a Christian home and was baptized “on schedule” as a pre-teen, but never really knew what it meant to have a relationship with Jesus. At 44, it’s been almost 3 years since I asked Jesus to come into my life, and it’s a daily renewal to work on my relationship with Him–I can really relate to the label of “baby Christian.” My age is nowhere near to being a baby, even though my relationship feels like it is still in its infancy, but I must set aside that label and choose to reside in the truth of your statement:

“We have to stop allowing our pasts and our circumstances and other people’s expectations to define us. Rather, it is imperative that we focus on what Christ calls us: Redeemed.”

Thank you for your insightful post!

Tina

This paragraph rocked me:
But even on a mattress tag, the fine print is the most crucial: “…not to be removed, except by rightful owner.� God is your rightful owner. He is. And He’s only given you a certain amount of time on Earth to glorify him. We have to stop using our labels as an excuse to procrastinate. We have to stop allowing our pasts and our circumstances and other people’s expectations to define us. Rather, it is imperative that we focus on what Christ calls us: Redeemed. Sons and Daughters. Purified. His Beloved. Mighty Warriors. Holy in His Sight. The Lost Sheep. His Bride. The Chosen Ones.

Thanks Heidi

Thanks for the needed challenge. Excellent post!

I think you’re absolutely right in saying that apathy is the third motivating factor. Perhaps more than not caring at all about growth or where God wants us to be, (I hope) it is more a comfortable mindset or correctable complacency that prevents individuals from shedding the label.

“Why would I try something new or get outside my comfort zone?…after all, it’s comfortable here and I’m just fine with that.”

Perhaps the clearest example of this is in the word complacency itself, which is not defined as out-and-out laziness, but self-satisfaction. The day we are self-satisfied with our label and where we’re at is probably the day we stop trying anything and everything to seek God and help others know Him…which is a humbling thought to say the least.

P.S. - Hi Joey!

Given free will, we may never see ourselves the same way God does, but I think it’s possible to inch closer to His view of us. Probably the best thing we can do is use the check-and-balance system when evaluating the question, “Who am I?”. As long as who YOU think you are doesn’t grossly outweigh who GOD thinks you are, you are probably on the right track.

Thank you for a wonderful post. You have given me a lot to chew on this morning. It is definitely a convicting word to think about what labels I have given to myself that I need to allow God to remove. And then let him put on a new label that says who we really are, and whose we really are. That would be a label worth leaving on.

Thanks again.

I love your thought process here and the challenge you lay before us. I think the major motivating factors that dominate our desire to hide behind labels are identity and fear.

“Well, I’m just too shy and not good at evangelism.” This label protects an individual from sharing the gospel with someone. It insulates them from failure. In reality, of course, all it simply does is isolate them from God’s enabling and empowering hands because they will not follow God as much as they will follow the pre-defined boundaries of their label.

Secondly though, it does give that person a quantifiable identity. I really like what you said about us all desiring a more tangible, quantifiable faith, which is rather oxymoronic, of course. But we do. I find myself wondering, what exactly does “A Fisher of Men” really men?” Intellectually I may undestand the metaphor but tangibly, real life application, I don’t have a clue. Perhaps this is why we do cling to labels so much since they give us a clear, calculable identity to call our own, to define ourselves by and with in the mirror darkly world of faith. Labels give us concrete, lasting security blankets of boundaries and help us to answer the “Who am I?” question so many of us struggle with.

If only we could all abandon this insecurity and take solace in the ever-changing, ever-deepening and sometimes ever-mystifying identity of being simply a “disciple of Christ,” no matter what that entails.

Thank you for the post, it’s a lot of meat on a Monday morning!