Labels

Labels are everywhere.  One can be pigeon-holed a liberal, a conservative, an independent; a beauty, a brain, a druggy; a goody-two-shoes, a dare-devil, a juvie, just to name a few. 

There are labels within Christian circles as well.  There's the Evangelical Free, the Baptist, the Lutheran, the Independent Bible, etc.  The labels don't stop there, however.  There's also the Reformed (or Covenant), the Calvinist, the Dispensationalist, not to mention the New Covenant, Calvin's Calvinist, the Classic Calvinist (TULIP), the Hyper-Calvinist, as well as the Traditional Dispensationalist, the Progressive Dispensationalist, the Hyper-Dispensationalist and I think there's even the Ultra-Hyper-Dispensationalist.  Twenty years or so ago the Dispensationalists supposedly had it right, but the tide has changed and now the Reformed are apparently in the know.  As a friend of mine once described Debussy's etudes — "The tide goes out, then it returns, then it goes out again, then it comes in..."  But if we've placed our faith in Christ's death and resurrection, we're all brothers and sisters in Christ, so why are we all so quick to label one another? 

I realize labels can be helpful when trying to figure out where the other person is coming from, but so often we judge people to be unsound, label them, and then write off everything they have to say from that point on.  I admit I have the same tendency.  But is that the way it should be, especially among fellow believers?  Certainly we should discerning, but I often feel we're just judging one another in order to make ourselves feel superior.

Frankly, because of that, I tend to keep quiet about my beliefs.  Not about the essential ones, of course, like man's utter sinfulness, Christ's death and resurrection on our behalf, the sovereignty of God, and the innerrancy of Scripture, but about how I view Scripture and what it says about prayer, God's physical intervention in the world today (namely miracles), visions, guardian angels, God's will and how He guides us, the end times, the Millennial Kingdom, and the Church and Israel.  I could go on but I won't.  Oh I'm much more vocal on my blog, but even here I hold back.  Will I be branded — labeled — and then possibly written off?  The truth be told, I often feel lonely, like I'm on the outside peering in.

When God gave us His Word, He meant us to understand it.  It's not some kind of complicated puzzle that only theologians can unravel.  In fact, I firmly believe that if fellow believers sit down together, with open minds and Bibles, they will eventually come to the same understanding.  Can we talk?