Labels

Conservative? Liberal? Open? Closed? Calvinist? Arminian? Ecumenical? Contemporary? Mainstream? Pluralist? Reformationist? Restorationist? Evangelicalist? And so on and so forth…

So, what is your label? Can I be real open [pun intended] with you right now? I don’t like labels. I never have liked labels. I don’t like being labeled, either. I don’t like being told what I believe. I don’t like being told what “camp” I belong to. I’ve been in several discussions over the years where I said, “I don’t believe in ‘such and such’” and the reply was, “Oh, then, you’re a ‘such and such.’” Huh? Half the time I wasn’t even aware of the label, much less the basic tenets of the ‘such and such’ I allegedly believed in!

I understand why people use labels, though. They’re neat. They’re clean. They’re tidy. The problem with labels, though, is that people don’t fit those labels as cleanly as we would like to believe. Think about it. Are you conservative or liberal? Doesn’t that depend, largely, about what we’re talking about? Isn’t the use of labels, largely, relative? “I’m conservative!” Compared to whom? Relative to what? I’m a restorationist!” Does that mean that you hold to everything that the leaders of America’s restoration movement held to? Honestly, do you even know everything that the leaders of America’s restoration movement held to? I don’t. I doubt that you do, either.

If you want to label me, that’s fine. May I ask a favor, though? Label me a Christian. Label me a disciple of Jesus Christ. Label me a believer in God. I’m absolutely cool with those labels.

Think about it…
BHall

Facing Temptation

Have you ever heard the song, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen? It's a spiritual that was made famous by Louis Armstrong. The chorus goes like this... "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, nobody but Jesus. Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, Glory hallelujah!"

There are times when I feel like I am facing trials and temptations that nobody else has ever faced. There are times when I feel like nobody understands what I'm going through. And, yet, the Hebrew writer says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus understands!

Because Jesus understands, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). Don't get down on yourself because you're tempted. Temptation to sin is not a sin. If temptation to sin were a sin, then Jesus was a sinner. Jesus felt what you feel. He knows. He's there to help you. Turn to him today!

Think about it...
BHall