Labels

When I was in Bible College I had to take a class on personal evangelism. We did a lot of door-to-door witnessing. Every Catholic I encountered told me the same thing, “I was born Catholic, raised Catholic, I hope I die Catholic.” As a result I determined that I just wanted to be known as a Christian. I wasn’t opposed to denominations as such, I simply didn’t want that label to become my identity. At the time I was a part of a group known as the Christian & Missionary Alliance (more about them later). Just before graduating I attended my first District and Prayer Conference in the Southern District. The first night of Conference, a brother stood up to share (he was pastor of one of the churches in Birmingham). He said, “I was born in the Alliance, raised in the Alliance, and I hope to die in the Alliance.” I wondered, What am I getting into? Labels!

When I began this blog someone asked me if I was Reformed. I answered, "I have a lot of respect for the Reformation and the reformers, but I am not Reformed." I have since suspected they no longer read my blog (that would have to be the reason since my posts are well written and incredibly interesting!). I’ve read a good bit of Calvin and Luther and Zwingli. And I searched diligently for Zwingli because he is the forgotten one. After reading his stuff I know why! I enjoy Calvin’s commentaries and his Institutes of the Christian Religion gave me a love for the Church. But I really enjoy Luther’s sermons the most. What a heart he had for the people – you can feel it in his sermons. Yet I am not a Lutheran and I’m not a Calvinist.

Just the other day I was called an Arminian. Which I think is funny because I have only read one work of Jacobus Arminius, and I have to confess, I couldn’t follow it – very scholarly. Oh, I know the “points” set forth by the Remonstrants and that most people today are not aware of them and that modern “Arminianism” bears little resemblance to them. Truth is, most of contemporary Arminianism is a lot more like Pelagianism. Another label! While someone may find Arminian leanings in me, they definitely will not find any Pelagianism.

I always preached and taught from the Bible. Nevertheless, a local Presbyterian once called me a “liberal.” Why would he do that? We had women deacons (deaconesses). Never mind that it was a result of a literal reading of the Bible that led us to that conclusion! What really is a liberal and conservative anyway? “Liberal” occurs in the Bible and means generous and is a good thing. “Conservative” doesn't occur at all. Oh, I know how they are used. Most people would call me stupid and out of date and stubborn before calling me liberal! I like how Adam Hall (better known as Rabbi) described liberal, “A liberal is anybody to the left of you.”

Another label applied to our church was “charismatic.” Probably because we went to a “contemporary” worship service way before it was the in thing. That is, we had a praise team and an overhead projector, and encouraged people to sing and clap and raise their hands. We just wanted people to worship God in Spirit and in truth. We sang choruses and hymns, read Scripture and had prayer time, and allowed people to testify. We were indeed open to whatever God wanted to do and if that included manifestations of the Spirit, then that was great! I was in York for 20 years and we never had a public manifestation of tongues. But we were charismatic! Someone from the District office visited me one day and when he saw our drums and guitars on the platform he commented, “You certainly look like a Full-Gospel church.” I asked him, “What’s the alternative, Half-Gospel?” Labels!

I believe in the sovereignty of God, am I Reformed? I believe man has a choice, am I Arminian? I believe in the baptism with the Spirit, am I Pentecostal? I believe the gifts are still for today, am I charismatic? I believe in baptism by immersion for those who are able to confess their faith, am I Baptist? I believe the history of God’s dealings with mankind is marked by different covenants, am I Covenant? I believe there is a difference between the Old and New Testaments and that we are no longer under the law, am I Dispensational? I believe the Bible is the Word of God, am I a Fundamentalist? I believe the Catholic and Orthodox Churches really can trace their roots back to the New Testament, does that make me Catholic? Orhtodox? I’ve read a lot of John Wesley’s sermons and like Charles’ hymns, am I Methodist? Read more A.B. Simpson, am I . . . wait, he has no following. Oh yeah, the Christian & Missionary Alliance. Am I Alliance? Can’t be, they kicked me out. So many labels. Reminds me of the time in Bible College when we were discussing the millennial positions, you know: pre-mill, post-mill, a-mill. One brother said, “I’m wind-mill. I believe it’s all gonna blow over!” I’m classical pre-mill (how’s that for a label?) but that’s still funny!

My main problem is all this reminds me of the situation in Corinth, “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.” And what was it the Holy Spirit said about that? “while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I of Apollos; are ye not carnal?” I just want to be Christian. Apostolic. Holding to what they wrote (the Scriptures) and the faith they deposited in the Church (Apostle’s and Nicene creeds). None of these other labels are found in the Bible.

Now, I don’t want to pretend to be more spiritual than anyone else. When I am looking for a church I check out their statement of faith, just like everyone else. There are things I look for and notice, that I am drawn to and tend to avoid. And I know that I am reading the label just like everyone else. I just wish more folks would emphasize the “Christian” first and their distinctives second. Like Wildwood Calvary Chapel in Yucaipa, CA. They have a great statement of faith. It begins, “We believe in what is termed "The Apostles' Creed" as embodying all the fundamental doctrines of orthodox evangelical Christianity.” They then go on to spell out what they emphasize. Great! I was so impressed that we attended while we were out there. Wonderful service. There were three reasons I was drawn to the Christian & Missionary Alliance: their distinctive - the Four Fold Gospel, their missions emphasis, and their big tent approach. There was a lot of diversity within the Alliance. Fellowship was not based on agreement on every detail, but on Jesus who is bigger than our differences. I liked that. That seems so Christian, so apostolic to me.

So, I am simply a Christian. Oh, I have distinctive beliefs, but I will read a wide variety of authors: Calvin and Luther and Wesley and Simpson and Chrysostom and listen to an even wider spectrum of speakers and fellowship with everyone who believes in Jesus, because the Holy Spirit says, “Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.” To that I say, Amen.