In my so-called dotage, which is in itself a label I refuse
to apply to myself, I have become increasingly resistant to labels. Well, at least, to labels meant to categorize people. I am happy to accept labels on food products,
usually; and on specific types of plants and animals; and bio-hazard warning labels. But, stereotypes, generalizations,
pigeon-holes, boxes, et al, applied to human individuals and especially to
groups of people, are never precise, legitimate, fair, perfect, nor unqualified.
This principle of “resistance to labels” is at work in almost
every area of life, from sports to music to politics to literature. Some things defy pinpoint labels. In particular, as this applies in my own
life, I am finding that my “belief system” keeps bumping up against the edges
of various labels then moving away; sometimes abruptly, sometimes discreetly. Time was, I truly yearned to find a “satisfactory”
label for my “faith portfolio” so that I could easily answer questions about
what or who I am. Now I do not want the “faith”
question to be answered so blithely.
I am tempted here to declare a basic “statement of faith”
so that my dear readers will understand where I am coming from. (Also, I keep wanting to put every phrase in
quotation marks. Is this a symptom of
label resistance?) (Further, I am bugged by ending that sentence with a
preposition, but “from where I am coming” just does not cut the mustard, ya
know?) (And now I am apparently hiding behind a seemingly endless chain of
parenthetical statements so I can postpone the revelations I am about to make)
(Are you still reading? Cool.)
My suspicion is that the basics of my faith are not so
different from most of you intrepid readers. I believe in the Creator. I believe in the truth and history of His
Holy Word. I believe in Yeshua
haMashiach ben Elohim (Jesus Christ, Son of God); his birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, rule, and
return. I believe in the Ruach haQodesh
(Holy Spirit). The rest, which is much,
we can discuss later, I reckon.
Labels are astonishingly rampant in the Body of Messiah. I have known this all my life, and I suspect
nearly everyone knows this. I mean, we
can start with denominational labels.
Take a moment to come to terms with the images and terminology that
arise in your mind when you see/hear these few representative denominational
labels: Baptist, Methodist,
Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Catholic, Assembly of God, Nazarene, A.M.E., Lutheran,
Seventh Day Adventist, LDS, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Church of God in Christ, Quakers…
and, of course, the list could go on for pages. By some estimates there are more than 40,000
distinct Christian denominations in existence. Forty. Thousand.
Now, some would say, “one Body, many members” explains the “need”
for the various denominations. I
disagree, but that is not actually the point of this blog entry. I will just say this about that: are the many
denominations operating in unity as One Body?
Over the past several years, my faith journey has crossed,
and often joined, a path upon which has been bestowed the label “Hebrew Roots
Movement.” I still consider myself to be
a “Hebrew Roots” sojourner. But that
label has taken on some unfortunate connotations due to the publicized behavior
of some of its adherents. These days, I
am hesitant to tell a new acquaintance, “I am a Hebrew Roots believer.” Many of
us in this “exploration” are feeling the same way. We do not want to be lumped in with the
emerging mainstream definition of “Hebrew Roots.”
So, what can we do about this? It’s not like I can memorialize my present,
personal, preferred definitions of terms and expect the world to accept, adopt,
and celebrate!
What I am trying to do here, I guess, is just to admit to
myself and to all and sundry that I am sincerely trying to avoid being molded
and stamped by external (mis)interpretations of names, terms, and labels.
A couple of my favorite (?) examples of this phenomenon go
back several decades in my personal experience. Pentecostal and Charismatic. There is no reason for any Bible-believing
follower of Yeshua to avoid these terms.
In fact, we should ALL be both Pentecostal and Charismatic; i.e., if we
believe in the infilling of the Holy Spirit and the gifts that come with it.
In 1974, I had a personal experience that highlighted this
label resistance phenomenon for me. I
was raised in a denomination that ardently eschewed that term (denomination) and
insisted on being called a “movement.” It
is called “Church of God (Anderson, IN).”
There are many groups who call themselves “Church of God,” usually with
some qualification in parentheses to set them apart from each other. (btw, this is not what I think YHVH means
when he tells us to be “set apart”)
I was working in Georgia that summer (1974). One day I saw a little church that was from “my”
Church of God. In the southern US, there
is another Church of God (or two or three) that has distinctly different doctrines
about the “baptism of the Holy Spirit.” So,
to make sure onlookers understood the difference, the sign out front of this
little church declared, “Church of God (Anderson, IN) (NON-PENTECOSTAL).” Yes.
It was in all-caps, just like that. I
laughed. And then I wept.
I understood. They
were trying to manage the expectations of potential visitors. Is that what we have come to? Pre-selection of folks who might come share
with us? This is a recurring theme all
over so-called Christendom. A whole
movement arose around this concept of managing expectations a few decades ago. It is called “Seeker Sensitivity.”
OK. So many terms,
so little chance y’all will keep reading.
So… I will not try
to make an exhaustive list of malleable labels (mal-labels?). And I certainly will not try to offer any
definitions or clarifications. But I
will make a list as a demonstration of the breadth of the label-making
phenomenon. I encourage you to look at
the list below and consider how YOU would define each of these terms; and how
do these things look in your own life and beliefs? Do
any of them make you uncomfortable with the notion of applying them to
yourself? It is a long list, but it
barely scratches the surface.
Apostle
Atonement
Authority
Baptize
Believer
Berean
Bible
Blood
Bride
Christian
Church
Clergy
Covenant
Dance
Deacon
Disciple
Doctrine
Dry Bones
Elder
Ephraim
Evangelist
Faith
Freedom
Gospel
Healing
Hebrew Roots
Hope
Israel
Justification
Kingdom
Layperson
Lost Tribes
Love
Mainstream
Messianic
Minister
One Law
Pastor
Pew
Prophet
Propitiation
Rabbi
Remnant
Sabbath-Keeper
Sacred Name
Sacrifice
Salvation
Secular
Seminary
Teacher
Theology
Torah-Observant
Trust
Two House
Unity
Witness
Worship
Our definitions and interpretations of these and many other terms leads us to distance ourselves from each other. We all need to be moving closer to Father. As we do that, we will be drawing closer to each other, not farther apart. Which do you prefer? Drawing close to Father, or keeping a sterile barrier between yourself and your brothers and sisters?
Perhaps we should concentrate on how to walk together in faith, love, and peace.
Shalom!
שלום
