Labels
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We are surrounded by labels… amen?!
There are warning labels… instruction labels… brand labels…
Some labels become titles… Some are encouraging… others are hurtful in nature…
Some labels are helpful… others are harmful… amen?
Would you agree that when a label begins to become our identity, it becomes harmful?
Think about it —
— drug addict...
— thief…
— convict…
— racist…
— murderer…
— champion…
— single mother…
— absentee parent…
— wealthy, successful businessman/woman…
— Christian…
— and the list goes on…
Some of those titles are great! They make us feel good… They lift us up!
But… they can also be harmful to us.
I’m reminded of the story of Yusuf “the Terrible Turk”.
Yusuf was a professional wrestler in the 1800’s (before it became the scripted drama that wrestling is today)… Yusuf was a mountain of a man!
Weighing in at over 350 lbs of pure muscle! He was the undefeated wrestling champion of Europe… No one could beat him!
But that wasn’t good enough for Yusuf… He had to prove himself to be the champion of the world… so, he came to America and challenged the undefeated American champion — “the Strangler” Lewis to a match.
Now Lewis was not quite half his size, so, as you can imagine, the match did not go in his favor…
Yusuf quickly defeated Lewis, and demanded that his “prize money” be paid in gold, which he tucked into his championship belt, and proudly boasted about as he boarded the ship back to Europe…
Now… along the way, a storm arose, and as Yusuf attempted to board a life boat, he slipped! The gold quickly drug him beneath the waves…
His pride in the title and in the gold became his downfall.
You see… Yusuf’s title, became his identity…
Labels are harmful.
Not only when applied negatively to people, but… when they become our identity…
There are many people in our world today, who want to apply labels to everything… To work… to play… to worship… to politics…
Can I tell you — Labels cannot bring happiness… Labels will not bring equality, or equity… they only bring destruction!
Look at Luke 10:25-37
25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Notice that Luke wants us to understand that this was no ordinary person, who spoke to Jesus here…
This was a lawyer… and expert in the Law…
This man thought he had it figured out, that he was the smart one… after all, he was the one trained in the Law!
So… he stood up to “test” Jesus…
You see… his identity was in his title, his label...
Look at Jesus’s response:
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”
I love it!
“You’re the ‘expert,’ you’re the Lawyer… you tell me. What does scripture say?”
Look at the Lawyer’s answer:
27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
The Lawyer knows the Law… he knows the Shema, and he knows God’s commands concerning our neighbors…
This is the only person in scripture, besides Christ himself who connects these two pieces together as one command.
And Jesus praises him for it!
28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
But look at the Lawyer’s response:
29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
“But wanting to justify himself...” His label… His title… His long held belief…
He was a Lawyer — and expert of the Law — yet he knew that he had not been living in this way… so, he attempts to justify himself to Jesus…
“Who is my neighbor?”
So, Jesus tells him this parable… the parable of the Good Samaritan… a parable that we all know well… amen?
It tells us how we are to be Christ’s hands and feet in this dark world… How we will do greater things then He did…
Let’s take a look at it:
30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.
34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’
36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
We all know the answer: “The one who had mercy on him.”
We could break this parable down… we could look at the failures of the priest and the Levite… we could even apply it to the failure of the lawyer… or of the Jewish people in general....
In fact, I — like many pastors — have done that! In fact, here’s one of the notes I wrote to myself in my previous studies:
“This passage gives us 3 philosophies of our world today: ‘condemn him,’ ‘avoid him,’ ‘love him’”
But, there is a question that has always played on my mind about this passage…
It’s one that God brought up to me as I prayed about our world this week…
“Why did 3 out of 4 of the people in this narrative fail?”
Why do Christians continue to fail at living out the command of this narrative?
If we are “Christians,” “saved by grace,” filled with the Holy Spirit,” then why do we fail in thins area?
After all, we ALL acknowledge and proclaim its truth…
Michael Wilcock — “It is theoretically true that ‘the man who practices the righteousness which is based on the Law shall live by it’; the trouble is that no one ever succeeds in doing so.”
You see… the problem is in our identity.
Now, follow me on this…
Identity involves Faith.
What is the definition of “faith”? (somebody give me a definition)
Faith is not simply “belief”…
Many people define “Faith” as — “believing in something not seen”
But… that is not true!
Faith is the marker of your “Way of Life”.
Faith defines our life!
It effects life… how we live our lives… Where our faith is… what it is placed in… determines “How We Live.”
17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
Faith is more than belief. It requires works.
In other words, our life does not define our faith, it reveals it!
How you live… the things you do… how you treat others… the way you approach trials… reveal your faith.
The Lawyer quoted Deut. 6:5 — the Shema
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Notice that “the Shema “ is all inclusive… it is devoid of the ability to “separate” it from the rest of our lives… It involves ALL that is us!
Unlike what the world wants us to believe… Faith cannot be “compartmentalized” into one little corner of your life.
Where we place our faith defines us… and regardless of what we claim, our life will reveal what our faith is really in.
The Lawyer asked Jesus: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
The answer — “identify with Christ.”
Being a Christian is not simply “Belief in Christ.”
It is not about believing that He died on the Cross… or that He died for you…
It is about choosing to “identify with Christ.”
To find our very identity… our life source… our life purpose… in our place in Christ...
It is an identification with Christ that informs every aspect of our lives.
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Inheriting eternal life means identifying with Christ — as a Child of God.
If you have given yourself to God… if you have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior… if you have received His Holy Spirit… then You are a child of God!
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!”
16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
We have been bought and redeemed by Christ… We have been given the Holy Spirit as a deposit… GUARANTEEING our adoption as Children of God!
Are we living as such?!
Let me tell you something — “If we have to place a “label” on our identity in order to be “happy,” then we will never be happy.”
Our identity is — a Child of God — “I AM a Child of God”… everybody say that… “I AM a Child of God!” (say it again)
Do you BELIEVE that?! (I mean truly believe that?!)
Because being a Child of God… infers loving our neighbor.
Notice that Jesus changed the question…
From… “Who is my neighbor?”
To… “Who was the neighbor?”
You see… Jesus wasn’t asked about a “way of life”… He was asked about a “way TO life!”
And that’s what He gives us!
23 Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
24 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.
25 What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?
Faith involves more than mental assent to theological doctrine.
Faith must become our identity.
Let me tell you — Christian Faith reveals itself in Love.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love.
“Labels”… “titles”… mean nothing… The name “Christian” means nothing…, if our faith has not become our “way TO life!”
Love is not an emotion.
The word - AGAPE - is a noun. It is something tangible. It can be given away, but… it must become a part of who we are first.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
“God is Love.”
As “Children of God,” Love must become who we are.
Labels WILL NOT accomplish that!
There are a lot of people in the world today who think that our identity is wrapped up in “labels”…
Think about it....
— “White” church
— “Black” (oh, excuse me) “African American” church
— “Gay” Christian
— “Transgender” Christian
— “Hispanic” Christian
— “Asian-American Immigrant refugee” Christian
— the list goes on.....
Some “labels” they say are “good”… Some are “bad”… but they all accomplish only one thing — Division! (Labels = Division)
There is only one label that matters — “Child of God”!
Church — Let me tell you this…
“As long as you have to add a “label” — “_____” Christian...
You will fail to identify with Christ!
23 Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
24 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.
We cannot bring God’s Love into this world through “labels”.
We cannot Be God’s “Hands and Feet” while “labeling” ourselves and others.
“Labels” only create division.
Let me tell you —
I am not a “Straight White Male” Christian...
I am a Christian — a Child of God — who happens to be a straight white male...
You are not a “White male” Christian....
… “White Female” Christian…
… “Gay” Christian…
… “Black” Christian…
… “Asian” Christian...
… “____” Christian…
You are a Child of God.
Who is redeemed and loved by His Creator…
And don’t you ever let anyone tell you different!
We are One Body… One Church… One Family… One Kingdom… serving One God… sharing One Love… and One Unity with the world!
We are called to be the “light of this world”… to be Christ’s “Hands and Feet”… reaching out with His Love into this world…
But we cannot be that if we are busy placing “labels” on people…
Let us seek to be a church… without “labels”!
We are not a “white” church… we are not a “biker” church… we are not an “evangelical” church…
We are Christ’s Church!
Amen?
Let us live that way…