Resisting the Libel of the Label

With all my heart, I just want to follow Christ.

I have experienced what Scripture calls the new birth, but I prefer not to be called "a born-again Christian" as if that's something strange. In the first century there wasn't any other kind.

I am part of the catholic (small "c") church consisting of believers all over the world who love the Lord—but please don't label me a Catholic.

I join my voice with all who protest the errors they find in the Roman Catholic church, but I don't consider myself a Protestant either. My faith is mainly about what I'm for, not what I oppose.

The church's beginning on the Day of Pentecost excites me, but please don't call me Pentecostal. I believe the Holy Spirit indwells me and gives all of God's people charismata—gifts for building up the body of Christ—but don't label me charismatic. I believe everything the Bible says about baptism, but I'm not a Baptist. I hold religious leaders like Luther, Wesley, Campbell, and Stone in high regard, but I don't wear their names. I consider it an honor simply to be called a Christian, for the Bible says to "praise God that you bear that name" (1 Peter 4:16).

I believe in evangelism, but the "evangelical" label is often misunderstood and I'm not comfortable with the baggage it carries. For similar reasons I would rather not be called a fundamentalist, although I hold to the fundamentals of "the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 3). I believe the whole Bible is true and inspired by God. I believe "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4). I believe Jesus meant it when he said, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).

I am simply a believer—a disciple apprenticed to Jesus for life. I don't like it when someone tries to put me into a cultural box. No social cause or political party owns my highest allegiance. I am a servant of Christ—first, foremost, and forever.

I "love the brotherhood of believers" (1 Peter 2:17) and appreciate my heritage in the independent Christian churches, but I refuse to align myself exclusively with any religious denomination. I choose to remain free from the control of all who promote institutionalized division, substitute manmade dogma for the Word of God, and lord it over the Lord's church. Likewise, it's wrong when we who claim to be un-denominational develop our own unwritten creeds and ironclad opinions, as if we think we're the only Christians. Suspicious, hyper-critical attitudes are just as sectarian and destructive as the unscriptural divisions we reject.

I've learned valuable lessons from contemporary church leaders, but I've lived long enough to see a lot of popular trends and teachers come and go. That's why I don't jump on the bandwagon for the latest faith-fad or throw all my energy into debating the hottest cultural controversy that will soon be forgotten. Spiritually healthy people stay focused on the basics of walking with God. And healthy churches have been seeker sensitive, purpose driven, Spirit filled, biblically based, mission minded, and outwardly focused long before these labels became buzzwords.

I don't want to create new barriers or perpetuate old ones. I don't want to toss around labels that further divide the church and further confuse those who don't know the Lord. In this complicated world, I just want to follow Christ. What about you?