I have always been puzzled that we allow our world to be defined by others - be those others Christians or whatever.  Someone else says the world is this way or that and we allow him or her to define boundaries of the discussion, if not the argument itself. 

For example, I "listen" to Facebook friends arguing about contemporary concerns along liberal-conservative lines.  Oh, they may add a wrinkle or two, such as libertarianism (be that in either the liberal or conservative form!), but essentially they are allowing others to define and confine their values, even if they are merely choosing the opposite, as if there were not a third, or fourth or umpteenth option.  I hear people talking about faith, and the same thing happens - we need labels and boundaries and camps, if only so that we feel safe in knowing where our friends and our enemies stand - who they really are being more optional.

I tend to rant against labels, realizing at the same time that such ranting is a waste of breath.  That labels are as human as upright walking.  After all, God did tell Adam to name (define) the animals.  But I will resist to my dying breath the impulse of others to categorize me so that they can feel free to excuse themselves from listening any further to what I have to say.  Which is what we tend to do with labels.  We like labels because they serve as a useful shortcut, a shortcut that saves us from the agony of having to hear someone else out. 

Which is why I like Jesus.  He never stops hearing me out - and he never forces me to wear a label.  He doesn't call me to be a Christian, not even a "Christ follower".  He simply calls me to follow him (emphasis on the action, not a label).

In fact, he himself resisted labels.  "Don't call me 'Lord,' rather do what I tell you to do."  In other words, labels can be meaningless, worse a form of lying.  Instead, he says, treat me as if I am your "Lord" and obey my words. 

We talked about this in our life group (sorry for the label) last night, reflecting on Jesus' question to his disciples in Luke 6:46.  Later I thought about a friend who has been starting to follow Jesus.  Someone asked me if that person was a Christian yet and I realized once again the need we have to label things.  This friend may call himself a Christian already, but so do most of his neighbors - 83% of Americans, according to recent polls.  (I don't think so, but I'm not going to let such self-labeling define my world.)  So why bother with whether my friend has the label?  More importantly, this friend is starting to listen to Jesus' words and to live them out.  That is label enough for me - and, methinks, for Jesus, too.

Care to explore further the umpteenth option in all the discussions swirling around you?  Care to think beyond the labels in your relationship with God or with your neighbor?  I invite you to read my book just published called Night Shift: Crossing the Cultural Line for the Kingdom and also to check out the new ezine, Night Shift Crossing, where we explore life's concerns far from the either-or debates filling the spaces between us these days.  And then, let's cut the name-calling and start dialoging.