I just responded to a “question of the week” sent to my email. It asked me, “have you ever felt uncomfortable being labeled as a Christian?” The choices to respond: Yes. No. Not sure.
What kind of a question is that? How can you answer it with only those three responses? And what exactly do they mean by “labeled?” Labeled by whom?
Have I ever been uncomfortable being a Christian? You bet, especially when I hear a message and feel the prompting of the Spirit of God in my heart that I need to change. The Gospel at times has made me very uncomfortable because I know I’m not measuring up.
Have I ever felt uncomfortable when other Christians are acting very un-Christlike? Yep. Nothing more embarrassing than being around people who call themselves Christian but don’t act any differently from the world.
Have I ever felt uncomfortable being labeled a Christian by someone (or society) that doesn’t want to hear the truth of the Gospel of Christ Jesus? That would be a negative response. I feel sad that people don’t want to hear the Good News – perhaps some of that is of our own making because we have been far less compassionate and kind than we should have been. Still, I’m hanging with Paul on this.
“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes …. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’“ [Romans 1:16-17 NKJV]
