The Only Label I Want to Wear

I get so tired of labels among Christians.

You know what I’m talking about.

“He’s a liberal preacher.”

“This is a conservative congregation.”

“I would say he’s a bit to the right.”

“We’re trying to be progressive.”

I get sick of it. It seems as if every congregation, leader, and member has to figure out where they fall on some sort of spectrum in order to describe who they are.

The problem is not necessarily the labels per se, it is that no one has any idea what the standard is for these labels. What one person called “progressive” another would say is “mainstream.” What you might say it “ultra-conservative,” a friend might call “just right of center.”

I understand the fascination with these labels, but all they do is lead to less discussion. When someone hears that this person is a liberal, they now refuse to listen. Or, if that person is a conservative, many will not listen just because of the label itself.

Listen: God did not command us to be “liberal” or “conservative” or “progressive” or “left” or “right” or any other label.

I am certain that people have labeled me in any number of ways. (In fact, I’ve heard a few of them, so I know it to be true.) That is certainly their right, and I get where they come from.

That said, I do not wish any of those labels upon myself. For example, when I speak somewhere, I send a biography for the congregation to have (maybe for introduction purposes). It does not say, “Adam Faughn is a conservative, right-of-center preacher….” or “Adam Faughn has been considered progressive about…”.

Why? Because there is only one label I ever want to wear, as it pertains to my walk with Christ. When it comes to my Christianity, the only label I ever want to wear is…

faithful.

That’s it, because it is the only label Christ gives to those who enter heaven: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (emphasis added; Matthew 25:13).

Quit trying to fall into some type of label of Christianity. Study the Bible. Live it out daily. Be humble before the Lord.

In the end, if He calls you “faithful,” that’s the only label that will ever matter.

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AUTHOR: Adam Faughn