I'm re-sharing an old post from 2010, because in light of all the vitriol and anger and rhetoric we've seen and heard in the last few weeks, it's something to think about, and a good reminder that just because we slap a "Christian" label on something (or someone, or ourselves)  that doesn't make it so... 

Does more than one make you MORE Christian?

Bestselling author Anne Rice's recent Facebook announcement that she has "quit Christianity" garnered a deluge of media attention. After years as a self-avowed atheist followed by a public return to the faith of her childhood - Catholicism - Rice said she is done with organized religion. Her announcement incited a vitriolic stream of criticism from Christians questioning her salvation, her faith, and her morals.

To be perfectly honest, I totally understand where she's coming from. (Ducking now to avoid stones.)

If you've never encountered "friendly fire" in church - in the form of gossip, condemnation, oppression, legalism, rejection, etc. - count yourself among a very blessed minority. Let's face it, there are a lot of mean, hateful, hypocritical people sitting in pews and standing behind pulpits every week. Don't get me wrong, there are thousands - nay, millions - of people in churches who are loving, genuine, and kind, too. People who are earnestly seeking to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. Unfortunately, it's the spiteful, critical ones who tend to have the loudest mouths, carry the biggest picket signs, and make the most damaging waves. And they are usually the first ones to stand up and call themselves the true defenders of Christianity.

But what is it that makes one a Christian? Is it a Jesus fish car emblem? A shiny gold cross? A church membership card? Which version of the Bible you read? The kind of music you listen to, the clothes you wear, your hair length, or the movies you watch? Is the evidence of your faith limited to the Thomas Kincade lithograph on your wall?

The bigger the cross???

Most of us, if we have any understanding of the Gospel, are quick to say "no." Christianity is based solely on our belief in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who accepted the price of all the sin of humanity and suffered the consequences for us in his death on the cross, and then was raised from the dead by the power of God, having paid our debt so that we can be set free. All we have to do, according to Romans 10:9-10, is confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead. And we will be Christians.

Right? Not exactly. Romans 10:10 actually says "you will be saved."

So where did the Christian label come from? Jesus never called anyone Christians. He didn't say, "I'm starting a new religion, and I shall call it Christianity, after Myself."


Christian shows up in only three places in the Bible - Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28, and 1 Peter 4:16. A derivative of Christ (Greek for "Anointed One") the word Christian literally means "an adherent or follower of Jesus."

Here's the funny thing. Those early followers of Jesus didn't call themselves Christians. Acts 11:26 says "...and they were first called Christians at Antioch."

Get that? They were CALLED Christians, by other people. Jews and idolators and atheists and agnostics labeled them. Not just for what they professed, but for what they did. Throughout the book of Acts we see the followers of Jesus going out into all the known world and healing the sick, sending aid to victims of famine, helping widows and orphans, raising the dead, setting the oppressed free. Everywhere they went, they did the same things Jesus had done. They "went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil." They continued His mission without missing a beat. And the people around them saw Christ in them.


I want that. I want someone who has never known the love of God, never felt His healing power, never understood the depth of His mercy and grace, to encounter Him in me and say, "You must be a Christian" based on what I do, not just what I say.

I hesitate to say "I'm a writer." Any shmuck can declare him or herself to be a writer, but until someone else acknowledges what you do, it doesn't mean much. I can tell anyone I'm a wife. But if I don't do wife-stuff - or worse, if I do anti-wife stuff - haven't I claimed wifely status in vain?

 The third commandment given to the Hebrews when they came out of Egypt says this: "You shall not use or repeat the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, lightly or frivolously, in false affirmations or profanely]; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." Ex 20:7 AMP
Red Letters by Tom Davis

I once purchased what I thought was a can of jalapeno peppers. However, my inability to translate the Spanish label resulted in my bringing home a can of jalapenos and carrots. Mostly carrots. VERY spicy carrots. They tasted good, but required a little bit of explanation: "Why are there carrots in my enchiladas? Are you on another health food kick?"

Labels, correctly interpreted, provide information and instruction. Nutritional data, warnings about health and safety, proper procedures for use ... all these are found on labels. A well-designed label can save your life. A poorly designed one is at least good for a giggle.


But the labels we slap on each other with the wanton abandon of 3-year-olds let loose with Post-it notes aren't helpful. In fact, they are usually harmful, and frequently they are flat-out wrong.
We must have gotten it from Adam, this desire to classify and pigeonhole and identify everything we see with our eyes.

"So the Lord God formed from the soil every kind of animal and bird, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever he called them, that was their name."

Gen 2:19 TLB

Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a [purely] human point of view [in terms of natural standards of value]. [No] even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man, yet now [we have such knowledge of Him that] we know Him no longer [in terms of the flesh].

2 Cor 5:16 AMP

Make yourself aware of the ratty old HUMAN labels you unconsciously wear and shrug them off like an outgrown coat. Quit looking at YOURSELF according to the human point of view and see yourself through God's eyes: beloved, adopted, accepted, approved, cherished, redeemed, delivered, saved, healed, restored, rescued, ransomed, destined, effective, free, graced, holy, justified, made new...

I was in third grade when it became popular to wear a designer's name on the back pocket of your blue jeans. Wearing the "right" label changed my whole perspective on third grade.

But choosing to wear God's labels changed my perspective on life.

(This is the 12th installment in the a2z4u and me meme. For more, visit www.pattywysong.com or click on the picture:

It's one I've taken before, several times. The results indicate which of four personality types are strongest in you: choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic, or melancholy, which are the four bodily “humours” once thought to control a person's mental, emotional, and physical health. (for more information, visit Wikipedia: Four Temperaments, or Personality Plus or Lion, Otter, Beaver, Retriever Test )

• What limits have you accepted because of what someone said about you, or because of your family genealogy, or because of something that happened to you when you were a child?
• And, in your heart of hearts, what labels do you secretly long for?