You Are More Than Just a Label

We are often labeled by things we do or the groups we are associated with. You know, sort of like the labels, often handwritten, on home-canned goods found at farmer’s markets. That label simply states the contents of the jar, and nothing more. Or how about the label inside your shirt. It probably tells the brand, size, where the garment was made, and sometimes other information relating to the shirt itself. But it says nothing about the quality or condition of the shirt.   

If you are an avid fan of a certain sports team, let’s say you follow The Ohio State Buckeyes, then you are part of Buckeye Nation. If you were born between 1946 and 1964, you are considered a Baby Boomer. The devotees to Charles Manson were known as the Manson Family and the women in that “family” often referred to themselves as Charlie’s Girls. The young people of the 1960s counterculture were called hippies. Many of those same hippies joined the Jesus Movement and became known as Jesus freaks.

Someone who has been convicted of a serious crime is labeled as a felon. If you have a particular interest in food, you are called a foodie. Or if your nose is always in a book, and you are devoted to reading, you might be a bookworm. How about jock, political junkie, addict, deadbeat dad, soccer mom, gay, nerd, liberal; again, all words used to label people. And lastly, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are called a Christian, or in some circles you are simply known as a Jesus-follower.

We tend to find identity in our labels. And that identity can be positive, neutral, or negative. If your boss calls you innovative, you probably tend to be motivated by that, feeling free to allow your creative juices to flow. On the flipside, maybe as a child someone called you a loser and that crippling label has stuck with you into adulthood. But the truth of the gospel is that we are not our labels. We read this in Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Paul is saying when Jesus died and rose again that nothing in his (Paul) past – he was a self-righteous persecutor of anyone who associated with the name of Jesus – mattered in the eyes of God any longer. And that is true for you and me today, no label, good or bad, can keep us from the love of Christ (see Romans 8:31-39). Those earthly labels placed upon us do not define us in the eyes of God. We may still have or be whatever has labeled us, but those labels no longer define our identity.  We are more than just labels.

I also want to extend a warning. Just like any other label, the word Christian is just that, a label. It does not define who you are or what you do; it is only a category you fit in, only a box to check off. And it defines you no more than any of the labels referenced above. We read these convicting words found in 1 John 2:6 – “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”

So, labels do not define us, rather, it is who we are in Christ that defines each one of us. If you have given your life to Jesus, then your label is in fact “Christian.” But today I don’t ask whether or not you are a Christian, but instead, I ask you (and me) these questions – Do you walk out your life believing that Christ lives in you? Do you walk out your life considering who you truly are? When people see you, do they see the character of God being reflected in you?

You are more than just a label.   

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