Monday, September 23, 2019
671 - Identify Yourself
Spirituality Column #671
September 24, 2019
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Identify Yourself
By Bob Walters
“… And in Antioch the disciples
were first called Christians.” – Acts 11:26
There was a time not so long ago when one of the most common
questions on any employment, enrollment, or application form was “Religious Preference.”
Usually the boxes to check were Protestant, Catholic,
Jewish, or Other. On the one hand our
faith was considered to be a key component of one’s public identity; it says
something important about who we are and it wasn’t considered impolite to ask. On the other hand, it was to inform those who
might not know us who to call in an emergency if it was deemed a person in the
clergy was needed.
My, how the world has changed.
We hear so much these days about “identity politics” and yet
this one core, key, deep-seeded identifier of whom any one of us “is” as a
human being – what we believe to be the place of ultimate truth, trust, and
faith of all being, and where we plan to spend eternity – is considered
scandalous to ask. Faith which might
bring us closer together has been replaced by the world with that which can
most effectively keep us apart, fear.
But the one place it is neither scandalous to ask nor
fearsome to assert, and the one place we may still freely express our identity
of faith in Christ and our caring for others is at the communion table of
Christ.
Jesus instructed his disciples to love God, and to love each
other. Jesus prayed that all believers
would “be one” – unified – around the love of God the Father, the truth of
Jesus the Son, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. And in that unity of our faith in Christ,
Jesus instructed us to care for one another.
When we accept the bread and the cup of communion, and
participate in the body and blood of Christ – shared with fellow believers – we
are checking the “Religious Preference” box on the eternal application form as
“Christian.”
When one shares communion, we thank God for the holy
identity He gives us through Christ, and for the caring he commands us to share
with each other. Amen.
Perhaps this would be a good place to rail against the
current cultural madness of identity politics, wherein societal victimhood
points are assigned and oppressorship or privilege is vilified. We could discuss “intersectionality,” the
name given to the aggregate scorecard of how much one is owed or how much one
owes. We could discuss the “divide and
conquer” aspects of tribal identities.
We could also go into the identity morass today presented by ID boxes
marked “male” and “female.” Pick one.
But no … let’s just say that what has been forgotten in
politics and secular culture we must learn, nurture, protect, and treasure in
Christ: that Jesus came for all of us, and that the only saving “identity” is
our belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that we
trust Him as our Lord and Savior. He is
our best bet in this life, and our only way into the next. You want to meet God later? Better know Jesus now.
Really. Truly. John 14:6. You can write it down … preferably
on your heart.
So I’ll be a Christian with thanks and obedience, and with
truth, love, and fellowship. Not with apologies
and guilt, and not with politics, tribes, or bullying.
My prayer is to multiply freely in the Lord, not divide in
bondage to humanity.
Yes, I’ll be a Christian.
The rest of it isn’t worth arguing.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) in sardonic rebellion of the “Protestant-Catholic-Jewish-Other”
question would typically check the “Other” box and write in “Christian.”
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