Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.” [1 Corinthians 1:12]
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:
How do you define yourself as a Christian?
I am not part of any denomination nor do I follow any leader (man), so I cannot use that as part of my definition. I hope that my life, my actions reflect that I am a follower of Christ. One of my favorite sayings has always been "go out into the world and preach the gospel, use words if you have to."
How important to you are denominational labels?
They are not important to me at all. I see them as a hindrance in the Christian culture. They allow us to put up fences and stay behind them and not reach out as much and they also keep some people from trying to get in, or not want to be a part of a Christian community. My wish would be a Christian family with no denominations, no labels, no fences. My wish would be to be known like in the NT times... the church in Sundre, the church in Calgary or wherever your physical location was.
Have you ever identified so thoroughly with some Christian leader that it threatened your relationship with other believers?
Never with a leader but for a while I identified so strongly with a movement or a concept that I think I turned people away. That of course was not my purpose, but I so believed in what I was learning that I was probably pretty obnoxious to those who did not agree with my new found way. I was childlike, but now I have grown up in my spiritual walk a bit more, so hopefully I no longer like this. :o)
How can we be unified in Christ when we who have put our faith in him nevertheless differ theologically?
That is the million dollar question, isn't it. I think part of the problem is that we as humans relate first to our denomination/leader then to Christ. Christ needs to be first always. People will often say they are Lutheran, or Catholic or Baptist before they say they are Christian, and probably because it goes without saying that if we are one of these labels we are obviously also a Christian. But this way of labeling ourselves plays havoc with how we can relate to another brother or sister in Christ. Like I said above, it immediately puts up a fence, draws a line in the sand. I don't know how to conquer it on a global level, but as an individual.... I am a sister in Christ, period. No labels. Maybe it will catch on. :o)
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