Labels are so handy! And mostly useless!

I have always wanted to do this when forced to wear one of these dumb nametags.

I wonder why it even matters what we call ourselves. In re-reading yesterday's post, which got this little ball rolling, I looked at some of the identifying labels I used:
- Christian
- conservative
- orthodox
- evangelical
- liberal
- traditional

And notice I didn't even mention any specific denominations. Or use other labels that often get tossed around in the church: inclusive, charismatic, liturgical, Reformed, egalitarian, complementarian . . . the list could go on and on.

Why are we (and by "we" I think I'm referring to those of us who actively think about matters of faith and the Church, but this could perhaps be broadened) so fascinated by labels? Why do we ask what denomination other believers come from, or attend now? And, the biggest labels of all: Why am I even opening up this bag of LIBERAL and CONSERVATIVE faith?

Labels are so easy, people! So simple! They're part of our identity. They tell me who I am. Despite no longer attending the Salvation Army, there are ways I'm still very much a Salvationist. My theology is Wesleyan-Arminian. I'm egalitarian. My faith is orthodox. I like liturgical worship . . . these tell me things about myself and they also serve as shorthand for others to get to know me. See, just reading those things, you've probably made assumptions about me, just like I would make assumptions about someone who told me that they were Reformed, or complementarian, or (gasp!) United Methodist. (Kidding, all my UMC brethren.)

(This makes me think of many of my dear PCA friends, who, when asked what denomination they're part of, almost always tend to respond with, "Presbyterian . . . PCA, not PC (USA)." They know how important labels are.)

There's a major issue with all this, though. These labels limit me. They limit my growth. They force me to stay in a box, and others then assume that that box is all that I am. After a while, everything I read or study or think about confirms and reinforces that label, until my faith has conformed to the limits of the box, instead of having a chance to change and get messy and be challenged.

We want our faith to grow, right? To do so, it has to leave the confines of a labeled box.

This is a scary prospect. If you come from a conservative background, it might be scary to start thinking that you're not - like me - going to use the "evangelical" label anymore. If you call yourself a liberal Christian, your fellow churchgoers might start looking at you strangely if they see you reading a book by Tim Keller or NT Wright. On both sides, I think that when we starting asking questions about what we believe we're going to be told to stop, or to "be careful," because who knows what kind of dangerous place questions will lead us to?

We need to get out of the labeled box, ignore old assumptions, and start asking those dangerous questions. I think that's how we're going to grow as Christians, and as a Church.