Happenings 7 September 2018

Labels are extremely helpful things. They make life quicker and at times make it a whole lot safer. If I am walking down a dark alley at night-time (something I try to avoid!), and I see a big man covered in tats, with an even bigger knife in his hand coming towards me carrying a scowl on his face, I could mentally peg him as a sword-swallower from the local circus who has lost his way to the big-top. That might be the less prejudiced thing to do. However, the word I would most naturally slap on him would be the label, ‘mugger’ or perhaps ‘threat’ … and of course I would take appropriate and quick action in the opposite direction! Labels help us categorise our world, and we often apply them to people or situations without conscious thought. However. And yes, there is a ‘however’. Labels are not always accurate (he may have been a grumpy sword-swallower). Labels can also make us complacent – once we have something ‘pegged’, we often don’t give it any more thought. With that in mind, let’s turn to the label, ‘Christian’. What is a Christian … I mean, really? What characteristics are supposed to lie behind the word so that it is more than just a word. Is there a difference between, say, being Christian and ‘Christian-ish’? This Sunday we begin a series called, ‘Beyond Christian-ish’. We will go digging behind the Christian label to find another loaded label called ‘Disciple’. But even this has gradations. Are we living up to our label? Come along and find out!

In Him, 
Murray