Choose Labels With Care For They Reflect Our Identity and Theology By definition I am a Christian, but I’ve always shied away from that word. It means different things to different people, not all of which are positive. For too many, Christian is a negative label implying narrow minded, bigoted, or hate-filled people. Since these […]
Discover What Label Best Describes Our Faith Are you a Christian? Be careful before you answer. By definition I am a Christian, though I seldom use the Christian label. Why? In my book How Big is Your Tent?, I write: “Christian is a loaded term. It means many things to different people. To some, Christian […]
Social Media Has Trivialized What It Means to Follow Someone and Be Their Friend Today when we think of the word followers, our mind quickly takes us to Twitter. As in, “How many Twitter followers do you have?” Instagram and Pinterest also lists our number of followers. And when someone wonders about the number of […]
I don’t like the label “Christian,” even though I am one. The Christian label is a loaded term. It means many things to different people. To some, Christian implies narrow-minded. To others, Christian means hateful. Still others think Christian refers to a political party or secular movement. And what about mean, militant, murdering, manipulative, and […]
Like yeast in a lump of dough, a little bit makes a big difference In the thirteenth chapter of the book of Matthew, we read many parables of Jesus. This includes the parable of the sower, the parable of the weeds, the parable of the hidden treasure, the parable of the pearl, the parable of […]
People Complain About Things That Matter to Them; Silence Reveals Apathy When a customer complains about a business, the astute businessperson knows to embrace it as an opportunity. The fact that the customer is complaining means they’re still a customer, and they’re simply providing a chance for improvement. After all, if they no longer view […]
Move from asking “What Would Jesus Do?” to asking “What Did Jesus Do?” The phrase “What Would Jesus Do?” was popularized in the 1990s. Often epitomized by colorful bracelets that bore the acronym WWJD, the concept was intended to serve as a constant reminder for followers of Jesus to act as he would act. Therefore, […]
If We Say “Jesus is #1,” Our Actions Should Confirm That, Not Prove Us Wrong The person’s social media profile was very telling. In fact, I almost missed what should have been her main point. Her key claim was tacked at the end of her 160-character bio, buried in the last eleven characters. Almost as […]
Arguing Over What is True Has Divided Jesus’s Church for Centuries I’m a huge advocate of Christian unity, that as Jesus’s followers we should all get along and live in harmony. Denominations and theological perspectives don’t matter; Jesus does. In the book of John Jesus prays that his future followers will play nice with each […]
Take Care What You’re Known For In our world of political correctness, there seems to be one group of people who it’s socially acceptable to harass and hate: Christian evangelicals and fundamentalists. In a world that values tolerance, there is one group that it’s okay to not tolerate: evangelicals. It’s politically permissible to mock them, […]