I'm not a can of soup, so labels are bad

I don't really use labels to describe my faith or the way I think about God. I have faith in God and when I seek Him, He shows me where He wants me to be in life, who He wants me to be, and how He wants me to be. I think that's the way it should be with everyone. I don't have to label myself in such a way that I would fit in at my Church because God has shown me that's the community I belong in. I don't need to label myself as evangelical, or that I have an apologetic theology, because I just try and be the person God has designed me to be, He will use me as He sees fit and I'm not the deciding factor in someone's decision to become a Christian.

I actually do find apologetics interesting, mostly the science interests me, so when I found books about history, science, archeaology, etc. that backs up what I already believe, I find it fascinating, but I didn't look into it to evangelize, although I know of people (mostly athiests) who have become Christians because of it. I think God knows the ways to reach out to people, He knows what they need to hear, see, understand, in order to finally feel His presence, and if He uses what I've read about science to reach someone then He will do that, it's not something I intend to use on purpose. He may also use my experience with Richard, or use my strong family ties, or whatever. I think Christians are just called to live their life the way God asks us to live and He will use our lives to reach those who don't believe in Him.

I've never really felt denominational ties in any direction, but as I've grown older and more experienced with different Churches, different beliefs, I've become more aware of how denominations like to seperate themselves and ostricize other denominations (which is one big reason I like being in a non-denominational Church, the core of people there are not like that), and it really burns me up that someone can be made to feel ostricized for not doing something God doesn't call everyone to. For example, in my small town, the majority of people seem to be evangelical and so people who live there who aren't evangelical can be made to feel they aren't 'real Christians'. Yet, I think that's more of a calling than a denomination. I think God rarely calls people to intentionally go out in the world and try and convert people. He calls people to live in Cameroon to translate a Bible so they can actually read His word, He calls people to Guinea to help build medical buildings and orphanages, and live among people who don't know Him and be an example for Him, He calls people to China to make His teachings available, despite laws against it, He calls people to inner city Winnipeg to love the homeless, and make chapel services available for them, He calls people to open a Christian book store in Northern Saskatchewan, near reserves, but He doesn't call people only to convert people, just to be a vessel for Him to work through.

God never intended for us to try and use our intellect to dicipher every thing in the Bible, just for us to get the big picture of who He is and what He wants from us, and that is a relationship. He will then use that relationship to reach out to us in the scripture, and He may not have each verse mean the exact same thing for everyone (i.e. body is a temple for me addresses my addiction to food, for some it's lust, for some it's cigarettes), in fact one of our pastors said this very thing at the end of his message last week (Oct.26th). Yet we humans then try and create cliques of people who all found the same meaning. God wanted the Word to bring us together because the important thing we have in common is that we believe He saved us through Jesus. We have way more beliefs in common than we disagree on. It really irks me that people start putting God in a box, 'this is the God I want to believe in, and if He's not that God I don't believe in Him'. People who want spirituality without the Bible say the Bible's God is not the loving God they believe in, the loving God they believe in wouldn't ever punish. How many loving parents do you know who have never punished their child?

Sometimes it all makes me wish I could call myself something other than a Christian so as not to be identified with the kind of people who would do that....but that's just another label, another division, and that's not what's important. So, I try to think 'outside the label', and not care how people may stereotype me, and I try not to stereotype others.