Labels

I recently watched this:  http://youtu.be/ZyYHPJDTW1Q

A speaker, Francis Chan, spoke at a conference, One Thing, in 2015.  I've searched the Internet to find what particular "brand" of church on which Mr. Chan hangs his hat.  My conclusion is that he is a nondenominational Bible believing kind of guy who believes there is one way to know God, through His Son, Jesus Christ.  His former church, Cornerstone, affirms this as well (http://www.cornerstonesimi.com/about-us/what-we-believe/).

My goal is not to promote Francis Chan.  My goal is to highlight what he did, in front of the ginormous crowd gathered in Kansas City at the above mentioned One Thing conference.

The conference was held at I.H.O.P. (International House of Prayer)* and hosted by director, Mike Bickel.  There are a lot of labels in the Christian culture.  Evangelical Christians broadly believe the same basic things with the exception of the role of the Holy Spirit.  Francis Chan is an ardent believer in the possession of the Holy Spirit as as born-again person of faith as does Mike Bickel.  Where they differ are the beliefs of the gift of speaking in tongues.

Now, you can watch the video link and forward it to the last minutes and see for yourself what Francis says.  However, since I am a writer, let me spin my tale about this confession.  I love it!  I love it because of the raw honesty that I find absent in so many circles of faith.  Let me make a few observations:

1.  We fear what we do not know.  I know this because I spent years in a system of religious expression that denied the roles of the Holy Spirit.  When one began to talk of hearing from God, or sensing God leading a certain direction, eye brows were raised and labels placed.
2.  Christians don't know what to do with one another.  If you bear a label that isn't spelled the same way as your own label, we get pits in our stomach and put our difference's under a microscope.  Instead of letting the black and whites of Scripture divide or define us, we lift up our man-made idols and bear them as crosses.
3.  We forget a world is watching.  If we bear the name of Christ, and if we hold to the authority of the Holy Bible as our text book for living, Christians will be different from the rest of society.  Jesus was ...why do we think we are to be any different.  Yet, we get so bogged down by inner battles with players from our own teams we loose sight of a world that is ever increasing in hunger for and need of truth ... THE TRUTH ... TRUTH that sets people free not binds them down with rules.

That's it ...or at least that's enough for now.  Christ's goal for HIS church - those who bear His name - was unity.  How unified are we?  And if we aren't what are we - you and me - going to do about it?

Rubbing shoulders with other "labels",
Christina







* an evangelical missions organization based on 24/7 prayer with worship that is engaged in many evangelistic and inner city outreaches along with multiple justice initiatives, planting houses of prayer, and training missionaries. (Mikebickel.org)