Labels: A long Post....

Typically I'm opposed to labeling people, including myself. It always seemed so restrictive and demeaning. How could I possibly be confined to a set of words? Am I Jewish? Am I Christian? Am I something else? What are you? Is it at all important? I'm starting to think that for some reason people need labels for things. It helps to put the world in perspective, and know where you stand in relation to other people. But I think it's important that the label applied to the person is one that they accept and embrace and not something that we impose on them.

How does this come up? It came up for several reasons, but mostly because I'm not really comfortable with being called a Christian (as I mentioned before). I connect Christianity with something else...Pat Robertson, Christian Coalition, Campus Crusade, Rick Warren, etc. None of whom I really...connect with...none of whom really speaks to me/for me as a believer in God and Jesus' teachings.

This sort of mini-identity crisis came up because I'm constantly asked what I am. I'm not Jewish, I haven't converted, and don't plan on it. But I love the teachings of the Rabbis and much of what traditional Judaism offers. I know the tractates of the Talmud; I know who the Tanaim and the Amoraim are; I know what the difference is between Halacha and Agadah and can use them in an argument with most of my Jewish friends.

But I can also flop between the Rabbis and Jesus in the same breath, and arguing for the same point. On one message board, it brought confussion as to whether or not I believed Jesus was the Son of God because I moved between the Talmud and New Testament without batting an eye. I love the teachings of Jesus and I don't see a great difference between what he taught and what the Rabbis taught (e.g. both hold Deuteronomy 6.4-9 as the greatest commandment). I study the gospels quite a bit and know most of the storie fairly well. I'm learning Greek so that I can read the New Testament (among other things) in Greek because I hate translations (I should add that to the list of things I'm skeptical about) I really want to know what he was saying and try to understand all of the implications.

At the same time, I don't believe that you have to believe in Jesus to be saved (honestly I think of eternal salvation as a moot point). I think anyone from any religious background can merit salvation by loving their neighbor. The dividing line for Jesus was not belief in him, but how you treated the poor and downcast (a la the sheep and goats, etc). I hug this dividing line between the two traditions which makes both sides not quite comfortable with me (although my non-Christian friends tend to be more comfortable around me than my Christian friends).

So what am I? This question has been plaguing me for sometime, and only recently have I come up with something that I can feel comfortable with: Existential Christ-following Humanist. Let me break it down for you, so that we're all on the same page:

Existential: This world is what matters more than the next. We are to take care of people now, the planet now and should be ultimatly concerned with what is happening here.

Christ-Following: For me, the ultimate example of God's love is seen in Jesus. Not so much in his death but in the life he lived. The life that lead to his dying. Where oppressive authority structures were challenged, care for the poor and needy was the ultimate concern and how we treat others is ultimately how we treat God.

Humanist: I believe man can achieve the realm of God. We are to be the agents of God in building his kingdom. God has chosen humanity to be the image of the divine in the secular. We cannot continue to think we are worms and dust, but that we are glorious creatures made in the image of God. We are in a sense a part of the Divine, and we should try to find that part in all of us.

Honestly I was quite surprised by how freeing labeling myself was. Maybe it reflects a lack of maturity on my part, but to be able to say, "Look this is what I am..." actually offers a bit of stability for me. Maybe labels can be beneficial in some degree or another. Unless your Jaime and choose to label yourself a Christian Sociopath....