Labels—the ones we place on each other, not the ones we find in our pantry—have you ever wondered what true purpose they serve within our society (aka the Label-Machine)?
Now I will admit that some labels are inevitable: first name, last name, etc. But as I get older I am finding that unlike puzzle pieces, people don’t always have a comfortable shape to be placed into.
Let’s be honest, labels have both benefits and dangers. Benefits being they are a source of organization, distinction, and, for the OCD folks, sanity. Dangers being they tend to be narrowly exclusive, overly inclusive, or just outright needless due to the fact that they cause more harm than good.
One of those harms is that many times these categorical titles (fancy name for labels because I was tired of using that word) remove a middle ground. In other words, they tend to cause many people to see not just some but all categories as black and white, if not “this” then must be “that”, never gray…like that there cat (pardon my need for rhyming there).
But where’s the middle ground? Where do the people go that don’t fit nicely into the labels we have created for them—those who don’t want to label themselves exclusively by their politics, their skin color, their age demographic, etc.? Where do they go? We don’t like those kinds of people, do we? Because those people ruin our desire for honest-to-goodness tribalism…I mean organization. Whoops!
What about the harm labels create in removing mystery from our world? Going back to our pantry, isn’t that the purpose of those labels—to make sure we grab the kidney beans for tonight’s chili and not the kidneys themselves? We don't want mystery ingredients in the chili. But if we label everything (outside of the pantry) and fit it all into a nice “box”, where does imagination exist?
We have been taught from a very young age to color inside the lines but what do we do with the child who seems to find more beauty in coloring outside of them? What do we do with the Edisons who desire a lightbulb as opposed to a candle or lantern? The Fords who desire an automobile as opposed to a carriage? And the everyday moms, dads, teachers, bosses, and entrepreneurs who see more opportunity changing the way it’s done instead of following the societal trends of the label they possess?
Doesn’t sound like danger to you yet? Consider what our desire to label seemingly everything does to our belief of the spiritual world—that world that is unseen of good and evil. How do we label those things? How do you organize and categorize things that cannot be seen by the human eye? How do you categorize miracles and things that even doctors can’t explain after their years of training and experience? How do you explain and organize the life change of a drug addict after they place their unseen faith in an unseen Savior, the Son of an unseen God? Could it be possible that our desire to label and completely explain these things can actually remove or prevent ones faith of the supernatural and spiritual?
It’s true that labels are helpful in some ways but it seems that as the use of labels grows, the division grows also. Instead of finding commonality, labels help us boast in our distinction and individualism. This has resulted in more church denominations, more lifestyle choices, and more options in almost every facet of life and yet we still can’t seem to find the right box for every person. But why?
Maybe it’s because the only single-faceted label for every multi-faceted person was created by someone other than ourselves. Maybe it is the fact that God created each of us in His image and, therefore, the only label that will ever endure long after ours have proven themselves insufficient is this: MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD (i.e. Genesis 1:26).
That’s the label we should be most concerned with when we see an individual—they are MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.
Yes, they may be of a certain political party and yet they are MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. Sure they may be of a different skin color but still they are MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. Absolutely they may be of a different age, different ethnicity, and different background with a different voice, different customs, and maybe even of different religious beliefs BUT they remain MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.
As a friend of mine put it: “To denigrate another image-bearer in the name of God Himself- to falsely elevate oneself over another - is a grave form of self-idolatry and pride.” But isn’t it true that it is easier to look down upon a person who is seen only by their label than someone who is seen as a creation of God Himself?
If our “label-machine” of a society has its way we Christians will do just that and see individuals through the lens of the categorical name-badges they have placed upon them. But if God has His way in our lives we will see them only as part of the world that “God so loved” and therefore, like us, must hear about “His only begotton Son (John 3:16).”
Now I will admit that some labels are inevitable: first name, last name, etc. But as I get older I am finding that unlike puzzle pieces, people don’t always have a comfortable shape to be placed into.
Let’s be honest, labels have both benefits and dangers. Benefits being they are a source of organization, distinction, and, for the OCD folks, sanity. Dangers being they tend to be narrowly exclusive, overly inclusive, or just outright needless due to the fact that they cause more harm than good.
One of those harms is that many times these categorical titles (fancy name for labels because I was tired of using that word) remove a middle ground. In other words, they tend to cause many people to see not just some but all categories as black and white, if not “this” then must be “that”, never gray…like that there cat (pardon my need for rhyming there).
But where’s the middle ground? Where do the people go that don’t fit nicely into the labels we have created for them—those who don’t want to label themselves exclusively by their politics, their skin color, their age demographic, etc.? Where do they go? We don’t like those kinds of people, do we? Because those people ruin our desire for honest-to-goodness tribalism…I mean organization. Whoops!
What about the harm labels create in removing mystery from our world? Going back to our pantry, isn’t that the purpose of those labels—to make sure we grab the kidney beans for tonight’s chili and not the kidneys themselves? We don't want mystery ingredients in the chili. But if we label everything (outside of the pantry) and fit it all into a nice “box”, where does imagination exist?
We have been taught from a very young age to color inside the lines but what do we do with the child who seems to find more beauty in coloring outside of them? What do we do with the Edisons who desire a lightbulb as opposed to a candle or lantern? The Fords who desire an automobile as opposed to a carriage? And the everyday moms, dads, teachers, bosses, and entrepreneurs who see more opportunity changing the way it’s done instead of following the societal trends of the label they possess?
Doesn’t sound like danger to you yet? Consider what our desire to label seemingly everything does to our belief of the spiritual world—that world that is unseen of good and evil. How do we label those things? How do you organize and categorize things that cannot be seen by the human eye? How do you categorize miracles and things that even doctors can’t explain after their years of training and experience? How do you explain and organize the life change of a drug addict after they place their unseen faith in an unseen Savior, the Son of an unseen God? Could it be possible that our desire to label and completely explain these things can actually remove or prevent ones faith of the supernatural and spiritual?
It’s true that labels are helpful in some ways but it seems that as the use of labels grows, the division grows also. Instead of finding commonality, labels help us boast in our distinction and individualism. This has resulted in more church denominations, more lifestyle choices, and more options in almost every facet of life and yet we still can’t seem to find the right box for every person. But why?
Maybe it’s because the only single-faceted label for every multi-faceted person was created by someone other than ourselves. Maybe it is the fact that God created each of us in His image and, therefore, the only label that will ever endure long after ours have proven themselves insufficient is this: MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD (i.e. Genesis 1:26).
That’s the label we should be most concerned with when we see an individual—they are MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.
Yes, they may be of a certain political party and yet they are MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. Sure they may be of a different skin color but still they are MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. Absolutely they may be of a different age, different ethnicity, and different background with a different voice, different customs, and maybe even of different religious beliefs BUT they remain MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.
As a friend of mine put it: “To denigrate another image-bearer in the name of God Himself- to falsely elevate oneself over another - is a grave form of self-idolatry and pride.” But isn’t it true that it is easier to look down upon a person who is seen only by their label than someone who is seen as a creation of God Himself?
If our “label-machine” of a society has its way we Christians will do just that and see individuals through the lens of the categorical name-badges they have placed upon them. But if God has His way in our lives we will see them only as part of the world that “God so loved” and therefore, like us, must hear about “His only begotton Son (John 3:16).”
“Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew (label), askest drink of me, which am a woman (label) of Samaria? for the Jews (label) have no dealings with the Samaritans (label).
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water (The Gospel).”
John 4:9-10
No comments:
Post a Comment