Labels

We like our political party affiliations. They help us understand who we are. Labels like Democrat and Republican make a gray world more black and white. It helps us know who thinks like we do on the issues, it helps us know how to vote, it helps us, on some level, figure out who we are. The early Christians were also into labels. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1 the people of the early church are lining up behind the person who baptized them, labeling themselves not as followers of Christ, but also followers of this teacher or that baptizer. But Paul offers a strong course corrective here, asking was Paul crucified for you? Do you belong to these people who baptized you? Is dividing yourselves into camps based on these teachers really who you are? Or do you belong to Christ crucified, the one true Lord, the one true King?
And so it is with us. We create all sorts of labels for ourselves. We label ourselves as Democrats or Republicans. But no matter how strongly we identify with these labels, God has claimed us as God's own. The label that will always define who we are is not how we vote, but that we are children of God, heirs to the kingdom, disciples of Jesus Christ. When we walk into the voting booth, when we cast our ballot, when we walk away with our "I voted sticker" on our shirt, it doesn't matter how we're registered. What matters is that there is one label that is everlasting, one label that will not be swayed by political campaigns. And that label says that we are God's. When we vote next week, let us vote intelligently, let us vote our conscience, but most of all, let us remember we are first and foremost not Republicans and Democrats but the redeemed children of God.