When I first came to hospice, there was a question by another employee concerning where I had earned by theological training--Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He was afraid I would try to evangelize instead of helping patients find God in their own way. I have proved after a year his concerns where unfounded. I am thankful for my conservative training at Liberty, but I am not a Falwell-ite. Once I was attending a dinner where he was the guest of honor and as he was meeting people, he offered to sign their Bibles. I told a man next to me I will wait till I can get it signed by the original AUTHOR. Dr. Falwell was used by God to develop other men and women who love the Lord. However, when you identify or label yourself you might have to defend it at the cost of bruised egos or hurting hearts.
When I came to Virginia in the late nineties, I asked a member of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia the differences between the them and the other Southern Baptist churches. He said the "moderates" wear robes. Oh NO! I have a clerical robe and doctoral hood I wear. Does that mean I am a now a "moderate" and not a conservative? I promise, I only wear it for special occassions.
We use labels to help us identify, classify and sometimes pigeon-hole people. During graduate school I taught at an inner-city private school. My classes were made up of 7th and 8th graders. I was told on my first day I had two groups of student: "good and poor students." I told the students I would not treat them differently and when I attended the graduation of the eighth grade students, the speaker, one of the kids from the "poor" class said "Mr. Mentzer taught us not to quit!" I hope he retained the advice. I have worked with people in counseling whose parents used abusive and harsh words to their children. As the child grew up, they worked very hard to live up to those "labels". My parents told my younger brother he would never achieve and to this very day he struggles against those words. Even though he can take a motor apart and I can not he still suffers from those intolerant words.
Labels can be beneficial because they can tell you how many calories are in your favorite ice-cream, or how much medicine to take. The religious of Israel labeled Jesus as a means of diminishing his reputation among the populace. However, Jesus ate with wine-bibbers, tax collectors, and even Pharisees. He would speak to a Samaritan woman, a struggling disciple named Peter, and loved Judas who would betray him. The only label I wish to have about me is "child of God." I desire to live my life so others may say, "There goes a Christian!" instead of "That's what you call a Christian?" I don't have to stress my conservative bent as long as I lift up Jesus for others to see. If someone disagrees with my theology I do not feel compelled to fight for all this does is leads to more unrighteousness. I was even looked at by a search committee which celebrated its theological diversity and I was determined not to change who I was to move to Louisianna and pastor this very large church but to love them as Christ loves me.
I had a wise pastor tell me I can be conservative in my theology but I should also be liberal in love and grace. Thanks Dr. Fox for your words of wisdom which I have tried to live for twenty years. Thank God for a "moderate".
When I came to Virginia in the late nineties, I asked a member of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia the differences between the them and the other Southern Baptist churches. He said the "moderates" wear robes. Oh NO! I have a clerical robe and doctoral hood I wear. Does that mean I am a now a "moderate" and not a conservative? I promise, I only wear it for special occassions.
We use labels to help us identify, classify and sometimes pigeon-hole people. During graduate school I taught at an inner-city private school. My classes were made up of 7th and 8th graders. I was told on my first day I had two groups of student: "good and poor students." I told the students I would not treat them differently and when I attended the graduation of the eighth grade students, the speaker, one of the kids from the "poor" class said "Mr. Mentzer taught us not to quit!" I hope he retained the advice. I have worked with people in counseling whose parents used abusive and harsh words to their children. As the child grew up, they worked very hard to live up to those "labels". My parents told my younger brother he would never achieve and to this very day he struggles against those words. Even though he can take a motor apart and I can not he still suffers from those intolerant words.
Labels can be beneficial because they can tell you how many calories are in your favorite ice-cream, or how much medicine to take. The religious of Israel labeled Jesus as a means of diminishing his reputation among the populace. However, Jesus ate with wine-bibbers, tax collectors, and even Pharisees. He would speak to a Samaritan woman, a struggling disciple named Peter, and loved Judas who would betray him. The only label I wish to have about me is "child of God." I desire to live my life so others may say, "There goes a Christian!" instead of "That's what you call a Christian?" I don't have to stress my conservative bent as long as I lift up Jesus for others to see. If someone disagrees with my theology I do not feel compelled to fight for all this does is leads to more unrighteousness. I was even looked at by a search committee which celebrated its theological diversity and I was determined not to change who I was to move to Louisianna and pastor this very large church but to love them as Christ loves me.
I had a wise pastor tell me I can be conservative in my theology but I should also be liberal in love and grace. Thanks Dr. Fox for your words of wisdom which I have tried to live for twenty years. Thank God for a "moderate".
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