Examples from the Blogosphere Part 1

Some thoughts about a great example I saw of a person in the trenches trying to bring the Good News of Christ into into the world...

The other day I was reading the conversation at The Boar's Head Tavern and came across an interesting comment by Aaron, one of the fellows there. Here is the link to the comment. It is very short and you should read it along with this additional comment Aaron wrote on the matter. Basically Aaron has taken a "secular" job to be involved in the neighborhood where he is involved in planting a church. He isn't talking about this or theorizing, he is in it. In his thinking about how to relate to the folks at his job he says:

"The odd thing is I felt like letting people know I am a Christian would
ruin my witness."

I had to read this a few times. At first, of course, this sort of hurts your ears. But as it sinks in, you start to think, 'maybe this isn't so goofy'. I don't want to put words in Aaron's mouth so I won't go on about what I think he meant or anything like that. But I would like to think about his quote. Could there be a reason to think this way? Does the term "Christian" have so much baggage with it in some contexts that we are better off to ditch it?

Certainly, we are not obligated to use any one word to name ourselves. It seems that the early apostles were content to be known as followers of the Way. It is also generally accepted that the word Christian started as a insult of sorts and then believers simply embraced it and began using it as their own. Of course the other side of the coin is that the early church fathers did embrace the name and wore it to point of persecution and death. So do we have a responsibility to be loyal to these 2,000 years of history?

In our modern world the word Christian can mean many things to many people. Aaron laments this very thing and then states:

"I want to show them by my actions and love for them that I follow Christ not
just because I say I am Christian."

So where can we find a practical, workable balance? When is it necessary to verbally embrace the label of Christian, even though it will mean implicitly embracing (at least in the eyes of others) many many aspects of history and many individuals that poorly represented Christ?

Jesus was straightforward in saying, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” This seems to, at the very least, show just how much actions can show others.

Personally, I have found in the university here in the states in a very short time spent in Central Asia that I often avoid the term Christian if I am in control of the dialogue. What I mean by that is if someone says, "are you a Christian?", I will say yes. However, if the question is "what is you religion?" or if I am simply talking about my life I say "I follow Jesus." This tends to cut through a lot of the fog.

This is really turning out to be a rambling post with many, many questions and no answers. So I will just end it that way--with more questions.

Is there a real disadvantage to having people lump you in with their version of Christianity before the acutally know you?

At least in early stages of relationships, can we let our actions alone speak Christ and be true to His mission in the world?

I would love to hear thoughts and experiences about this.