Labels Bug Me

Mostly Because They Do Not Fit

Do you like it when people label you and then either embrace or discount you based on that label? It can be “liberal” or “smart” or “privileged” or whatever label, but it may not feel like it describes you in your wholeness and messiness. I do not like labels. I do not like labels because I keep disliking how they do not fit me.

To be honest, labels fit me about as well as trying to stuff myself into the clothes I wore in second grade. At that time, my mom had picked up Garanimals to help me learn how to dress myself.

Wait - you mean you do not know what Garanimals were? Each piece of clothing had a tag like a little cute turtle, a hippo, a monkey or an elephant. The idea was that all I needed to do was not mix a turtle tag shirt with pants that had a monkey tag. They would not “go together.” Second-grade Hans could learn that, even if he could not figure out why orange striped shirts did not look great with lime green pants.

But I do not wear Garanimals anymore. Not only have I outgrown my second grade clothing now, but fashion sense has evolved since those days of matching tags. There is more space to explore than preset tags allow. Labels do not fit me anymore either.

I am a pastor at a church, so people often attach a label before they get to know me. I rarely describe myself as a “Christian” to others. That word carries so much baggage that I cannot reliably use it about myself. Some people hear it and think of “Christian nationalism.” Others think “unscientific” or “judgy” or “self-certain” or “narrow.” Or “holy” or “serious.”

Many hear the word “Christian” and think “this person believes he has an exclusive grasp on truth.”

I get it. Christians have often given off an “exclusive club” aura. And since I am a pastor, you might think I believe in an secret insider handshake for members.

If you get to know me, you will see that I do not see my faith as an exclusionary wall. More like a trampoline for jumping. Or a path into the woods to get to explore. Or a magnifying glass to look more closely with fresh eyesight to see life, love, possibility where I missed it earlier. My faith invites me outward to see the world’s creativity, and inward to see how I can learn love in the midst of struggles.

I do not like labels because I do not see my faith as being opposed to other faiths or philosophies. I enjoy reading Buddhist and Jewish and Muslim and Indigenous and atheist authors. I am involved in interfaith conversations, and hang out with plenty of people who have no faith community, or have left faith practices behind because religious people have wounded them.

My faith tells me God is gracious in all kinds of ways, not just one specific way that connects for me, so I need to look beyond labels.

I guess I think of being Christian in much the way that I think of being a Jorgensen. I am not out to make everyone else a Jorgensen like I am. To be a Jorgensen does not mean I am anti-Sullivan or anti-Suzuki or anti-Singh or anti-anybody. To be a Jorgensen says something about my history and my genetics and my culture.

But history is not destiny. Genetics is not identity. Culture is not static but keeps evolving. Being a Jorgensen is dynamic because it allows me to recognize who I am currently and who I have been, while being open to what may yet be. There are limits to what I can be. I will never be a great pianist or a star athlete. But I love to sing and move my body nevertheless.

In the same way, I guess I am a Christian. I read scripture and engage in a faith community daily. I delve deeply into my tradition to see insights that I might have missed before. Not because I believe the Bible has the answers, but because ancestors sought to listen in ways that continue to call me to a God of love. Not because these ancestors got it right, but because they struggled with many challenges that I do, too, and they can encourage me in my struggle for a more just and equitable world. Not answers, but wisdom and conversation and grace are what I seek.

I do not like labels because I find them to be lazy and dismissive of our real lives. Nevertheless, I often make the mistake of slipping into labels for others. I try to pay attention to this slippage, because my faith calls me to move beyond labels and not make them a final resting place for actual, critical thinking. I seek to love God who loves actual human beings, by which I mean people with morning breath, convoluted choices, and confusion.

This God of love calls me to love people, not the labels attached to them. I want to go deeper than labels so I can see clearly. I try to do that from the trampoline of my faith, with others who encourage me there.

I do not know. Maybe you do not struggle with this. But I keep learning that most of the labels people would generally use about me are inadequate. So probably most of the labels I use about others are inadequate, too. Maybe if I want people to see me and not just prejudge me based on labels, I ought to try to see others that way, too.

So I am learning that I do not need to self-identify with the labels people may use for me, and I do not need to find the correct labels because none of them are adequate. I do not need cute Garanimals turtle tags or elephant ones now. There is more to explore beyond the labels, even though I do not always find it easy. Thank you for reading, and engaging beyond the labels with me.