How should we think of ourselves?
Here is the first commandment:
“You shall have no other gods before me.” Deuteronomy 5:7
Lord Jesus explained it this way:
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24
When in church, I often hear people describe themselves as ‘liberal Christians’, or ‘conservative Christians’. Should we really talk like this?
If you are a liberal Christian, would you go against Christ’s teachings to conform to liberalism? What about conservatives? Would you do something wrong, something against your conscience, in order to be considered a good conservative?
When we attach ourselves to a group, we take on that group’s beliefs. If those beliefs or actions conflict with the teachings of our Lord, who do you choose to follow? All of our attachments are fraught with problems. Did Jesus teach ‘my country right or wrong’? Did he teach free market economics or communism? Man is a sinner, and groups are composed of men. They all make mistakes.
It can get worse. Sometimes we self-censor our thoughts, thinking something is not in line with our groupthink. If you are in that situation, you have given other people the right to censor your thoughts and shut out new ideas. It’s ridiculous to maintain that one group or another has a lock on the truth. No one is right all the time. If the group you belong to does something wrong and you go along with it, that is your sin. If you do not go along with it and speak up, perhaps you will persuade others and prevent them from sinning.
Of course, for speaking up you might be ostracized from the group. Lord Jesus had an answer for that.
“He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;” Matthew 10:37
There you have it. You must put Lord Jesus ahead of your group.
That is why, when you think of yourself, you should not think of yourself as a ‘something Christian’. Just plain Christian should suffice for describing yourself.
