The use of labels has another purpose beyond simply identifying someone or something. It has become a tool used to prepare people to reject a person or an idea before they are discerning enough to make an informed decision. The news media and academia are the cultural linguists that craft most of these labels. After we hear a label repeated enough over time, once it is accepted as true, the label creates separation. The purpose of labeling is division – a division that takes place before the validity of what the label is attached to can be examined without the prejudicial presence of the label.

As an example, just this morning, I read an article regarding differing opinions about the resurrection of Jesus. On one side was the heresy that said Jesus did not rise from the dead. That was called the Modernist view. On the other side, as described by the author, was the Fundamentalist view that affirmed Jesus did rise from the dead. Paul was confident of that reality when he wrote “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins” (I Corinthians !5:17).

Being labeled modernist sounds embracing and inclusive. The use of the label fundamentalist has been used to depict a hayseed version of a closed-minded faith comprised of people with the equivalent mental capacity of someone worshipping with snakes in some backwoods holler. It is easier to reject the latter if we consume a label without understanding the spiritual ingredients that cook the deceptive soup of its argument. 

Labels have a purpose. Some labels are affixed to create a negative view of the object to which the label has been attached. The purpose of the label is fulfilled when the negative interpretation of that label will lead to the dismissal of a concept or worldview of those who hold a particular understanding of truth. 

The flippant and unwise use of spiritual labels emerges when the authority of Scripture is abandoned and, in its place, human reasoning is inserted. Don’t allow anyone or any school of thought to become your label-maker. Only the Lord and Scripture can be used to accurately define what labels a person or defines what is true.