Sometimes I just laugh at the goofy criticism people direct at me. I mean do people really think they can accurately  sum up my entire theology  by reading into a statement I made on twitter that consists of less than 140 characters or by taking one blog post completely out of context? Here’s a couple great examples from last week. I’m not going to link the source because borrowing my blog platform is part of their strategy in the first place.

Pete Wilson is a pastor in the Purpose Driven/Seeker Driven sector sounding more and more like those timid fellows who are within the Emerging Church.

And today Wilson would warble:

Ah yes, Wilson would appear to have been very well conditioned into today’s effete centered on the self form of Christianity. Indeed, he has quite ably parroted the “humble” pastor’s postmodern partyline.

Well,  Apprising Ministries still remembers the day when leaders were actually leaders. As for me, I think few things are as inspiring as a godly man who can tell the flock, I know the way; follow me.

Here’s another Christian blog (I use that term loosely) who wrote this last week:

TN seeker Pastor Pete Wilson promoting Twilight books and movies?

Read his post here. This is a example of a seeker pastor who cares more about being relevant and culturally hip than preaching the gospel.

And we wonder why so many people are screwed up in our churches. Cause we have Pete Wilson types in the pulpit.

Listen, I’m not complaining or whining. I get it. Part of having a public ministry is every word that comes out of my mouth gets analyzed. It’s just the way it is. They’ll pour through hundreds of posts and tweets until they find one they can use to make an example out of. I’ve stopped trying to defend myself against such critics as in most cases as it’s usually a losing battle.

I think what bothers me is this incessant need Christians seem to have to categorize other Christians. The above critics labeled me seeker/emergent/postmodern and a host of other things based off a couple sentences.

We  (yes, I do this too) tend to quickly and vocally label everyone around us. Their liberal or conservative, sensitive or callous, contemporary or traditional, attractional or missional,  important or irrelevant.

These labels give us the illusion of understanding the actual person and reveal more about our insecurities than about our love for the Gospel.

Do yourself a favor this week and fight the temptation to label those around you. Why don’t you instead take the time to actually get to know them? Find out what’s going on in their life. Find out what they truly believe. You may be surprised at what you’ll find if you’re willing to explore beyond your premature and childish labels.