A Word from the Word

Friendship with God’s People

 

Psalm 119:63

I am a friend to all who fear you, to all who follow your precepts.     NIV

When you tell somebody you are a Christian, what’s the first question they usually put to you? What denomination do you belong to? What church do you attend? Are you a Baptist, a Methodist, a Lutheran, a Catholic? You know, I don’t believe that God is so much interested in these labels as some human beings are.

Personally, I’ve come to a place in my life where I don’t like to be pigeonholed by a denominational label. I don’t want people to put me into just a little box and say, “That’s where you belong,” because after that they don’t really have much more to think about. I like to leave people thinking. I like to keep them guessing just a little.

So when people ask me sometimes, “What denomination are you, what church do you attend?” I like to answer, like the psalmist: “I’m a friend to all who fear God, to all who follow His precepts.” It isn’t so much a matter of label; it’s a question of the attitude of the heart and the course of the life. I can truly say I’m a friend to all who fear and love God, to all who follow His precepts. The label doesn’t matter. The attitude of the heart and the course of the life, that’s what’s important. I want to be lined up with all those who truly love God and serve Him of whatever creed or label.