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Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37

A new singer-songwriter enters the music media, and you struggle with this one. Is she Christian, and thus suitable to share with brothers and sisters in Christ? Is she worldly? Is she wholly pagan and a dangerous influence to you? We like to categorize in an attempt to simplify a complex world. 

However, we often turn the lens of our categorizing on our brothers and sisters in Christ. He is that kind of Christian; she is this other kind of Christian. Did not Paul give us a rather simple metric for this involving belief in the heart and confession of the tongue? (Romans 10:9, if you want to do a scripture check!) Should we be trying to separate ourselves one from another by Christian category? Actually...

Christian as a label has become much diluted since the early times when the followers of Christ were called Christ-ones or Christians, in many cases disparagingly. Today we have sects and denominations and branches and cults, and some of them are dangerous by way of misinterpretation and ripping of scripture out of context. We are neither judging nor condemning when we seek discernment from God to avoid heresy and false prophets. Testing a doctrine against the scripture is a Christian duty. We are not to love anyone less, but there could well be ground for separation lest we be unequally yoked with one who could drag our faith into the mud of the world.

Ground? Mud? I am an unwitting wit today. Always, pray for guidance in the Christ our Lord, and stay grounded in Him, the bedrock of our faith! 

Bucky