Label

“Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene.” John19:25

I have sat for hours looking at this computer screen, trying to get my emotions under control enough to even write about this topic. This is the one thing that I struggle with the most in my walk with Christ: being labeled as a “Bad Mother” because I choose to follow Christ.  You have to surrender everything that you desire to walk faithfully for the Savoir. Christ is very clear about us dying to ourselves and picking up the cross daily in His name. What upsets me the most is the criticism that comes with it.

I have been called a selfish, cold-hearted, unfit mother, and just plain stupid for choosing to obey God’s calling for my life and to leave for the mission field without my children.  It is painful to see the people that supported me in the begin (Strong Christians and deep in their faith) to turn their backs on me because God has another path for me that does not fit with their expectations. Believe me if I could bring my kids overseas and show them what the gospel is first hand… I would buy three tickets!!! And the last thing that I dread is being labeled an unfit mother.

Once I heard the calling clearly in my life and knew that God was calling me overseas without my children I turned to the Bible for my comforted. I found many people who left their families to follow God. Abraham is prime example, all twelve Apostles left everything to surrender to Chris, and even Mary (Jesus’ Mother) gave up her only son. Yes these people where called names and most of them where label crazy, unfit mothers, unfit dads, and most of them heard… I don’t think God is calling you for that.

I want to take a moment and look at Mary, Jesus’ mother. At an early age she was called by an angle to become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and to have a son name Jesus. Ok call me crazy, but if my daughter came to me and said “I was visited by an angel and I am going to have a baby.” I would label her crazy and ask who she been sharing a bed with?  Later in Mary’s life she traveled with her husband and family to place of worship. On her way home she forgot her son, not for a couple of hours but for three days! Ok someone call DSS, because who does that???  Then she is told that her son is acting crazy and that she must come at once to get him … I think about this time I would be shaking my head at this woman, stating get it together! Then finally we see her weeping at the cross as she watches her innocent son died a criminal death! Wow what an unfit mother!! Someone stamp UNFIT over this Mary girl!!!

To the outside world this is what they would have seen; sad really they never got to see God work in her life? But is that not what we do with each other? Don’t we just label people and cast them aside because of their actions don’t line up with our expectations? We just label them, not carrying that we hurt them in this and walk away not carrying to see what God really does with them. Let’s take another look at Mary but with God’s eyes on the situation!

Mary was visited by an angel who proclaimed that she was going to have a baby name Jesus, and he was going to be the savior of the world. What a privilege to be entrusted to carry the Messiah! She endured the nasty attacks of people because she had a higher calling than anybody else. Day in and Day out she had to hear comments and the labels that were given to her as she carried the Messiah! Heartache was knocking at her door and she had to surrender everything she knew to faithfully obey God. Awhile longer she looked high and low for her son before finding Jesus in the temple questioning the priest. Yet she was upset that she as a mother could lose her son, God gave her grace in this because her son was about His father’s business.  Mary got to see firsthand, Jesus fully as man and fully as God. When she was called to the house because her son was acting crazy, she knew He was doing God’s work and that she was no longer His keeper, but her savior. Lastly she watched as her son was beaten, spit on, and nailed to cross to die for everyone’s sin.  She got to live a life fully and devoted to God. She was labeled with many things, but unfit mother was not one of them! To the world’s eyes she should have never carried for a child!!! But to God’s eyes she was a faithful servant!!!!

Which brings me to my ending… are we as Christians going to keep labeling people? Are we going to cast people aside because they have sin or have not lived up to our expectations? The only expectations that we are to live up to are God’s expectations and God alone. God talks to everyone differently and give different plans to everyone… So my question is who is not living up to your expectation? Who have you cast aside because of this?  Maybe the person you have thrown aside could be the very person who God wants to change the world with!!!!!

By Nikki McGann