"Mommy, What Religion Are We?"

My nine year old daughter asked me the other day, "Mommy, what religion are we?" My reactionary first response was the obvious, "we are Christians". You can guess that this was not enough and so we went through buzz words like, "born again Christians", "baptists", and "those who love Jesus". But somehow, I still did not satisfy my daughter's question because she continued to ask me. As I began to probe, she shared that other kids wanted to know whether she was Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, or nothing at all.

I do not like to put labels on others. Republican, Democrat, Irish Catholic, Fundamentalist, Right Wing, Evangelical, Liberal, Moderate, Independent... all these have the ability to exclude others. And what if you share common ground with a few groups and do not want to pigeon hole yourself? So in the midst of my own frustration and dilemma, I took time to pray about her question and the answer I myself am seeking.

I journal about everything, the good, the bad and the ugly. But, when I am troubled, in limbo, and struggling to figure it out, I am silent. And so for days I did not write. I talked to a few others about my issue and I read the Word of God to make peace. I also needed to bring the conversation back to my daughter's nine year old understanding of who we are, and how she can begin to identify herself as.

God revealed to me in His word that it is not about me, and I believe that is why I struggled to answer the original question. The answer is found in who God is and what He has done for us. Psalm 100:3 says, "Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture." 1 Corinthians 8:6 says, "But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we exist for him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life."

So now I am saying, 'Ok Lord, I am yours and I believe by faith that You are who You say You are. Help me to answer this question for my daughter'. This is how I believed He answered me and gave me peace.

1) A Christian is someone who bears fruit, or proof of her salvation (John 15:16).
2) A Christian is someone who "obeys God's word and really loves him. That is the way to know whether or not we live in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did." (1 John 2:5-6)
3) A Christian is someone who "lives a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins." (Ephesians 5:2)
4) A Christian walks in obedience because she is free from the power of sin and now chooses to obey God, and thus is led to holiness and eternal life. (Ephesians 6:22)

Do you belong to a church that teaches these principles? Do you teach these principles to your children? If you answered 'yes' to these questions, then it shouldn't matter what mainline church you belong to. Perhaps I still do not have an answer that will satisfy all of my daughter's friends' questions, however I can answer with confidence what we believe in and how we should live our lives instead of the label others put on me.

Let's ask God to take away our unbelief and replace it with genuine faith. "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life." (1 John 5:13) What religion are you? BFN, Nina