Being put in a box

We were pulling each other’s legs, a friend and I the other day. I made fun of her bad habit of taking unwanted substances which does not go well with her interest in attending Bible studies. She was quick to point out that I’m a typical Naga Baptist. I knew then what she meant and I felt that I’ve been put into a box which does not truly define me. I’m a Naga Baptist but I’m also not a Naga Baptist in ways more than being so. Some people may think I’m a Conservative while some may think I’m Liberal. But chances are; I’m more liberal than the Liberals at some and more conservative than Conservatives at certain other things. Not only in Religion, some people may take me as a leftist because of some things that I said while I do not consider myself to have such a political stand though I endorse many of what the Lefts say. It is not possible to say everything we are all the time, so it is inevitable that we will be mistaken and be put into boxes that we do not like. If I say I believe the theory of biological evolution is true, that may be enough to label me as a non-believer. Or if I argue that heaven is not some place up there beyond the clouds, some may find that statement sacrilegious. On the other hand, if I do not endorse homosexual behavior, some will think I’m a Conservative. I sometimes try to distance myself from my tribe’s fellowship because I do not believe a church (especially in a multicultural multiethnic city like Delhi) should be set up along tribal/ethnic lines. However, I get myself involved in it because even if I’m not there, the fellowship will go on and I think I better stay in it and bring any change if possible. There is this dilemma of not endorsing the structure, but still working within it. Some people point out the weaknesses of the UESI of which I am a member. I’m aware of the many weaknesses we have. The fellowship we have some say is very un-UESI and we are happy to be seen that way. But we are also loyal to the UESI and identify ourselves as one of its groups. Having said all these, I seem to be a kind of person who is all over the place, not totally this nor that, more of a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Am I an unstable, confused man wandering in a dark? No I don’t see myself that way. Am I a smart guy who has good tastes, some wise man who has it all figured out? No, I don’t claim to be that either. In one of NT Wright’s lectures, he said (seriously but humorously) that a quarter of what he is saying is not true, but he doesn’t know which quarter it is. In other words, he was acknowledging that he doesn’t know it all though we respect him to be one of the best theologians of our times. What a comfort!