In the context of WordPress.com, if I see someone liking my post, my initial question is which country they come from. So, maybe others see me in the same way – Irish. On the rare occasions in which I’ve travelled outside Ireland, if I met someone in a youth hostel or whatever, I think their first question would be where I’m from.
But I might describe myself in different ways in other contexts. As I get older, I think of myself as an introvert, though I try to socialize a little bit.
In terms of religion, I describe myself as an evangelical Christian. Maybe I should just use the word “Christian”, but that word can be a little ambiguous in that it can refer to someone who is a cultural Christian – someone who might not believe in Jesus or the Bible, but still applies the label to themselves. Famous atheist, Richard Dawkins, currently identifies as a “cultural Christian”. Another popular meaning of the word Christian is someone who is kind to others and displays Christian values. Someone might describe someone as “a true Christian”, because they are a nice person. But you get nice people from all faiths, and there are plenty of nice atheists too 😀.
And sometimes people emphasize love for others so much that they deemphasize love for God. But love for God is the first and greatest commandment.
Matthew 22:36-37
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
So, I aim to love God first and foremost, but also love others. But the big distinctive about evangelical Christians is that we believe that we need to repent and come to a personal faith in Jesus at some point in our lives. Maybe some evangelicals get a little too hung up on the precise date. You do meet plenty who can’t say when it was. But the important thing is that you have a true personal faith in Jesus for salvation. And evangelical Christians are often quite vocal about their faith. That can be a little unusual in Ireland. People often despise “Holy Joe’s”. It’s not cool to be seen as “religious”.
I even remember a song about it back in the 1970s, which mocks people who are vocal about their love for God’s word. Maybe it’s targeting hypocrites more than genuine people, but who of us lives up to our own standards, let alone God’s standards?
The interesting thing is that Jesus himself criticized people who were prone to display their spirituality in public.
Matthew 6:5-6
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you
But in the context of Matthew 6, displaying your spirituality gave you a high status. Things are very different today. But whatever the context, the important thing is how God would describe you. And when you believe, you become His child:
John 1:12
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
Maybe I should describe myself as a child of God, but that’s three words 😀.
Anyway, yesterday, I created a post about Saint Patrick and added a few Patrick-related hymns. Today, I’ll add a few more hymns that were written by Irish authors:
Hibernia Gospel 
I’m ethnic Welsh, introvert Christian evangelical, but it’s hard being evangelical when you’re an introvert, I find.
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Yeah, I like where the Apostle Paul speaks of different types of people with different gifts within the church in 1 Corinthians 12. Introverts can be a blessing in a more subtle way. When I look back on my church life, I have fond memories of all personality types. Sometimes, in any group, religious or otherwise, you can get people who are prone to want everyone to fall into line with their expectations. But churches should happily embrace all personality types, as Jesus does. Some modern evangelical churches appear to use a sense of community to draw people in, so they put more value on extraverts. But not everyone wants to be surrounded by extraverts, particularly the annoying ones 😀.
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LOL! Thanks! 😄
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