A View from the Top - What's In A Name?
According to the Colorado Fourteener Initiative, approximately 500,000 people set out on a trail every summer to climb a 14,000-foot peak. I don’t see a lot of these hikers, since I finished climbing the fourteeners over twenty years ago. But occasionally I’ll climb one of our state’s highest and find it quite the high country culture shock. After climbing Colorado’s relatively untouched thirteeners for so many years, I’m amazed at the number of people climbing the fourteeners.
The fourteener crowd is young and old, with both genders well represented. They take with them cell phones, GPS devices, and dogs. Some dress like models out of an outdoor sports equipment catalogue. Almost without exception, they’re a very friendly, sociable and enthusiastic group of hikers. I salute them. But over the years, I’ve wondered. At what point does one of these half-million “recreational hikers” officially become a “mountain climber”?
I offer no cute, exclusive, snobby little definition of what a mountain climber is. I only suggest that there are a few basic characteristics of those who merit the title:
1. When looking at mountains, climbers clear their throat, stomp their feet, and snort.
2. Climbers have an odd fondness for burning calves and glutei maximi. They can endure pain.
3. When asked why they climb, climbers ramble—never quite able to explain the reason why.
4. Climbers respect mountains, knowing they’re not just pretty, but sometimes, pretty scary.
5. Climbers pay their dues, climbing year after year. It simply takes time to merit the title.
I once met a young lady on a mountain ridge in the Mosquito Range. I shall call her “Ms. Thunderbolt.” As her hair began spiking off her skull like an exploding shell in a July 4th fireworks display, she asked me why. I began running down the mountain hollering “Lightning! ” But she kept climbing. Truly, there are recreational hikers, and then, there are mountain climbers.
I remember the exact spot where I began to gain a new outdoor identity. I had just climbed North Maroon Peak for the second time, and while hiking alongside Maroon Lake, an older man coming the opposite way began to pepper me with questions about where I had been. During this conversation he nonchalantly referred to me as a mountain climber. I remember being embarrassed by the title—I’m not a rock jock or Himalayan-type climber. But since I had been climbing Colorado peaks for awhile, I thought, “Hey, maybe I am a mountain climber.” Being called a mountain climber doesn’t make you one though. Consistent climbing makes you a climber.
A name is very important. Call a court judge a nincompoop and see what happens. A name used correctly is also very important. If you call yourself a mountain climber, you must climb. In the same way, if you bear the name “Christian,” it carries with it the heavy responsibility to act like one. Otherwise, don’t use the name. This simple logic is true for being called a climber, or being called a Christian.
After carefully watching people while pastoring for a third of my life now, I’ve come up with several basic characteristics of individuals who truly merit the title “Christian”:
1. Christians belong to church families. There are no Lone Rangers in heaven, or on earth.
2. The clearest indicator that one is a Christian is revealed by how they spend their money.
3. The Bible is not a rabbit’s foot or a coffee table decoration. Christians read the Book.
4. Entertainment choices are dead giveaways for authentic Christianity.
5. Christians keep plodding along, following Jesus year after year. They are consistent.
Many people say one thing and do another. Sometimes their inconsistencies are harmless—does it really matter if an occasional “hiker” calls himself a “climber”? No, not really. But sometimes such contradictions are extremely dangerous, and no more so than when an individual speaks about their religious faith. If you bear the name “Christian,” you must also bear a resemblance to the One you follow. If not, change your conduct, or change your name.
Fred Askins
We will post a new article about Pastor Fred’s View from the Top in a few weeks.