Pro Wings & Norsport (LABELS)

Back in the ’80’s when I was a kid, Payless ShoeSource was known as Volume.

Volume sold Pro Wings—shoes that were cheap knock-offs of the cool brands.

I remember wanting a pair of black high-top Converse shoes, but they weren’t in the budget. So what did I get instead? A pair of Pro Wings black high-tops that looked pretty much just like the Converse shoes… but they had a different label.

That label drove me crazy. I was constantly thinking about positioning my feet in a way that hid or covered the Pro Wing label. Eventually, I took a black Sharpie and covered the label entirely.

I also remember somehow getting a pair of Norsport tennis shoes (Norsport was Nordstrom’s own brand of shoes). You guessed it—there was never an attempt to hide the Norsport label. Actually, it was quite the opposite. I wore them proudly—and I wanted everyone to see that label.

I’m sharing my ‘80‘s shoe history to point out a simple truth:

Labels can give us a sense of value or lack of value, worth or lack of worth, significance or insignificance.

I grew up wanting to prove myself—prove my value, worth, and significance.

I wanted to have the right labels…

And not just the right brand labels, but the right labels that people put on you—like: popular, funny, athletic, creative, intelligent, good-looking, wealthy, in-style, etc.

The right labels make you feel worth something.

The wrong labels make you feel low and insignificant.

The Bible says when we become Christians, our old life is gone and a new life has begun. The old life, with all its labels, no longer defines us. We are now defined by what God has done, rather than what we have done.

Check it out:

“Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his LABEL on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, MEAN NOTHING. From now on everyone is DEFINED BY CHRIST, everyone is included in Christ.” (Colossians 3.10, 11 MSG)

Here’s another passage that re-defines us:

“You were all baptized into Christ, and so you were all clothed with Christ. This means that you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. In Christ, there is NO DIFFERENCE between Jew and Greek, slave and free person, male and female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus. You belong to Christ, so you are Abraham’s descendants. You will inherit all of God’s blessings because of the promise God made to Abraham.” (Galatians 2.27-29 NCV)

What are these Scriptures telling us?

The OLD LABELS MEAN NOTHING.

There is NO DIVISION, NO DIFFERENCE, NO DISTINCTION, with those who are in Christ.

There are no special classes of people. No hierarchy. No low people and no high people.

In Him, we’re all the same. In Him, we are valuable, significant, and worthy.

This is why, in the Christian faith, we must never attempt to categorize or class people. We must never attempt to keep people low. Religions that keep people low are really about the privileged few increasing their significance by lowering the significance of others. That is ABSOLUTELY ROTTEN and disgusting, and it has nothing to do with the Gospel.

Our “deal” is not about posturing for position or class or distinction. Rather, it is all about receiving worth and a new identity in Christ…

And we don’t have to keep others low in order for us to be somebody anymore.

In Christ, our identity is set, secure, and forever significant.

So now, we see right through all the labels, and we lift others who have been kept low.