Labels Do Not Have the Last Word

I first heard the phrase tall poppy syndrome when I was first in Australia. When I asked what it meant, it was explained to me that Australians tend to tear down those "standing tallest" or those who stand out. At that moment, I thought about how that same syndrome plays out in the U.S. We love to make heroes just to break them. More still, I find that our culture labels people—according to one or even a few incidents they find wrong or unacceptable—and tries to lock them in those labels, even if they change.

How other people label us, or even how we label ourselves, does not have the last word on our lives.

The label she was given certainly did not have the last word on Rahab, labelled "the prostitute."Speaking of labels, There is an excellent book by Roberta M. Gilbert, M.D. called Extraordinary Leadership. What is unique about this book, particularly in leadership books, because it does not deal primarily with distillable leadership principles or practices. Instead, the reader is introduced to a social-psychological theory called Bowen Family Systems Theory. Bowen Family Systems Theory, in very reduced terms, states that organisations, institutions and churches are emotional systems, much like family systems. Like family systems, they house the anxieties of the people in them. 

Equally intriguing is how these emotional systems organise themselves. People tend to take on the same label or role they had in their family system, within a church, business or other organisation. The Bowen Theory has eight of these functional roles or labels into which every one of us falls and then brings with us into each new group we engage. According to the Bowen Theory, I was labelled the "star" in my family; the one looked to for high achievement. Those with that label are often valued for what they produce later in life because of the qualities they developed in their functional role as children and adolescents. Unfortunately, in adult life, they over-function, have challenging relationships and can eventually burn out. 

The issue with our propensity to continue to live into these labels as adults and in new systems is that each has a limiting effect on our development as people. According to Bowen's Systems Theory, we cannot overcome the limitations of those labels until we understand the functional roles we took on as children as completely as possible. Can we slow down and hear that again?

Until we understand the functional roles we took on as children and their associated labels as entirely as possible, we cannot overcome the limitations that come with each. 

If we do not actively address them and their meaning in our lives, we are limited by the label or labels into which we lock ourselves. We are equally limited by those we allow others to assign. What do we do then? Let me help you surface the answer in the story of what many would assume is an unlikely heroine, as captured in the Scriptures.

Jericho was a fortified city, walled on all sides and heavily guarded, much like the Red Keep. In its day, Jericho was the most important Canaanite fortress city in the Jordan Valley. It was a stronghold directly in the path of the advancing Israelites, who had just crossed the Jordan River. Of course, for those of you who grew up in church, or church adjacent, you are familiar with Jericho and the famous march that ultimately won the war. Still less familiar, perhaps, is the heroine who secured the opportunity for God's people to have victory.

In anticipation of the battle ahead, Joshua sent two spies into Jericho with explicit instructions—scout out the land and report back what you see. Upon entering the city, the two spies go to Rahab, labelled "the prostitute," and stay at her home for the evening. The spies, seeking anonymity, likely figured that a house of prostitution would be an excellent place to find it. Also, Rahab's house was situated on the city wall, providing a great escape route should they be detected. As it turned out, the spies' choice of a hiding place was God-ordained.

Someone told the king that Rahab was housing spies, and he sent officials to her home. They demanded Rahab turn them over. Rahab responds somewhat surprisingly, defying the orders of the king of Jericho; instead, she hides the spies. Were she to be found out to have defied the king, death would surely await her. Though we never want to infer too deeply into the historical events of the Scriptures, to which we do not have direct access, I believe Francine Rivers is not on too shaky ground in her historical fiction work on Rahab. Rivers writes, "Her fate had been set in motion years ago when she was little more than a child, a peasant's daughter summoned by a king." Rivers, through a great deal of biblical study and study of the historical context of the time in which Rahab lived, presumes that Rahab had once been among the king's concubines, sent to him as a young woman, and then eventually sent away by him to live a somewhat elevated life as a prostitute to visiting officials and leaders. Is she reaching? Perhaps. But we must beg the question of how the king would so quickly know the goings on of this woman if she was just a common prostitute and in knowing why he would send his high-ranking officials to inquire. 

Rahab tells the king's officials that the men were indeed there earlier but have since left. She even tells them the wrong direction they took, sending the king's officials looking for these men along the Jordan River, though Rahab had hidden them on her roof. Rahab was wise, intelligent and well-informed. Rahab immediately identified the spies for what they were, hid them, and crafted a plausible story, ready to deceive the king's agents. Rahab didn't deny that she had entertained the men. She says that they left at dusk, when it would be difficult for anyone to be sure of clearly seeing anything. The agents did not dare to risk stopping to search Rahab's house because, if they did, the spies might get away. 

Rahab was so much more than the label she was assigned. You are much more than any label you have been given or assigned yourself. Before the spies went to sleep for the evening, Rahab went up to the roof to speak with them. In this conversation, we see even more of the depth and layers of this keen woman.

"I know the Lord has given you this land," she told them. "We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things."

Based on how she was raised and what had been done to her, Rahab would not be perceived as an ideal candidate in ideal circumstances to come to faith in the one true God. However, Rahab had one asset—she had heard from the many men she came into contact with that the Israelites were to be feared. She listened to the stories of their escape from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the wanderings in the wilderness, and their recent victory over the Amorites. She had learned enough to reach the correct conclusion about this God, YHWH. "For the Lord, your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below." The Lord is supreme over heaven and earth. Incredible insight by one labelled a simple prostitute.

Throughout her complicated life and encounters with men she had given her body in exchange for money and information, Rahab discovers the truth that transforms everything. There is only one God, and He made all, sustains all, and is Lord over all. Her circumstances, shattered as they were, did not prevent her from coming to the knowledge of salvation. Her label, and all of its associated activities, did not limit her from eternal life.

The men, moved by her aid and words, swear on their own lives that she will be safe and her people. After sealing their agreement, Rahab helped the men scale the wall from her home to the ground. Keenly, she even gave them great advice, telling them to hide in the hill country for three days before returning to cross the Jordan river. Not coincidentally, three days was approximately how long it would take for the king's officials to return from their search. Incredible wisdom displayed by one labelled a simple prostitute.

The men follow Rahab's advice. The spies hid in the hill country for three days while the king's officials searched everywhere else. Soon the officials returned to the city, unsuccessful in their pursuit, and the spies returned to Joshua with a report—everybody in the city was shaken. The Lord has indeed given us the land as He promised. Rahab's assistance to these spies was of tremendous importance, and as a result of Rahab's faith and actions, the two men promised to protect Rahab and her family when the Israelites returned. At the battle of Jericho, the city's walls came crashing down, and the people of Jericho were defeated. Rahab's family, however, was spared.

We find in Rahab's life the inspiring story of every shattered soul saved by grace. In her story, we learn the amazing grace of God that can save even the most broken people and bring them into an abundant life in Christ Jesus. Her example helps us today. Rahab, "the prostitute," was much more than a prostitute. She was a woman with a past who God gave a remarkable future! By grace, she was even deemed worthy of being part of the lineage of Jesus Christ.

What does that mean for you and me? You are not the sum of the last worst thing you did. You are not the sum of the things that have been done to you!

You are not the sum of the labels you have been given or those you have given yourself.

You do not have to live under any unredemptive labels! You do not have to be limited by any unredemptive or diminishing labels! Want to hear about Rahab's incredible life? Check out The Magnificent 7 | The Prostitute on our Youtube Channel or Podcast.