We hear a lot about “identity” these days. It’s amazing how many different ways folks devise to find their identity. Many people get it from the jobs and careers: CPAs and attorneys. Carpenters and electricians. Firefighters and paramedics. Store managers and corporate executives. Doctors and nurses. Sales representatives and marketers. Writers and artists. Actors and musicians.
Others identify with their unique roles: Homemakers and caregivers. Soccer moms and professional athletes. Volunteers. These days we’ve got “identity politics,” which has to do with posturing or taking a soapbox to opine about issues related to differences in race, ethnicity and gender. Which leads to the whole gender identity debate, but we’re not going there.
In one respect, it boils down to affirmation. Where do we get “attaboys” and feel affirmed for who we are – or who we think we are? People even find their identity in such things as “Likes” on social media, or the number of followers they have for their videos, blogs or podcasts. When people “like” us for our livestreams or posts, we can feel affirmed, important. Even if the folks liking us don’t even know us and we don’t know them. I’m reminded of Sally Field’s comments years ago after she had won an Academy Award. With delight she said to the Hollywood elite, “You like me! You really like me!”
There’s nothing wrong with getting fulfillment or joy from our work. And serving in roles that help others can give us satisfaction. But “who we are” has to amount to more than where we go to work and what we do there, or how we spend our days, who we associate with, or whether we’ve achieved some measure of cyberspace celebrity.
One reason is because if whatever it is we choose as our identity is lost or stripped away, then who are we? What if people stop affirming us for whatever we do – or have done?
For the follower of Jesus Christ, there’s only one genuine, enduring, never-to-be-lost source of identity. It’s that of being born again, children of the King. Repeatedly in the Scriptures the Lord assures His people, “never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5, Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:5). Just before ascending to heaven after His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
Over the years I’ve derived a lot of value from the jobs I undertook, being a community newspaper editor, magazine editor, author and book editor. But all of those vocational pursuits have come and gone. And I’ve had the privilege of discipling and mentoring a number of men. But none of those things are the determining factors for my identity.
There’s an unforgettable statement God made through the prophet Isaiah which each of us who has committed to follow Christ can take to heart. Spoken directly to the people of Israel, it’s a promise for every one of His children: “But now, this is what the Lord says – He who created you, Jacob, He who formed you, Israel: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name. You are Mine'” (Isaiah 43:1).
“You are Mine.” There’s a powerful scene in an early scene from “The Chosen” in which Jesus seeks out Mary Magdalene and says those words of comfort, affirmation and acceptance to her. Take a moment and imagine standing before the Lord, having Him look at you and say, “You are Mine.” How would that make you feel?
Years ago, I had a friend who had spent many years studying the Bible and had even committed hundreds of Scripture verses to memory. Ted was a very accomplished businessman and had spent much of his life rubbing shoulders with people of great prominence from around the world. He had a wonderful wife and two beautiful daughters, but he made clear none of those things were the source of his identity.
One verse, Acts 17:28, summed up for Ted where his sense of identity came from: “For in Him [Jesus Christ] we live and move and have our being.” For him, Jesus was everything. Without Him, Ted knew he was nothing.
Even for preachers and missionaries – people in vocational ministry – those jobs should not and cannot be the ultimate sources for their identity. Rather, it’s what the apostle Paul said in describing the transforming impact of Jesus Christ in his life. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
Paul found his identity solely in his relationship with Jesus, not his ministry or the fruit from his missionary journeys. He certainly no longer identified with the fame and acclaim he had once achieved in being what he termed “a Pharisee of Pharisees.” Elsewhere he wrote, “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4).
What is your identity? Is it your job? Your spouse or family? Your lifestyle? The stuff you possess? Or is it in the one and only thing you can never lose – an eternal relationship with God through Jesus Christ? Is He, as Paul wrote, your life?
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