Monday’s Musing: The Gospel and Identity, Part One
January 8th, 2007
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Jesus’ disciples, understanding that this was an identity question, answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (Matthew 16:13-14). Questions about identity are very important. They help us determine how we will or will not relate to any particular individual. If I ask someone, “Who are you?” and he answers, “I’m a career criminal”, I’ll relate to him differently than someone who answers, “I’m a career humanitarian.” Identity really matters.
Whether we realize it or not, we ask and answer the question “Who am I?” every day, multiple times a day. We may not do it knowingly, but our modus operandi is to make daily decisions based upon who we think we are, based upon our functional identity. The answer to the question, “Should I lie to my wife right now?” is dependent upon how you answer the more fundamental “Who am I?” question. If your functional identity is “I’m one who already has been given every blessing that belongs to the Spirit of God in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3), you’ll answer the “Should I lie to my wife right now?” question differently than if your functional identity is “I can’t stand to be wrong.”
Navigating life with a functional gospel-centered identity—an identity freely given to you by God in the gospel (i.e. “I’m one who has been richly blessed in Christ” or “I’m loved with an everlasting love”)—instead of a self-made identity (i.e. “I can’t stand to be wrong” or “I’ve got to be right all the time”) makes a huge difference when we are faced with temptation. I have lived long enough to learn from experience that if I am not actively finding my identity in the gospel, I will find it somewhere else. There is never a moment when I am not locating my identity in something. This is a sobering reality. I am like a fire flicking out its flames searching for something to sustain its life. Identity is not a take-it-or-leave-it commodity. Identity is not something human beings can choose to live without, even if just for convenience’s sake. It has been a part of our DNA since God created Adam and Eve. We’ll develop this more next Monday.
January 8th, 2007 at 11:06 am
I have been convicted of late of the importance of gospel centered youth ministry. Youth are trying to find their identity very agressivly and sadly, most of the time, it is found in anything but Christ. I look forward to further musings on the subject.
January 8th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Dan, good thoughts and reminder that we cannot “find” ourselves or “know” ourselves apart from our relationship to the gospel. We will go to other things or people for that identity, but it will always fall short and we will only create our identity through our idolatry instead of finding our true identity in Jesus.
January 8th, 2007 at 11:14 am
I just saw the book on the right of the screen here by Mr. Vaughan Roberts. I had not heard him preach before. My pastors played a video from a conference that they went to which he spoke at last Sunday evening. (I realize that that was a somewhat confusing sentence) Suffice to say I enjoyed him a lot and look forward to looking for some more from Mr. Roberts.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
This is a helpful reminder and catalyst to focus on the gospel as my new job is ahead. How I consider my identity will influence defining my new role at work? The gospel is bigger than what I do best or am assinged to by my boss. The gospel is how who I am in the midst of life circumstances.
Thanks Dan.
January 9th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
I don’t think functional identity is so simple. I can be both
“I’m one who already has been given every blessing that belongs to the Spirit of God in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3)
AND
“I can’t stand to be wrong.”
Even if our functional identity were so simple we humans have an infinite capacity to rationalize our behavior.
I think a better concept is relational identity. This is why the greatest command is love, and the greatest gift charity. In practicing charity one towards another we leave no room to rationalize, because it is not us we are trying to please it is another.
January 9th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
David,
It’s interesting that you mention “relational identity.” That’s where I’m going next Monday in part two of this short series. When I wrote that identity “has been a part of our DNA since God created Adam and Eve,” I was referring to man being created in the image of God. Central, I believe, to being created in the image of God is that we are relational beings. But you’ll have to wait for next week’s post to see how I develop this.
Also, I don’t think “practicing charity one towards another” is all that simple either. Why not? Because I can do all the right things in my outward demonstrations of charity and do them for all the wrong reasons. Doing acts of charity is one thing. What motivates me to do those acts of charity is another. As soon as we start talking motivations, we’ve entered the world of functional identity again. To the degree that my functional identity is “God has poured His free grace upon my life,” to that degree our deeds of love will be rightly motivated. But, as you said, I will always, to some degree, be both “I’m richly blessed in Christ” and “I’ve got to have the approval of people” or whatever. Only the gospel can transform my functional identity so that it increasingly becomes “I love because I have been loved.” “I show grace because I have been shown grace.” “I demonstrate mercy because I have been shown mercy.” Maybe I’ll add a part three to this series to develop this further.
I appreciate the comment.
Dan
January 11th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
If we act in charity I think we will find our motives increasingly purified. If you perform charity with wrong motives then it will cause you to make uncharitable decisions at some point.
Motivations are either succumbed to or overcome as we choose to be charitable in every situation or not.
Charity leaves no room for equivocation whereas functional identity can be “re-worded” in ways that rationalize undesirable behaviour. You can’t “re-word” your relationships- you must face who you are to others because you can’t change their heart. We are talking the “law of love.”
The idea of our works purifying motives might be worth your consideration. I am thinking of the verse in Proverbs that says if we commit our works to the Lord than our thoughts will be established. Of course now this is all coming under the umbrella of sanctification, but you may or may not want to go that deep with it.
I guess I am working from the outside in. If we practice the law of love, we will conform our motives as we find them in conflict or else act undesirably.
And yet my working from the outside in is really its own functional identity… my sense of duty that “I must love and live by the law of love” is what is causing me to perform actions of charity. So at what point is functional identity a mere sense of duty and at what point is it a rationale?
Thanks for the response!
January 15th, 2007 at 7:54 am
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