Recently in The Gospel and Identity Category
“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.
