Identity Crises

Do you know who you are? Don't let your true identity be stolen from you! Please read Identity Theft: Loosing Our Christian Self Consciousness by Jim Elliff

When whimpering Gideon hid himself from the Midianites in the winepress while threshing his wheat, the angel of the Lord appeared to him with this striking greeting: “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

Man of valor? In Gideon’s mind, nothing could be further from the truth. But the angel continued, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites.”

Gideon squeaked out a lame response, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” But the angel, representing God, rebutted his view of himself by forcing the issue: “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

Gideon had identity issues. He could not believe the truth about himself. A fleece or two later, he was finally fully convinced, and went on to valiantly do God’s business as the mighty man God described him to be. See his story in Judges 6-9.

God has created the identity of His church. It is far beyond what we claim of ourselves. In fact, we may have a harder time than Gideon believing we are who we are. But failure to believe what is true about ourselves will keep us from doing mighty deeds for God. Certainly what we are is entirely based upon God’s presence in us and His power bequeathed to us. We are nothing on our own. But in Christ, we are something beyond imagination. Consider who God declares we are:

We are God’s children.

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.” (1 Jn 3:1 )

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” Gal 3:26

We are God’s temple.

“For we are the temple of the living God . . .” (2 Cor 6:16)

“You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet 2:5)

We are God’s priests.

“. . . and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father . . .” (Rev 1:6)
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood . . .” (1 Pet 2:9)

We are God’s handiwork.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Eph 2:10)

We are God’s heirs.

“. . . and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ . . .” (Rom 8:17)
“And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Gal 3:29)

We are God’s ambassadors.

“Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor 5:20)

When we are asked who we are or face overwhelming odds against us, don’t give a blank stare. Realize who you are because of Christ. If possible, memorize these truths so that you will never forget!

The Text That Shapes Our identity

How Reading the Bible Shapes Our Identity from Crossway on Vimeo.

How Reading the Bible Shapes Our identity by David Powlinson

Rewiring Our Self-Understanding

We often talk about Scripture as God’s self-revelation. But if every revelation of God is a revelation of myself in relation to God, then all of Scripture is continually in the business of rewiring our self-understanding.

Here are two examples that are particularly stunning and lovely: the Psalms and Ephesians.

The Psalms are one sustained portrayal and expression of an identity that is small before a God whom I both need mercy and refuge from, and a God who is great and worthy of all praise, adoration, and love. The Psalms never explicitly say, “Here’s an identity rejig.” But the whole book of Psalms rejigs your identity—every psalm, every prayer, every hymn of worship.

But my favorite “identity” book is Ephesians. Depending on how you understand the nature of what each sentence says about who you are, there are about fifty different identity statements in Ephesians. Every single one of them connects you to God. If he is Father, I am son. If he is the Holy One, I am a saint. If he is the one who indwells the temple, then I am part of that temple. If he is the possessor who is giving an inheritance to his children, then I am an heir owned by the one whom I will inherit from.

David Powlison serves as the executive director of the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation and is a contributor to the ESV Men's Devotional Bible.

Identity: Achieved or Received?

Watch this speech by Tim Keller on Our Identity: The Christian Alternative to Late Modernity’s Story (via Justin Taylor)

Tim Keller speaking at chapel for Wheaton College (November 11, 2015), explaining that our culture repudiates as oppressive the idea that someone else names us and gives us an identity, but that when you trust Christ you have the only identity on earth that is received instead of achieved.

Keller goes on defend a form of individualism as inescapable but to critique expression individualism (the idea that you must look inside and then express them outwardly no matter what anyone says). He offers five critiques: it is  (1) incoherent; (2) unstable; (3) illusory; (4) crushing; (5) excluding.

We are social beings who need recognition and naming from outside—someone whom you love, approve, and esteem—to speak to you.

Primary Identity

"What would it mean, I ask myself, if I too came to the place where I saw my primary identity in life as 'the one Jesus loves'? How differently would I view myself at the end of the day?"

                 - Philip Yancey

The Identity Issue

Who are you?

In this video, pastor Jeff Vanderstelt helps us rethink the way we perceive ourselves, reminding us that our identity as believers is first and foremost in Jesus Christ and what he has done on our behalf.

Our worth is not impacted by our successes or failures. Rather, we have Christ's righteousness leading to God's total acceptance. With God, our being always precedes our doing. This is the good news of the gospel—good news that frees us to live for him each and every day.

HT: Crossway

What He Says

Loved this from Paul Wilkinson - You Say / He Says 

YOU SAY 
GOD SAYS 
BIBLE VERSES

You say: “It’s impossible” 
God says: All things are possible 
(Luke 18:27)

You say: “I’m too tired” 
God says: I will give you rest 
(Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: “Nobody really loves me” 
God says: I love you 
(John 3:16 & John 3:34 )

You say: “I can’t go on” 
God says: My grace is sufficient 
(II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: “I can’t figure things out” 
God says: I will direct your steps 
(Proverbs 3:5-6)

You say: “I can’t do it” 
God says: You can do all things 
(Philippians 4:13)

You say: “I’m not able” 
God says: I am able 
(II Corinthians 9:8)

You say: “It’s not worth it” 
God says: It will be worth it 
(Roman 8:28 )

You say: “I can’t forgive myself” 
God says: I Forgive you 
(I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: “I can’t manage” 
God says: I will supply all your needs 
(Philippians 4:19)

You say: “I’m afraid” 
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear 
(II Timothy 1:7)

You say: “I’m always worried and frustrated” 
God says: Cast all your cares on ME 
(I Peter 5:7)

You say: “I’m not smart enough” 
God says: I give you wisdom 
(I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: “I feel all alone” 
God says: I will never leave you or forsake you 
(Hebrews 13:5)

Identity Change

"We don’t change so we can prove ourselves to God. We’re accepted by God so we can change. God gives us a new identity, and this new identity is the motive and basis for our change."

— Tim Chester, You Can Change (Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 2010), 29

HT: Of First Importance

Basis For Identity

Paul Tripp on Who You Really Are - Great stuff!

The Ultimate Musician

"God is the ultimate musician. His music transforms your life. The notes of redemption rearrange your heart and restore your life. His songs of forgiveness, grace, reconciliation, truth, hope, sovereignty, and love give you back your humanity and restore your identity. "

— Paul David Tripp, A Quest for More (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2007), 145

HT: Of First Importance

Hijacked by Jesus

From Hijacked by the Gospel by Jared Wilson at The Gospel Coalition site- Good stuff!

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.– Philippians 3:12 (ESV)

“Christ Jesus took hold of me” (NIV)

“Christ Jesus first possessed me” (NLT)

“I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus” (NASB)

“I am apprehended of Christ Jesus” (KJV)

Looking for the umpteenth time over Galatians 1:11-24 I am struck again with how utterly supreme God’s loving plans are for us in Christ. Paul, captured always by the vision of the original capturing vision of Jesus Christ on the Damascus road, appeals again to singular transforming power of the gospel by appealing to the way it powerfully transformed him. He was headed one direction, resting in his own sovereignty over his life, but the One who had set Paul apart before his life story even began also called him in grace and was pleased to reveal the Son to him (Gal. 1:15-16), and life was never the same. Paul was writing his own life story, but Jesus stole his pen.

He got hijacked by the gospel.

F.F. Bruce writes this about Paul’s amazing about face:

"It is plain that what happened on the Damascus road was no isolated mystical experience, no mere “flash” of insight or intellectual conviction, but a personal encounter, the beginning of a personal relationship which became the dominating passion of his life." 

Paul’s conversion was so abrupt, enlightening, and illuminating, such a surprise and such a reversal, everything he says and does thereafter is bathed in the same blinding light. Gospel wakefulness is so powerful, its effect is sustained. It forever changes the game, flips the script.

Like C.S. Lewis getting into the sidecar of his brother Warnie’s motorbike for that fateful trip to the zoo: “When we set out I did not believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo I did.”

I have been laid hold of. I’ve been apprehended. I was writing my own life story, and it was a tragedy despite my own best efforts. But my life story got hijacked by the good news.

Have you been hijacked?

Proportionate Identity

Saint or sinner? Son or servant? What term best describes our identity as Christians. The answer is all of the above, in balanced proportion. Check out this post from  Terry Johnson

What happens when one or two aspects of our Christian identity get emphasized at the expense of others? What happens when we fail to keep the four central elements (sons, saints, servants, sinners) of our identity in tension with each other? Let’s see. 

Some have made “sons” and “saints” the message of the gospel and have neglected the categories of “servant” and “sinner.” The result has been a strong emphasis on our unchanging security as children of God and our safe status as “holy ones,” righteous in Christ. Many hurting souls have derived great comfort from this constant refrain. Those of “tender conscience,” to use the Puritan term, have found deep consolation in regular reminders of sonship and sainthood.

However, in the absence of an ongoing emphasis on “servant” and “sinner” the result too often has been complacency about duty, service, responsibility, and even about sin.

“Don’t should me,” some preachers have been known to say. “There is nothing that I must do that will make God love me more. There is nothing that I have done that will make Him love me less,” these preachers rightly insist. Yet, they continue, “My Father is always pleased with me and never displeased. He sees me ‘in Christ,’ perfect and complete.“ Consequently, don’t tell me what I need to do. I don’t need to do anything – just bask in grace. When I fail, I’m loved and accepted. When I fall, I am safe and secure. The Christian life is not doing but being, being ‘in Christ.’”

There is a problem with this even in terms of sonship. While fathers don’t love their children more or less according to their performance, they may be more or less pleased according to service and obedience. We are regularly told to do the things with which God is pleased and that He rewards and blesses (e.g. Mt 6:1ff; 2 Cor 5:9; Col 1:10; Eph 5:10). God’s love is unchanging. However, He may be more or less pleased with us, and may be at times quite displeased.

Let Him Show You Off

"...God wants to show you off. He loves you and delights in you simply because you exist. There is something unique you have to do for Him in establishing His futuristic Kingdom off peace in the world. We have the prototype, Jesus, who has shown us the way. It's time for each one of us to embrace the identity we were given before the world was made. He wants to make our wounds a resource for the healing of others. He wants to make His resurrection power known through our real day-to-day lives. Do you have any idea what's at stake in your understanding who you really are?"

- Jonathan Martin in Prototype: What Happens When You Discover That You Are More Like Jesus Than You Think, page 205

No Need to Prove Anything to Anyone

"...there's one way we can identify the devil's voice. It always plays to our fears. It is the voice that tells us we must do something to prove who we are, to prove that we're worthy, to prove that we are who God has already declared us to be. When we know we are loved by God, we don't have to prove anything to anyone. There is nothing we can do to make ourselves more beloved than we are."

-Jonathan Martin, Prototype: What Happens When You Discover That You Are More Like Jesus Than You Think, pages 53-54

Living in His Pleasure

"His [God's] voice of affirmation is not the least bit contingent on how we perform in any of our tasks, whether we are good at our jobs or even at spiritual practices. That's why it's so significant that God the Father spoke into His Son's identity before Jesus did any of the miracles or good works among the poor and marginalized. The Father's voice of love was the source from which the work of the Son would come - loving and accepting others as a natural extension of the love and blessing He had received. It could not work the other way around. He was the beloved Son in whom God was well pleased, not by whom He  was well please. That distinction is critical"

-Jonathan Martin, Prototype: What Happens When You Discover That You Are More Like Jesus Than You Think, page 49

The One Who DId Not Forget

"..But now, for the first time in human history, a man had come who really believed that He was the beloved of God, one who would always remember and would make every decision of His life based on the truth of those words.

Jesus was like us in many ways. Scripture says He was 'in all points tempted as we are.' But of all the ways He was different from us, perhaps this is the most crucial one. Jesus never forgot who He was."

-Jonathan Martin, Prototype: What Happens When You Discover That You Are More Like Jesus Than You Think, pages 43-44 (italics in the original)

Reading "Prototype"

I'm currently reading a great book called , Prototype: What Happens When You Discover That You Are More Like Jesus Than You Think, by Jonathan Martin. The author is pastor of Renovatus Church in Charlotte NC. Here's a trailer video describing what the book is about.





What a concept! What an explosive idea! Expect a lot of quotes to be posted here.

Distinct Identity

"The gospel liberates you from having to be distinct. Your identity is secure because of Christ's contribution to you, not your contribution."

            -Tullian Tchvidjian (RT @PastorTullian)
  

Four Elements of Our Identity

This is REALLY good! (Via: Justin Taylor and Peter Cockrell)

Identity & PerspectiveBy Terry Johnson:

What happens when one or two aspects of our Christian identity get emphasized at the expense of others? What happens when we fail to keep the four central elements (sons, saints, servants, sinners) of our identity in tension with each other? Let’s see.

Some have made “sons” and “saints” the message of the gospel and have neglected the categories of “servant” and “sinner.” The result has been a strong emphasis on our unchanging security as children of God and our safe status as “holy ones,” righteous in Christ. Many hurting souls have derived great comfort from this constant refrain. Those of “tender conscience,” to use the Puritan term, have found deep consolation in regular reminders of sonship and sainthood.

However, in the absence of an ongoing emphasis on “servant” and “sinner” the result too often has been complacency about duty, service, responsibility, and even about sin. “Don’t should me,” some preachers have been known to say. “There is nothing that I must do that will make God love me more. There is nothing that I have done that will make Him love me less,” these preachers rightly insist. Yet, they continue, “My Father is always pleased with me and never displeased. He sees me ‘in Christ,’ perfect and complete.“ Consequently, don’t tell me what I need to do. I don’t need to do anything – just bask in grace. When I fail, I’m loved and accepted. When I fall, I am safe and secure. The Christian life is not doing but being, being ‘in Christ.’”

There is a problem with this even in terms of sonship. While fathers don’t love their children more or less according to their performance, they may be more or less pleased according to service and obedience. We are regularly told to do the things with which God is pleased and that He rewards and blesses (e.g. Mt 6:1ff; 2 Cor 5:9; Col 1:10; Eph 5:10). God’s love is unchanging. However, He may be more or less pleased with us, and may be at times quite displeased.

Beyond this, the larger problem is the emphasis that is being placed on one aspect of our identity (sonship and sainthood) at the expense of the other (servant and sinner). We are called to serve (Rom 12:1,2). I am a son, but I am also a servant. This means that I have the duties and responsibilities of a servant which I am not to neglect.

Moreover, while I am a saint, I am also a sinner. I have not yet arrived. I must “press on,” as the Apostle Paul put it (Phil 3:14). I have not yet been glorified. I am not yet in heaven. I am not in a state of non posse pecare. The dregs of sin that remain can only be overcome by strenuous acts of mortification and vivification, as we have seen. No room is left for complacency.

Where Identity Begins

"The absolute worst place to begin constructing an identity is you, which is precisely where most counseling begins. The absolute best place to begin constructing an identity is Jesus Christ, which is precisely where Scripture begins. Knowing Jesus and being saved by him in faith is the key to your identity and to the defeat of your idolatry. It's not about you. It's all about Jesus."

     -Mark Driscoll,  Who Do You Think You Are?: Finding Your True Identity in Christ, page 17
 

Your Hurts Are Not Your Identity

"When we suffer, we can easily allow our hurt to become our identity. Our pain can become all-consuming and overwhelming. Admittedly, it's hard to tell a cancer patient, divorcee, or rape victim that his or her pain isn't the defining aspect of who that individual is. But if we truly love those who suffer, we must humbly, graciously, and patiently explain that to be a Christian is not to live a life free from suffering, but rather, suffering should lead us to identify with Jesus, who suffered more than anyone in history on our behalf."

  - Mark Driscoll, Who Do You Think You Are?: Finding Your True Identity in Christ, page 13