If I ask, “who are you?” What will you say?…
One evening, the members of a bible study group were each asked to answer this very question of, “who are you?”. One said, “I’m an accountant”, another, “I’m a software developer”. One said, “I’m a grandmother”, and another, “I’m a wife and mother” … and so the answers continued. When everyone had answered, another question was posed, “Who will you be if you are no longer an accountant, software developer, grandmother or wife and mother, etc.? Who will you be if you lose that position?” There was silence and many confused expressions…
Someone once told me that her job defined her, that it gave her an identity and purpose. When I asked a retired gentleman if he was enjoying all that free time. He replied, “No, there’s nothing for me to do, I no longer have a purpose”.
We often base our identities, purpose and self-worth on our titles, roles, jobs, and assets. Or we draw our identities from our social circles – family, friends, church, colleagues. There’s the leader, the smart one, the quiet one, the joker or funny one, the pretty one, the “black sheep” etc. Our identities are who or what we believe we are. Who or what we believe we are affects our sense of self-worth, behaviour and attitude in life.
When we see value in our roles, hold prestigious job titles, or have wealth; we tend to have a greater sense of self-worth; and therefore a more positive identity. But what if we have a job like janitor or garbage collector? What if we have no job? Do we then see ourselves as one of less worth?
There is a difference between what we do and who we are. Our roles in life, titles, jobs, and assets do not define who we are, especially as born-again believers. Many of us have adopted false identities based on what we do and what we own. And we’ve become so pre-occupied with living up to the societal expectations of those false identities.
When we accept Christ though, we become children of the Living God – John 1:12 – But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. Galatians 3:26 – For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Our identity as a child of the Living God is the only thing that is permanent in this life, as everything else will eventually fade away (Matthew 24:35 – Heaven and earth shall pass away…). If you lose your job, you will still be a child of God. That will not change. If you lose all your friends, you will still be a child of God. If you lose all your earthly possessions, you will still be a child of God. It is the one thing that remains constant because God is eternal (Isaiah 40:28 – Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God…)
When our identity is first and foremost, child of the Living God, we will be able do great things for God’s kingdom.
I first learned about intimacy with God through a retired janitor. When he shared testimonies of conversations with Jesus and claimed to hear from God, I thought he was delusional. At the time, I believed that only pastors or prophets could hear from God, and most certainly not janitors. But this man was so certain of his position as a child of God that I actually started to believe him and that is where my real journey with God began.
Let’s use a more practical example. Peter, Andrew, James and John were lowly, uneducated fisherman (Matthew 4:18-22). Yet they did great things for the kingdom of God (Acts 5:12 – And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people). Acts 5:15 – so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. James later wrote the book of James in the bible. And John wrote the book of Revelation.
They could not have accomplished any of these things had they held onto their identities of lowly fishermen. But when they took on their true identities in Christ Jesus, they could fulfil that which God had purposed for them to do.