Identity in Christ
To this day, there is something about an octopus that freaks me out. Maybe it’s because of its tentacles. Or the fact that it can squeeze through the smallest space. Or even the fact that it’s one of the smartest animals out there. However, there is one ability that amazes me about an octopus and it’s the way it can camouflage itself to its surroundings. However, no matter how good the octopus can blend in with its surroundings, it’s still an octopus. That’s how it was created, and that’s the traits, God gave it as an animal. Just like a penguin is a penguin and an elephant is an elephant. That’s the identity God gave them and there is beauty in that. Just like there is beauty in the way God, made animals, there is also beauty in the way he created humans.
The Psalmist in the book of Psalms states,
“Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-how well I know it.” (Psalms 139:14, NLT)
I am not a betting man, but I am tempted to bet that the Psalmist isn’t saying this because he has his life all figured out and he is 100% secure in his identity. But as he was worshiping and declaring the power of God, I’msure stating these words helped him remind himself, of who God created us to be.
If we are honest with ourselves, how many of us wrestle with this concept?
Our identity is the sense of knowing who we are. It shapes how we move throughout life. Identity is what gives us direction and clarity.
So, right now if you took a second to pause, so that you can identify yourself in your head, I’m sure you begin to list things like…the things we enjoy doing…your gender… being a husband or a wife. And the one that I think has a grip on the world for generation is what you do for a living.
Isn’t that interesting? How we take that words ‘job’ and ‘me’ and try to glue them together? The main reasoning behind that is because in today’s society, we are conditioned from a young age to believe that our careers are what defines us in life. What gives us our identity……. If you think about the conversations, we have with the people we meet for the first time, one of the first questions we ask what:
“What do you do for work”
Or if we are catching up with someone we haven’t seen in a while we ask:
“How is work going for you”
For some reason we allow something as finite like what we do for a living construct the way we do life. The unfortunate part is as much as we as Christians want to act like we don’t get sucked into the same identity crisis as nonbelievers, but we do. Instead, it’s just hidden under phrases like:
“I wonder where God is calling me next”
Or
“I’m open for the calling God has on my life”
But what we forget as Christians is that God has already given us his identity. He has already given us a clear blueprint as to where he wants our minds to be focused on. Over and over again we see throughout the Bible, not just Jesus but followers of Jesus reminding us of our identity as Christians.
Look at Ephesians 2:10, written by the Apostle Paul.
It says this:
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (NLT)
Paul is reminding the church in Ephesus of their identity.
And in the same way, this reminder still holds true today. This shows that we are not only just his creation but also, he loves us so much that he wants us to be a part of the restoration of his kingdom. That even though sin separates us from him; he still calls us his children because of what he did through Jesus on the cross. AND because we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our life has new meaning.
Often times as Christians we mix up the difference of our “calling” and “assignments” God might have us on.
We are so quick to think that getting the promotion at work or us moving states and other big changes in like is our calling. But in reality, God calls us to two things as believers. Matthew 22:37-39 says,
“Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” (NLT)
Where on this does it say, Jesus tell us we need to have the big corporate job or become a doctor? Where on this does Jesus say we need to have a certain amount of money or influence and then we can do really great thingsfor God’s kingdom?
It’s important for us to be reminded that our calling is the same for the rest of our days as a believer. It’s constant… Our “calling” in life is what this verse in Matthew is talking about. Our assignment is the stage of life we are in. It’s the job we were blessed to have. It’s the marriage we faithfully stepped into. It’s wherever God has us doing for the season of life.
However, the calling on our life never changes. It’s for us to love him with all heart but then to also love “our neighbor”. But that word “Neighbor” is not just our close friends or family. It’s not just the people who have money or fit the same demographic as us. It’s not just people who come from the same background as us or grew up the same way. Our neighbor is everyone. It’s the sick. It’s the less fortunate. It’s the homeless person on the street that you are too nervous to give money because you don’t know where they will spend the money. It’s the family member who hurt you when you were a kid.
So, what does a journey of loving those people too look like for you? Because that’s the calling God has placed on our lives. And he did that because of the identity he gave us.
