What's So Big About Identity?
by Pastor Pat Brandon
Who am I?
Many times in recent years, I have encountered people, usually, young adults, who are setting off on a trip to some exotic destination – back-packing perhaps. Their explanation? “I need to find myself!” Or to find the real me. “Who AM I?”
Backpackers in Thailand! Image courtesy of Patrick Hendry on Unsplash.
“But is our identity really defined by the clothes we wear, the car we drive, the clubs we join, the house we live in?”
An individual may be like many others in many ways, but each has certain characteristics – in the way they look, speak, or act or think. Then they may change – through the influences of life – education, family, relationships. Attitudes and beliefs can be influenced and changed, but what about a person’s character, or essence?
It is often claimed that a man finds his identity in his work – what he does. Ask him to tell you about himself, and he may reply, “I’m a plumber/teacher/athlete/musician” or whatever. That’s why for some men, retirement is so hard! They cease to be what they were! But is that really his identity, or just a distinguishing feature?
Safety in Numbers
When I was at school, an observant teacher drew our attention to the fact that in a particular town, perhaps around a car factory, every man’s ambition was to own a particular make and model of car, so as to be the same as everybody else. On the other hand, each one of them would fit a particular kind of spotlight, windscreen shade, or mascot to look different from everyone else – to establish an identity (or individuality) in the crowd.
Blue Alpine Car. Image courtesy of Chris Henry on Unsplash.
But is our identity really defined by a group we adhere to? Some people might say when asked to describe themselves, “I support Man. United!” Or, “I’m working class/white/male (gay or straight).” Or “I like Garage/Punk/Rock/Folk.” We describe who we are through who we are like – finding our identity by identifying with others. “I’m one of them!”
Do we feel we need to belong to a tribe? I remember my University days when two particular garments were trendy – the PVC Raincoat and the Afghan Coat. One made the wearer hot and sweaty, the other, if it got wet, smelled awful! They were both unconventional, eccentric, not what most people traditionally wore. Young people wore them to look different, but they ended up looking the same! But is our identity really defined by the clothes we wear, the car we drive, the clubs we join, the house we live in?
PVC Coats. Image courtesy of Pawel Janiak on Unsplash.
“All too easily, what is said about God sounds as if we’re saying, “If I were God, I’d do a better job – I have a better idea of how things should be run!”
“To an extent, then, how we see our own identity will reflect our personal concept of God – if we believe in Him.”
Identity on the Grand Scale
What about national identity? What does it mean to be English or French or Brazilian? Much comes from our history, our country’s traditions of behaviour and belief, its culture. But in this world which is often described as a global village, perhaps we regard it as somehow lazy to simply adopt the norms of our nationality rather than develop some individuality. These days too, we sometimes find people wanting to identify with a particular group – do you remember “Je Suis Charlie”? But then comes the backlash – accusations of ’cultural misappropriation’ – stealing someone’s identity for our own purposes.
Who Does God Think He Is?
Do we try to impose on Him (or Her? Or It?) our notions of what a Supreme Being should be like, and do? We often hear, “If God is so good, why does He allow suffering – or poverty, sickness or evil?” There is a certain lack of logic in this! We ask why this so-called God, who doesn’t actually exist, behaves in a particular way, with the suggestion that He could do things differently – if He existed!
I remember an occasion when I arrived at an event and drove ‘round to assess the parking situation. It didn’t look hopeful, so I was greatly relieved when I turned a corner and spotted a space ahead of me, the first of a line of parking spaces which were all filled except the first one. I drove straight in. Someone I knew to be fiercely atheistic was getting out of a car a few spaces ahead of me, and he stormed towards me and said, “I bet you prayed for that parking place! It’s disgusting!” He didn’t seem to spot how illogical this was! He was angry that I had (he assumed) asked this non-existent God to do something for me, and He had, even though He doesn’t exist! The truth was I had not even thought of praying for a parking place.
All too easily, what is said about God sounds as if we’re saying, “If I were God, I’d do a better job – I have a better idea of how things should be run!” But the Bible says that in a way God challenges us on this – He asks to whom we would compare Him. And He states, “There is none like Me!” In fact, when Moses asked God for His name, He said, “I am that I am!” He clearly has no problem with knowing who He is!
But what about Jesus? When He was born, we say He was totally human, so He had to learn who He was in terms of His Messiahship. From the age of five, his earthly father would have taught Him the Torah (the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible), and we see that by the time He was around thirty years old, He had as it were found Himself in the Scriptures. I have heard it suggested that as He grew up, He would ask His mother to tell Him again what the angel had said about Him – and the shepherds and so on.
Jesus had to discover who He was, what His calling and mission were, to the extent that He could pursue them with total confidence. There were clearly times when He wondered if He was right! But in the end, He went to the Cross in sure knowledge (or firm belief) that God His Father would raise Him from death. He knew who He was!
The Judeo-Christian Concepts
The Bible says that we humans are “made in the image and likeness of God,” which is the basis of many moral principles concerning the ‘sanctity of life.’ Christians and Jews alike see in every human being the image of God. They may have distorted that image, but in essence, they are, we would say, in some way, like God, our Creator. To an extent, then, how we see our own identity will reflect our personal concept of God – if we believe in Him.
One example, as I finish. I am a Christian, and so I believe God is the Creator. He is immensely creative – the Bible teaches us that He created the whole world – He conceived the whole shebang and brought it into being – just like that! When I am being creative, in writing music, playing jazz, painting a picture, or whatever, I am reflecting God’s creativity. Even when I am enjoying someone else’s creative work, I would say my God-given creativity responds to the creativity of another. I am, in a way responding as me, in my own identity, to the identity of someone else – so learning to a small degree who I am and who he or she is.
As Christians, we have plenty of help available to us in finding out who we are - if we look in the Word of God, take it to heart, believe it, and act on it! We have already noted that humans were “made in the image and likeness of God.” In Genesis 1:26,
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness”
James 3:9 underlines this -
“With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.”
I am growing in the likeness of His Son Jesus. 2 Corinthians 3:18,
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
The Scripture that tells us we are a work in progress, being lovingly developed by the Creator, is Ephesians 2:10,
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
The word translated “workmanship” here is the Greek word poiĕma from which we get the word “poem!” So we are, each of us, a work of art!
But that’s just my take on all this – and who am I to know?!
Resources
We’ve created a free downloadable PDF to explore the article deeper. It contains discussion questions about the topic in general terms that will give you a jumping-off point for beginning a conversation.
The second page contains a way to see the topic from a biblical perspective.
And finally, to go deeper into the subject, we have chosen a few curated resources to explore from other authors’ and thinkers’ research or perspectives.
Read. Engage. Enjoy!
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Depending on how a gem is held, light refracts differently. At B+PC we engage in Pop Culture topics to see ideas from a new angle, to bring us to a deeper understanding. And like Pastor Shane Willard notes, we want “…Jesus to get bigger, the cross to get clearer, the Resurrection to be central…” Instead of approaching a topic from “I don’t want to be wrong,“ we strive for the alternative “I want to expand my perspective.”
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