Your Identity as a Christian Living During a Worldwide Identity Crisis
By Pastor Rod Carver ThD, Guest Contributor
Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (NKJV)
As this latest racial crisis has hit our nation, many are asking and some are demanding certain things from the church. Certainly it is nice to see that many still understand and recognize that the church has influence and is an agent of peace and hope in turmoil. But what they do not understand is that the church has a higher calling beyond social justice and worldly tools of crisis management. Granted, our outward working and interaction may change during these times, but our mandate to see as many as possible identify as “in Christ” remains the same.
You see that once someone becomes a believer in Jesus Christ for their salvation, their identity as a child of God supersedes every other tag that others may place upon them or they themselves may embrace. Jesus told us of the importance of that identity when He stated, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 (NKJV)
Many remain confused on what a Christian is. We ask, “Are you a Christian?” which to a majority is asking whether you conform to a certain set of rules and religious practices. In today’s environment a better question may be “Are you in Christ?” or perhaps “Have you become born again as a child of God?” The reason we get into heaven, the reason we have a relationship with God is not because of our moral stance or our religious practices, it is because God has allowed us to become His children.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:12-13 (NKJV)
This reminds me that I am a child of God, “in Christ,” before any other identity I carry. This comes before my gender, my marital status, my relationship with my children, my role as a pastor, my citizenship, my political leanings and certainly the types of churches I fellowship with. Christ is the identity that makes any other tag usable or worthless. There is no place in heaven for the person who identifies themself as a ________ - Christian.
Why is this mini theological lesson important in our current political and social atmosphere? First of all, if we allow worldly tags to be placed upon us that become more important than our identity “in Christ” then the church will become more divided than ever and ripped apart from within. Secondly, the church will lose its power as an ambassador of salvation and its ability to bring peace to those who desperately need peace.
So are our tags useless? Absolutely not, as long as your identity “in Christ” supersedes every other identity or tag you carry. Good or bad, as long as you are centered on Christ, who you are is who God made you and allowed you to become. All you have to do is surrender your accomplishments and shame, your highlights and trips through the valley of sorrow, to Him and He has the ability to hand it back to you as a tool for the kingdom of God.
Here is the difference. Someone may identify this way, “I am a gay Christian” but that sounds pretty bad in light of 1 Corinthians 6:9 and Revelation 22:15 to name a few. But what if someone is identified as a Christian who struggles with or struggled with same sex attraction? Quite a difference, they can now be used by God because their identity is in Christ and their tag is surrendered to His will. They have insight and a unique perspective to deal with issues from a Biblical perspective that many do not hold. I could desire to be of a different race in this world, that was not my call but God’s, therefore I give what I am to Him and receive it back as a tool to glorify God.
I cannot rightly apologize for the identity God gave me just as much as I cannot blame God for the hurts and injustices against me. My call, our call as children of God, is to surrender all that He may use what I am temporally for eternal results. Pray for your brothers and sisters who are vastly different than you from a worldly perspective but share the same spiritual DNA. For such a time as this He chose each one of us to be here now. The theology of the children’s song Jesus Loves Me This I Know is radically accurate and appropriate for this time in our history.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV)
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