On identity

I read a great blog post on Stuff Christians Like that recalled for me all the reflection I've done around ego and identity over the past couple years. The author was right on in saying, "Today, across the planet, people like me and people like you are going to walk out their front doors and ask people they see, 'Who am I?'...And the sad thing is, the answers will fail us."

Most of us want others to think highly of us, and I often find it almost impossible not to put too much stock in their opinions. But of course when we ask others to define us, their answers leave us unsatisfied and insecure. Whatever validation others might offer as to our unique gifts, talents, and personal characteristics, their affirmation can never reach the deepest part of our being, the part of us that knows God as the only source of our identity.

This is a wonderful reminder as I begin a new role. It's important to keep in mind that I am not defined by my identity as a student, or my identity as an intern pastor, or even my identity in the relationships of my life, as important as these all are. I certainly hope I can serve effectively here, and I hope people benefit from my work and enjoy my presence, but whether they do or not, I remain a child of God, called and claimed in the waters of baptism.

Luther says "the power and effect of baptism...is nothing else than the slaying of the old Adam and the resurrection of the new creature, both of which must continue in us our whole life long" (LC Baptism 65; see another translation here). A friend calls this the daily death of our "self-made selves," wherein God negates all the ways in which we define ourselves and affirms instead that we are defined solely by God's gift of life in the cross of Christ.

And so our identity lies not in the power of other people's opinions of us, or in our own pride in our talents and accomplishments, but in the power of the Holy Spirit that raises us to life each day. Thanks be to God for such freedom!


Image: Baptism of Jesus by He Qi.