Identity, Part 1: Three Key Questions

I don’t know about you, but when I walk into church, it’s with some relief. Relief because being in a church building, gathered with a group of people who I know love Jesus and are committed to following him, I feel at home. This is what home feels like for those who belong to Jesus Christ.

 

Who Are We?

What I mean by that is that the building, the songs, the Scripture, the liturgies are meant, among other things, to remind us of our truest and deepest identity. And that’s extraordinarily important. You see, we live in the midst of a society and a world that continues to pull at us with other kinds of identities. Who are we as American citizens? Who are we as taxpayers? Who are we as Democrats and Republicans? Who are we as it relates to our American government and other governments? Who are we in relationship to persecuted Christians, who are now all across this planet? A part of me wants to say, “Get me out of here!” It’s intense.

And each one of these groups wants to define you in a way so as to set yourself over and against somebody else, someone who does not define himself or herself in the same way you do. And it is to their advantage that they do so, because we live in a “winner take all” culture. There seems to be no such thing anymore as finding a way to live together because we care about each other. Instead, it’s about a very clear, driven sense, that this is the right way, and any other way other than that way is an actual betrayal. It’s not just “agreeing to disagree.” It’s betrayal.

 

How Shall We Then Live?

So it’s a lot to live with. It’s a lot to try to figure out. It’s a lot to try to learn and understand and try to figure out. What is our place amidst all these conflicting loyalties and identities, all of which have some piece of truth in them? That’s a part of what makes it difficult. It’s not as though you can say, “That’s truth, and that’s falsehood.” That depends on the commentators you listen to, the news you take in and the opinions you follow. It’s way more complicated than the extremists would like to admit.

And so, how do we live in the midst of that? And how do we as a community, meaning the body of Christ, find a way to live in a society where they (you fill in the blank who “they” are) would love to divide us and make their opinions more important than our understanding of who we are?

I would urge you not to defame your Christian brothers and sisters, especially if they have opinions that are different from yours. That is a betrayal of your deepest identity.

 

To Whom Do We Belong?

And that’s what the church is: a reminder of our deepest identity. Singing a song of “the saints of God, faithful and brave and true.” Gathering around an altar with “angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.” The church is meant to remind us that we, above all things, belong to Jesus. And he is, in fact, the marker of our identity. What happens when someone is baptized? The oil is put on the celebrant’s thumb and the sign of the cross is made on the forehead. In baptism, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s, forever.

That is your deepest and truest identity. And no other identity is ever meant to displace that identity, because that’s God’s Word to you. It defines who you are. We’ll discuss even more about what that means in my next post.

 

How does your church connection, past or present, remind you of your true identity? Share this blog and your response on Twitter. Please include my username, @revgregbrewer.

 

(This post is an adaption of Bishop Brewer’s sermon on November 6, 2016, at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Enterprise, Florida.)

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.