Why identity still matters:

We are social creatures, and become in relationship, and yet these relationships are not meant to be comparative or competitive—they are meant to be  mutual blessings of becoming.

 God-formed relationships always have this fruit of mutual edification. This requires us to actually be comfortable enough with the pleasant lines of ourselves enough to enjoy the wonderful contours of others. And as we are His inheritance, we are able to allow Him to possess, occupy and cultivate us, just as He set this model out in the times of Joshua. We cross the Jordan (our necessary deaths); we celebrate in advance the “lands” He has given us; and we tactically pursue His formation in each inner city of our lives. This is the process of identity sanctification. We are becoming gradually more and more in Him, and therefore ourselves!

Our identity itself is held secure in Christ, as one monk put it. He alone knows our names. He has searched and known us, even when we had no idea who we were.  And so is our pathway, or calling. Both are revealed gently and over time by Him. Our white stone names get whispered to our hearts. So we need not fear that another can take away our identity—it is, in this sense, inviolable as it is hidden in Christ. And one day we will know, even as we are known—face to Face. But we are already in the process of becoming who we are—the sons and daughters of God with unique names and nuances of His Life within us to reflect to others. We are living poems and testimonies as we are ourselves in Him. This is the mystery of identity.

“I knew you, Jeremiah, therefore I called you to do this and that….” In the prophet’s case, to be a prophet to the nations. King David put it, “You knit me together in the womb, you saw my as yet unformed parts…” Therefore, God was in a position to give David and unique and wonderful path or calling. Both our identity and our paths are “in Him.” So we can be secure in this. We no longer must compare ourselves to others in order to know who we are. Nor fear we are invisible unless we assault the world outside of us.

Most of us either assault or withdraw in order to protect our imagined selves. But Christ offers another way into self discovery.

We do not need to compete or compare ourselves to be ourselves. Identity is a gift given, hidden in and revealed from Our Author. So we are free to just become who we are in Him. That is part of our security in Christ. He knows our inner or real names, and is capable of revealing them, pronouncing them even to us.

This concept of not being in competition for identity is liberating, being secure in our own perameters of being, so we can enjoy other’s. For both our identities and paths are hidden protected and contained in Christ. So we don’t need to compare ourselves to others, or be in competition—rather we can move to mutually blessing one another with the cultivated fruits of our own lands.

Talking to a man yesterday who works with people who have hugely successful their whole lives but never allowed themselves to just be. To celebrate their identities as david did. In Psalm 139, we are assured that God celebrates our unique identities as poems of God. In Ephesians 2:10 we are actually called His masterpieces, his workmanship, his poems. Who are we to diminish His poetry!

Instead, we are called to celebrate His craftsmanship in ourselves and in one another. As CS Lewis said, if we really saw who one another was in God, we would be tempted to bow down and worship one another.

 A higher step would be to be amazed at Our Great Creator Artist for the wonder of His Creatures. God has made us as living poetry—the crown of His creation. This is why identity matters. We are not blobs of energy without distinction! We are uniquely contoured poetry of God becoming worthy of Our Creator.

People have a hard time celebrating their own identity without being narcissistic or selfish. But when we see what identity actually is—a reflection of God’s amazing nature-we rejoice and celebrate the songs of ourselves, as poems of God.

Equally, each people group reflects a unique aspect of who God is. Each family of people, a uniquely contoured statement from God about Himself. For we are part of His autobiography. This is why we cannot dismiss one another. If we truly see others as creations and reflections of parts of who God is, racism becomes impossible. No one can be dismissed from love. For it is like rejecting a part of who God is. Or, refusing to read and love His poetry! For scripture teaches us, that we are the poems of God (Ephesians 2:10). Who are we to reject His poetry, which He died to pronounce. So, we celebrate ourselves as we celebrate others, in thankfulness and as a reflection of who God is. And we actively dignify and affirm one another, as poems of God. Our identities are made in intact by Love. So, we love one another, as He first loved us, as the Good Book puts it. We love one another in wonder and awe of who God actually is.

To see the poetry of one another, and to meet God there, must become our collective spirituality, especially if we are to thwart the ways of racism.