Over the past few days, several themes have risen to the surface in my life: both personally and in the wider community of the world. I have been uniquely struck by the themes the God still shows through His created world and the created beings that inhabit it. I was moved to write the following, both as a summary of my contemplation on our time, and on what that may mean for me as a Christ follower living within in our time. May others find encouragement from it. To God be the Glory.
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Identity Crisis
'Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “ I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘ I AM has sent me to you.’ ”' -Exodus 3:13-14
A couple years ago, my wife and I led a study on identity. We had come to the conclusion that the real reason for all of the gender- and identity-isms in our society stemmed from a singular temptation: the temptation to be like God. God is the only Being who may define Himself. To Moses He says, "I AM WHO I AM".
Think about what this means: When one asks "Who is God?", His answer is I Am--the very verb of being. While we do certainly identify His attributes (God is infinite, loving, merciful, just, etc.) But His identity cannot be compared to anyone except Himself. This is a strange though. But I believe it can best be realized in how we state who *we* are as humans:
I am Kyle (a definition given by my parents...as empowered by God to do so)
I am a man (a definition determined at the cellular level by God)
I am a Christian (a name directly showing that I am defined by my God & Savior)
God says: "I Am who I Am" He is sufficient to define Himself.
But what of this desire to identify *myself*. "I am xe, zu, xem, he (for a her), she (for a him)" or any definition that wasn't granted by God? This desire stems from original sin: "And the serpent said to the woman [...] 'and you will be like God'". In our sin nature, we desire to be "like God". Only God has the authority to define Himself by nothing other than Himself. We, the created draw our definition from the Creator.
I recently posted (in satire) about pronouns and how they function as a form of "prayer" to the antecedent. What I find intriguing is that we will capitalize pronouns for God the Father, Spirit, and Son.
Why do this? We recognize (at least in English and Spanish--the languages I speak) that this shows honor to They that are the Godhead. The pronoun battle being waged on mainstream media IS that same self-worshiping desire to be "like God". Whether or not it is understood.
As Christians, our identity is further sealed to God in now bearing the name of His Son. The "Christ-People". God is drawing a distinction (like with Israel of old) between the desires of man, and the followers of God. We do not define ourselves, and what blessing it is, for we have been given our identity in the Name above every name.
Fatal Kindness
“But if your enemy is hungry , feed him ; if he is thirsty , give him a drink ; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” -Romans 12:20
An insightful member of the NtB community posted recently about the need for more kindness in our world. I am often amazed at two things: 1. How true this is in every area of modern life. And 2. How easily I forget. In other passages of the Bible, heaping burning coals is a curse of terrible judgement and wrath (Psalms 11:6 & 140:10).
And yet, with kindness to our enemies...we have delivered the same powerful blow as God's supernatural judgement. What incredible power we possess to defeat the enemies of the Lord with kindness. But WHY? Why is this so powerful? Because our kindness is a reflection of the most powerful, most fatal kindness ever expressed:
The kindness, compassion, and LOVE of Christ shown by dying and bearing the wrath of Almighty God in our place. As I noted before, our compassion and kindness finds its Source within the very definition of who we are: Christ. Because of His kindness, we reflect it upon our our enemies in this world.
And it bears with it the same power that defeated sin, His death on the cross: *"I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another."* This kindness is fatal to sin & death, and overwhelmingly redeeming unto righteousness & life.
Dead Flesh
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;"
-Ephesians 2:8
I believe the oft quoted verse "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" needs a little reflection: the flesh is weak. Our very flesh is weak. We cannot do it with our flesh. In the panoply of the earth's faiths, beliefs, and religions, how often does the principal tenant of the faith start with the premise: "You cannot succeed in this faith".
I am no scholar of this subject, but it still strikes me as an odd, if not counter-intuitive statement. I might summarize it as: "To live in this Faith, you must believe that you cannot live in this Faith". That, of course, is cynically over simplified and deserves an important addendum: "To live in this Faith, you must believe that you cannot live in this Faith, because living in this Faith is, itself, a gift from God."
What should set us apart as Christians is that ALL we bring is fallen sin, and all we come away with is the reflection of the Power of God within us. Our identity, our compassion, our salvation, it is a gift, "and this is not of [ourselves]". It reframes how we view others, how we view ourselves, that every good thing is from Above.
In the turmoil of the world, I am humbled to think that all I am is dead flesh. But that God has RAISED that flesh through Christ, has given that flesh a NEW identity, and empowered that flesh as a NEW creation with the fruits of love and kindness from His Spirit!
In HIM I find my Identity
By HIM I show Kindness
And through HIM I am redeemed from Death
"From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus"
-Galatians 6:17
Amen