Skip to main content

Identity

              There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

 

            There is lots of talk about identity. What do you identify as? According to today’s verse, for a Christian to identify as other than a Christian is wrong. I suspect this idea is where Martin Luther King, Jr. got the idea of being judged by the content of our characters rather than the color of our skin. This passage makes it clear that Christian is the identity we are to maintain when we become Christians. We may be Black, White, Native, male, female, American, Kenyan, Baptist, Methodist, Roman Catholic, rich, poor, or whatever, but those things are – at most – the equivalent of the style and color of the T-shirt we choose to wear.

            This is not to say that we don’t need to work on our proficiency in loving others. No one is pretending that our history may make loving might present come difficulties for many of us. There are times when I think half the reason I’m friends with some people is because my dog, Grace, LOVES people. And in my failure to love others as I should I must include that I make it difficult for others to love me.

            As I have been meditating on this, an idea comes to mind. When I get overwhelmed, I’ve often half-kidded that I wished a “knight in shining armor” would show up, do whatever needs to be done, and ride into the sunset. Of course, this goes back to love languages. The point is that doing what you would like someone to do for you is loving.

            The knight in shining armor idea wanders in and out of my imagination when it comes to helping (loving) others. I want to be a stealth lover, the masked superhero lover, the shadow lover, who may well do the loving thing without anyone knowing I did it. That’s not always healthy or possible, but it’s not as strange as it sounds, considering the notion of “Secret Santas.”

            The key to all of this is that our love for someone isn't based on who they are. It's based on who we are. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more