Skip to main content

Identity

             For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.  The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:14-15)

Whenever we discuss God as Father, some will object, saying that their father was a monster, and if that’s what God is like, they want nothing to do with him. None of us have a perfect human father. I’d like to say I loved mine, and he loved me, but we spoke very different love languages, and that didn’t help. He wasn’t a monster, and I won’t pretend that I understand the depth of the pain suffered by those who did have a monster for a father, but even those who had or have a monstrous father have some inkling of what a father should be.

But, as Priscilla Shirer points out in FerVent, identity is an area where we are often deceived. I recently wrote about the possibility of being wrong when it comes to being the victim of spiritual warfare, and this is one of the big areas. I do a lot to myself. The world does everything it can to destroy our understanding of who we are in Christ, but it’s possible that there has been a skilled manipulator involved in addition to the rather blatant work done by the other two.

Identity is a crucial topic for me. Not only is the issue deeply personal, but I’m starting to do research for a series of novels for which it is the theme. One of the more frightening villain I’ve ever encountered in any TV series or book is Star Trek’s Borg, in which individuality and personal identity are effectively erased. People are just part of the Borg, included like a cog in a machine. This is an issue I’ve faced as a Christian. Yes, I’m saved but that just makes me yet another of the countless ewes in the flock. Yes, there are duties to be performed on my behalf, but if I ceased to exist, someone else could fill my spot and I wouldn’t even be missed.

Yes, I know… “Karen! That’s not true…” but that’s the obligatory response, isn’t it? I’m loved because that’s what God does - He loves everyone. I’m loved because God commands it. It’s your job. I’m acceptable as long as I’m a good non-entity part of the Human, Christian, female, or whatever version of the Borg continuum. The moment I get in the way, don’t agree, I’m history. I’m a monster. I’m useless… I’m no good at anything and useless for any practical purpose, but I’m the last person in line and it’s your turn to pick. Yada, yada, yada. It doesn’t help when your name is used to identify someone who is unacceptable because she doesn’t tolerate being treated with the level of disrespect one assumes appropriate for just another one of the worthless sheep.

I know these things are not true in the way that I’ve described. That’s what I’ve learned from Psalm 139. But that is the narrative that whispers, sings, and even screams through my life, and through the lives of lots of other people. It’s the rut that has been plowed in my mind that needs to be filled in. We all have them. What are yours? How's  your relationship with your Father?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more