Identity

                     So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians3:26-28)

          Did you ever play sports? Or followed a particular sport player as they grew from childhood to adult? At the earliest level, I suspect it’s all about fun. Fairly quickly, however, children figure out that there is this thing called winning (that probably starts out more important to their parents but becomes important to them) and winning involves being better than this thing called “the other team.”

          Eventually, the children reach the age when they move from one team to another. They may still have friends on the old team and want the team to do well, but their focuses are being accepted by the new team and the new team doing well (AKA: winning.) At some point, their reputations and the prospect of romance enter the picture. And if they’re very, very skilled, eventually, their financial well-being and ego take over.

          This isn’t to say that the professional players forget where they came from. They may have fond memories, or go back and visit or even financially support every team they had. But even if the professional team that hired them wasn’t the team they dreamed of before they were hired, if they want to play, they’d better start backing the team that bought them. Like it or not, they’re now a _____ and they’d better act like it.

          What is true of sports is (in this case) true of the world. If you are on a team because of skin  color, ethnic heritage, mental makeup, sexual preferences (including gender), education level, employment, income, political beliefs, religious or philosophical beliefs, residence, neighborhood, or whatever else, you’d better act like it and actively support your team – or you’d better tread very carefully because you’re a _____ living among those who love your biggest rival. It’s all about identity politics.

          What the verses above make clear is that this doesn’t end when you become a Christian. Your identity should be “Christian.” You are no longer on the part of the AIJs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacobs) nor GRs (Greco-Romans.) You’re no longer a Slave or a Freeman, You no longer cheer for the Guys, or the Gals. Ethnic heritage, social status, and biology don’t matter. What matters is Christ Jesus in God. The Christian answer to identity politics isn’t “tolerance and inclusion.” That’s never the answer with any identity. The Christian answer to identity politics is a new identity that doesn’t worry about old identities while loving people regardless of theirs.