What is Our Christian Identity?

In the previous post we looked at the necessity of rightly understanding our Christian identity. Now we must ask, what is our uniquely Christian identity? 

Many times when I think about Christian identity the image of a superhero pops into my mind. Almost all superheroes have secret identities. They go through their everyday lives as mild mannered citizens. Then when a problem occurs they break out of their "mild mannered citizen" appearance and turn into Superman, Spiderman, or Batman and save the day. Their friends always wonder where they went during the crisis.

The thing is, this is a terrible image of Christian identity. 

Superheroes are not mild mannered citizens. They are superheroes, that's who they are.

I think a very helpful snapshot of Christian identity can be found in 1 Peter 2:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

This is Christian identity in a nutshell.

Stated Fact
Your identity is not an "if" but an "is". There is no question about you are in Christ. It is a stated fact. "You are"...

A Purposed Community
Each description of the "you are" statement could be posts (or dissertations) in an of themselves. Peter is talking to Jewish Christians and states the fact that they are a "chosen race". This chosen-ness extends also to Gentiles as they are adopted as children of God (see Romans 9-11). Peter firmly grounds the identity of the new Christian community in God's sovereign choice. To be in Christ is to be hand selected.

This hand selected people is also a purposed people. We are described as a royal priesthood that is holy and possessed by God. The priesthood had a responsibility to stand between the people and God. But this role has changed due to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, therefore, Peter clarifies. The responsibility of the priesthood is now to "proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

Our chosen-ness is reflected by our activity as priests. Our activity as priests is primarily marked by our proclamation of the "excellencies" of Jesus. Consider what Peter is saying here, he is not saying that we are to set out to convert people. We are to set out to proclaim how excellent Jesus is.

A Mercied Community
Our identities are also wrapped up in the fact that "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." What is critical here is the statement of mercy. We are a people who have been invited in as a people out of mercy. Mercy is defined as, "compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm."

Our identity is shaped by the compassion and forgiveness extended to us by God. We were a people in darkness invited into the light, not because we were deserving, but out of God's great compassion and forgiveness. This means that we are proclaiming the excellencies of a compassionate and forgiving God. When we proclaim with the intent of conversion we often cease proclaiming the excellencies of the compassionate and forgiving God but become harbingers of doom. While we must help people understand the fact that they need a Savior, we must realize that our call is to proclaim the excellencies of Jesus. We can trust that the Holy Spirit will take care of the rest.

A Changed Community
Out identity is also expressed in our changed lives. Peter says, "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation."

We must understand that we are primarily sojourners and exiles in the world. This is where the superhero analogy is helpful, especially that of Superman. He is not from Earth. He is an exile from Krypton. When we become God's people we are adopted and no longer find our identity based here but based in the reality of our new family which is in God.

This means that we are at odds in a fallen world. We experience passions that wage war against our soul which means that our new identity demands a new lifestyle in response to the excellent Jesus and his great mercy. Our lives are to be different because the world is watching. Peter wants our lives to be ones that cause people to give glory to God in his second coming.

A final thought...
This whole discussion is in the plural because our identity is a communal one. We are a people. We are a community. While individuals are indeed saved by the grace of God in Christ we cannot separate that from the reality that we are saved into a community.

I think I would summarize Christian identity this way, "An ever changing community proclaiming the excellencies of Jesus  through word and deed."

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The Necessity of Rightly Understanding Christian Identity

The follower of Jesus is a strange person. He does not fit any place. Jesus told him to "be in the world, not of the world." What does that even mean? Christians have been struggling with this concept ever since Jesus said it.


Yesterday I spent some time with a group of men that I affectionately refer to as The Calvinistas. Our conversation turned to the topic of what it means to be in the world, what is our responsibility as an individual Christian? What about the church corporate? These are important questions because they go to the heart of our mission as followers of Jesus.

As a person who is leading a new Jesus movement, these questions take on a whole new meaning. This is because how we answer these questions will determine what we do as a movement and what our focus will be as a movement.

All that context leads me to the reality that we cannot answer this question in one post. However, I think that it primarily leads to this core thought: to answer this questions requires us to have a clear understanding of our identity as a Christians.

A right understanding of our identity is a necessity because it drives our decisions. It gives us clarity to the all important "why" questions of our lives. We cannot answer "why" without first having answered "who". What makes following Jesus a transcendent experience is that when we follow him our "who" is transformed which in turn transforms our "why".

We cannot live out our calling as representatives of Jesus if we don't understand what it means to be a representative of Jesus.

A right understanding of Christian identity is a necessity to living the Christian life. We simply cannot understand the why and how without first getting the who.

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Creating Rhythm and Routine In An Empty Calendar

I officially became a church planter in August. It's a weird and exciting experience. In many ways it is similar to when I was leading teams with Cru. The big difference though is that Amy has responsibilities outside our home and Ethan and Libby are in school. There is a new rhythm in our home and I have yet to really figure it out.

We as people need rhythm and routine. A church planter's life is naturally devoid of both. I keep learning that it is my responsibility to create the rhythm and routine of my life. There is nobody who will create it for me.

To create rhythm I need to come to some conclusions about what is most important and allow those things to shape my days and weeks.

How do you create rhythm?

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2012 Post Election Thoughts From A Pastor

As we enter into the post election calm it occurred to me that we as Christians need some perspective. Nothing on the political landscape has changed. Everything today is as it was the day before the election. What we must understand as Jesus followers is that this election has taught us a very important lesson. This lesson is as simple as this (whether you're happy or sad):

The world will not be changed through electing a man.

My relationships cross boundaries, they always have. I have friends from all walks of life. My friends are Republicans, Democrats, and everything in between. Over the course of this election season I have read mean spirited things written by and to these folks. I have watched as friends from the whole spectrum of politics have placed their faith, hopes, and dreams for the future on men.

When the election ended some rejoiced while others despaired. 

I have seen many state that this election was the most important election in our history. They say this because they believe that the election of a certain man would bring about justice. Some were concerned about justice for the unborn, some for poverty, others for homosexuals, and still others for religious freedom. There were a myriad of other issues as well. 

An ongoing conversation I have with some friends has centered around why folks are so quick to place their hope and faith in a political candidate. There are some obvious reasons but one friend is quick to push back asking, "what's beneath this?" 

I have been wrestling with the "beneath this" question quite a bit. I am coming to the conclusion that at the end of the day we place our faith and hope in a candidate because we don't believe that we can make a difference. We believe ourselves to be powerless and that we need someone with more power to change the world for us. 

We're wrong. 

Romans 8:9-11 says this:

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

You see, if one is "in Christ" then the Spirit lives within her. This means that within every follower of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the sovereign God of the universe, is living and active. Quite simply, the follower of Jesus has within him all he needs to transform the world.

One writer I follow proclaimed that Christians have officially "lost the culture war".

I say fine, good, praise God!  We are not called to win, nor even fight, a culture war. We are called to make, create, subvert, and define culture.

We are called to be representatives of Jesus to the world. This means embodying and proclaiming his story to all we meet.

How has the election changed this?

Not one iota. 

Our calling, who we are, has not changed. If you are a Christian there is no room, nor time, for despair. We have work to do.

Ephesians 2:10 says,

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Your candidate won? Great!  Get after the work of building the kingdom of God by using the gifts, skills, and passions that God has graciously given you.

Your candidate lost? Great! Get after the work of building the kingdom of God by using the gifts, skills, and passions that God has graciously given you.

It is my sincere hope that each of us would repent from the idolatry that so easily entangles us in these election seasons and return our trust to the sovereign good God of the universe. He alone is deserving of our trust, hope, and faith. He alone controls the future.

If you are despairing because of the election, your hope has been placed in something or someone other than King Jesus.

If you are rejoicing because of the election, your hope has been placed in something or someone other than King Jesus.

If you see before you great opportunity to engage the world with the gospel, your hope is rightly placed on the King.

In conclusion take heart in what the Psalmist tells us (Psalm 24),

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,

the world and those who dwell therein,

for he has founded it upon the seas

and established it upon the rivers.

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?

And who shall stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul to what is false

and does not swear deceitfully.

He will receive blessing from the Lord

and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Such is the generation of those who seek him,

who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

Lift up your heads, O gates!

And be lifted up, O ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory?

The Lord, strong and mighty,

the Lord, mighty in battle!

Lift up your heads, O gates!

And lift them up, O ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory?

The Lord of hosts,

he is the King of glory! Selah

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