The Wrong Things for Our Identity

What are some negative things that we find our identity in? How does culture play a role in what lies we believe and what we find our identity in? How do we notice when we're doing it?

Show Notes:

We have been going through a series on identity and specifically what it means to have our identity in Christ. At the beginning of this series, I mentioned several other things that we can find our identity in and some of the consequences of that. Today I want to explore that a little more.

As a refresher, the most basic definition of finding our identity in something is that that thing is the foundation of our value. How true that thing is about us determines our worth in our own eyes and often in the eyes of the society we live in. There are cross-cultural, timeless things that people find their identity in, and there are things that are culture and time specific. This has to do with what the culture as a whole values. Whatever the culture values, that's what people want to be, because then they are valuable.

If you look at a traditional, Far East culture, they value saving face, tradition, and family honor. Those are the things most people in that culture are going to find their identity in. In order to look deeper at how this plays into our culture, we have to understand what our culture values. Right now, that is those who are different, who stand out, who go against the grain. To see this on display, you only have to look as far at mass advertising campaigns. The #1 underlying message is, "This will make you stand out and be your own brand of different." You can also see this if you go to a big city. There is so much variety in the way that people look and dress. In order to be different, people will dye their hair all sorts of colors, get piercings in different places, dress in non-standard fashions, and more. This cultural valuing of people who stand out is higher in larger cities. That's why, if you go to a small Midwest town, the percentage of people who present themselves as different from everyone else is significantly smaller than in a big city. I would love to talk about how this system backfires on itself and ends up creating pockets of people who are the same as each other and different from everyone else, but that's another topic for another day.

What people find their identity in is both individually based, meaning it comes from your personality, skills, and experiences, and it's culturally based, like we just saw. So you will always have people who find their identity in something that is counter-cultural because they are just wired that way, but most people will find a way to tie together their individual traits with the cultural definitions of value in order to find their identity in something that is very true about them and also culturally praised.

So what are those things in our culture today that large numbers of people find their identity in? Because we are in the midst of a massive cultural change, there are items on this list that are timeless, items that have to do with the culture that's on it's way out, and items from the "new" culture.

• Your social status
• Who your friends are
• Your particular display of gender
• How much money you have and how you spend it (either flaunting or saving)
• Your job and how ^ it is
  • High status
  • Low status
  • Yucky
  • Hard
  • Clean
  • Specialized
  • Fun
  • Unique
• Your sexual orientation
• What's happened to us in our past (positive or negative)
• Your heritage
• Who you're related to
• What you've accomplished
• How visually different you are from those around you
• How smart you are
• How spiritual you are
• How funny you are
• How good you are at helping people
• How good you are at:
  • Gaming
  • Math
  • Gymnastics
  • Sports
  • (fill in the blank)

This is not an exhaustive list, but I hope at least one of those clicked with you. You can find your identity in something that is morally, biblically right to do (like helping people or getting good grades), and you can find your identity in something that is not biblically right to do. Regardless, if we are finding our identity and source of value in something other than who God says that we are, that's wrong.

How do we know if we are finding our identity in something other than God? The best dashboard indicator light is fear. What we're afraid of is a direct result of not finding our identity in Christ and not trusting Him to take care of us. Afraid of losing your home and possessions in a fire? You're probably finding your identity in your stuff or your ability to entertain people well or something along those lines. Afraid of becoming a quadriplegic? You're probably finding your identity in your ability to play sports or how independent you are or any number of other things. In the fear series I'm going to do next, we'll explore more thoroughly how to trace fear back to the lies we're believing and the truth that counters them. For now, though, start paying closer attention to what you're afraid of. It might surprise you just how many things are on that list.

Thanks for joining me on the podcast today. I'm hoping next week to do an interview with a friend on how understanding identity in Christ has impacted his life. I hope you'll join me then.