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I am going to put forth a question here at the outset of the article, and hopefully it will help to frame and direct much of the rest of our time. It is going to seem simple at first, but it will prove to be a challenge the more you think about it. It is easy to ask but difficult to answer with any kind of genuine depth.
Here it is: Who are you?
Simple, right? I mean it almost seems like a trivial question. We don’t even think of it often as a question to put thought into; it is more of a segue into a conversation when meeting someone new, or a means of discovery when confronting the individual trespassing on your property. We never give the question much thought. We simply answer with our name, or perhaps our occupation, but we never pause and think about what we are going to say. That would be bizarre in the midst of an interaction with another human.
This question is exactly the thing I want to spend this article looking at. To boil that question down into one word, or concept, it would be the word identity. That word entails everything that the aforementioned question implies; your name, your parents, your occupation, and so on. The reason for taking such an extended approach to addressing this topic is because of the culture around us. If anything is under attack today by the forces of darkness, it is the concept of identity. Below, we will look more fully at what identity really is, why it is under attack, and how we can defend a distinctly Christian and biblical perspective of it.
Identity defined
To begin, I want to lay out a clear and succinct definition of identity. You may find a different one on Merriam-Webster or with a simple Google search, but ultimately, how I am going to define identity will be based on the Bible, as well as contemporary usage. Identity is the label given to you by your Creator. I want to stress right out of the gate that identity is not a self-imposed label. It is not an internal feeling that you and you alone know to be true. It is objectively assigned to you by the One who created you.
For many today, everything that I just said in the last few sentences is hateful, mean-spirited, judgmental, fascist, and maybe even a hate-crime. I just wanted to throw that out there.
"Identity is the label given to you by your Creator... It is not an internal feeling that you and you alone know to be true."
For others, however, that makes at least some sense. If I am a created being, then ultimately I am not free to choose who or what I identify as; who or what I am has already been assigned to me by the One that created me. Let’s say you came up with some sort of invention. We won’t attempt to give it some sort of description, for I am no inventor. People may purchase the invention and begin to use it for means other than what it was designed for. We see that kind of thing all the time. However, the final decider of the inventions true identity is the inventor himself. This is crucial for our understanding of ourselves and others.
With a definition laid out, let’s now examine who is attacking your identity, why they are doing it, and how they are going about it.
The World, the Devil, and the Flesh
I have somewhat shown my hand with the heading above, but the three main culprits in the radical destruction of identity in our society are the pagan world system we exist within, Satan himself, and our own sinful tendencies that arise from within us.
Firstly, the world. When I speak of the world I do not mean planet earth itself. In reality, the earth was created by God to be ruled and cultivated by man. What I mean by the world is the corrupt and sinful world system that rejects God and his good designs and plans for mankind. This system is diametrically opposed to the rule of God and seeks to inculcate and indoctrinate men, women, and children into darkness. You can see this everywhere, from the media to the educational system. The principalities and powers of the world are constantly seeking to upend and distort the beautiful and gracious design of our identity.
Secondly, the devil. The father of disobedience, the accuser of the brethren, the prince of the power of the air. Satan is a master manipulator hell-bent on stealing, killing, and destroying, and one of the primary ways he does this is by subtly, but sometimes overtly, attacking your identity. The Greek word diabolos is the name given to Satan, and it literally means “accuser.” We find this further validated in Revelation 12:10, where he is literally called “the accuser of the brethren.” Satan uses any and all methods of accusing and slandering Christians in order to get them to doubt their identity in Christ. He knows that he cannot fundamentally change a true Christians identity, but he can render them inoperative and useless in the world. If we ever want to grow in holiness and manifest Jesus to the world in a greater way we must not be ignorant of the devil's schemes, recognizing his lies about who we are and countering them with God’s truth of whose we are.
Thirdly, we are attacked by our very own flesh. This is a somewhat difficult concept for the majority of Christians to fully understand. In our society and culture today, speaking of indwelling sin in the believer is somewhat taboo, but in the case of the Bible the verdict is clear: “So I find it a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand (Romans 7:21).” Even though there is great victory over temptation and sin in the life of genuine Christians, we must still face the sober reality that our fallen flesh will war against our sanctified spirits until that great day when we meet our Father face to face. In the battle for identity our flesh will often rise up and seek to turn us back to our old ways, reminding us of the pleasure that sin used to hold. We are drawn back into our old lives, our lives as sons and daughters of the devil. To fight back against our flesh, we must remember that our identity is not found in the sins of our past, but rather in the sinlessness of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his sinless life and substitutionary death that we can now say, “I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.”
If we do not learn our enemies and their tactics, we will be found defenseless in the battle for our identity.
The Sword and the Trowel
The book of Nehemiah speaks of the work being done by the nation of Israel as they seek to rebuild Jerusalem after an extended time of exile. The walls of the city had been torn down by the oppressing forces, so the first order of business was to erect a new wall that would serve as protection and security from the outside world. In chapter 4 of the book, Nehemiah is detailing the labors of the builders of the walls. He describes their attire and their tools, which paints an interesting picture that I believe will serve us well here in closing.
"In this labor of love we call the Christian life, we must build identity into the very fabric of our culture."
To avoid being attacked suddenly and caught off guard during the rebuilding process, the laborers were divided in two, with half constructing the walls, while the other half held spears and swords and wore chainmail. But my favorite detail has to be the description of those who “carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other (Nehemiah 4:17).” What a powerful picture of the necessity of diligence in building and vigilance in warfare.
You see what often happens when we are seeking to stand for something like biblical identity is that we do one of these or the other. We either work on building while letting the world, the devil, and the flesh all take footholds in our hearts and churches, or we only fight with others, stabbing out at the enemy while the walls behind you remain unfinished. In this labor of love we call the Christian life, we must build identity into the very fabric of our culture. We must give ourselves to building up our children’s identities as they are found in Christ. We must build up our spouses' identities by constantly reminding them of their places as God’s children. But we must not lose sight of the battle. We must have a sword in the other hand, always ready to slash at the devil with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We must be ready to mortify the flesh, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, our Savior, who purchased our new identity with His blood. We must fight back against the pressure of the world which so forcefully wishes to take and shape and mold the mind and conform it to its dark image.
This is a war, and we must be building up identity, as well as keeping the darkness at bay that would seek to uproot it. Only then will we be prepared to walk into a divine calling as sons and daughters of the Most High.
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