Our Identity.

On the way home from a soccer game, our five year old decided to announce that he had a word for each of us in the family.  He so intelligently proclaimed:       

Himself – “Motorcross”

His Little Brother – “Little People” (as in the Fisher Price toys)

Sister #2 – “Ketchup”  (she eats it on everything!)

Dad – “Fishing”

Mom – “Singing at church”

Sister #1 – Water  (she always drinks it)

We laughed reflecting on his comments!  It was so funny to hear him verbalize our “identities” based upon his young perceptions!  As I thought about what he said, I realized that there was a blog in this….

God Is…Our Identity.

• John 10:14 – “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.”

There are two ways of looking at this verse…”am known by My own” could indicate that we Christians know Jesus, as He knows us — like sheep know who their shepherd is.  However, from an identity standpoint, you could also look at this phrase to mean that Jesus is known by his sheep…meaning the reputation we hold reflects on the character and reputation of Jesus. 

If our reputation is of disobedience and rebellion, then we do not reflect a very good representation of Jesus.  When we proclaim ourselves to be a “Christian”, we are saying that we are “like Christ”, and if the world sees us behaving in disobedience, we are basically saying, “Christ acts like this.”   

We must be careful to exhibit our lives in such a way as to honor our Savior.  We, further, should recognize instances where we fail to do that, and take the time to point our failures out to other people.  We should be humbled to the point of making sure the world knows that we acknowledge the things we have done were wrong. 

Our reputation as Christians becomes Christ’s reputation to the world.

Even a five-year old like my son sees the “real” us.  He knows, by our behaviors, what we play with, what we drink, what we eat, what we spend our time doing, and what really makes us happy.  We should expect the rest of the world to also be watching.  Our identity is our reputation. 

What kind of identity do you have today?  I have to say I was very relieved to hear my son point out that I like to sing in church, rather than some of the other failures I often exhibit!   

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, …made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”  Philippians 2:5-8