Identity Issues

 

I don’t really understand how criminals think. In fact, I’ve often said that I’m too dumb to be a criminal. I just have a hard time comprehending why someone would benefit from pretending to be me on social media! But this week we had our first real experience with identity theft. Thanks to a data breach at one of my husband’s medical facilities, someone tried (unsuccessfully) to use my husband’s information to get a new credit card. And last week someone successfully withdrew a small amount of money from our bank account using a cash app and my husband’s debit card number – despite the fact that his card is rarely used and was safely stored in his wallet. As I have been dealing with the “clean-up” after these two events, I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of identity.

In the 21^st century world we live in, we hear a lot about identity. There is identity theft, identity fraud, identity politics, and identity crisis. The desire for popularity has always driven how we define our identity; but now we have other factors contributing to the mix. Besides the age-old message that accomplishing great tasks and “fitting in” with others is where we get our worth, we are now told that we have the freedom to choose our identity – even in areas of gender identity and sexual orientation. In this atmosphere with so many choices and mixed messages, it’s no wonder that people are struggling to figure out who they are and eager to pretend to be someone else.

Here’s the bad news: Satan is still alive and well in our world and is more than willing to lead people astray into confusion and sin. Identity is just one of his latest weapons. The Bible describes our enemy as one who steals (John 10:10), lies (John 8:44), and pretends (2 Corinthians 11:14); sounds a lot like identity theft to me. We also know that Satan “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Humans have always wanted to answer the question “who am I?”; it shouldn’t surprise us that Satan is willing to use new methods to provide the same hollow and misguided answers to that question.

But here’s the good news: “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (! John 4:4)! As Christians, our identity is not chosen by us but given to us by God; and it includes everything we need to navigate this world. We are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), chosen and loved by God (1 Thessalonians 1:4), children of God (John 1:12), and friends of God (John 15:15). We are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20) and joint-heirs with Christ, sharing his eternal inheritance (Romans 8:17). My identity and worth are determined by God, who has made me a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), a member of his body (1 Corinthians 12:27), and a dwelling place for his Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). My purpose is already settled, because I am “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand . . . “ (Ephesians 2:10). Simply stated, we are all accepted, protected, secure, significant, complete, and fully equipped for living life as our Creator intended us to. No identity crisis here! No matter what I do or what others say, I know exactly who I am.

May we all choose each day to trust what God says about us and embrace the identity that he has given us while ignoring the lies of the enemy present in our culture, refuting them with the truth found in God’s Word . . .