Unbound: Freedom in a Digital WorldSample

In the past few weeks, we have spent a lot of time talking about digital technology and social media. With those thoughts still in our minds, these final five days we're going to focus on our identity. We are going to center around a few thoughts and practices related to how our identity is being formed every day.

There are two different ways that identity is formed. Well, there are hundreds of ways identity is formed in our lives, but they can all be classified under two broad headings: intentional formation and passive formation. Intentional Formation covers all the specific ways that we deliberately create and craft our identity or the deliberate ways others create and craft our identity. For example, Intentional Formation would be the practice of your parents naming you. They gave you your name intentionally and thoughtfully. Then they refer to you specifically by this name. Another example might be choosing to go to church and what church you choose to go to. You pick a church that aligns with certain values and then deliberately continue attending that church in the hope that it is crafting you into a specific type of person.

For many years, I thought that intentional identity formation was the only kind. Our world, for the most part, teaches that you can autonomously create your own identity. So, as Christians, we are responsible for intentionally crafting a Christian identity. In recent years, I have learned that more often than not, our identity is being passively formed. By this, I mean that we are constantly gaining our identity through things that are beyond our deliberate control throughout our day-to-day life. Tomorrow we will talk more specifically about passive identity formation and the cultural myth of identity as something to be discovered. The next day, we will talk about life roles as identity formation, both intentional and passive. The day after that, we will discuss the role of habit as the bridge between intentional and passive identity formation. Then we will talk about how phones have changed the way we are passively formed.

Today, though, we're going to talk briefly now about intentional identity formation and Christ likeness. Paul urges the Colossians to set their hearts and minds on things above, where they will see Christ exalted. In recent years, it has increasingly become en vogue to try and cultivate identity as a Christian through self-exploration. As if the way to grow in Christ is first to focus on ourselves. As a friend told me recently after reading a Christian book about his giftedness, "it was so helpful because it taught me about… me!'

Much of the popularity around enneagram and other personality tests comes from the same place. Certainly they can be helpful. Yet, Paul did not think that identity formation began with self-exploration. For Paul, our identity has been crucified with Christ. To be intentional about our spiritual formation is to look intentionally at the things above. We should look to where Christ is seated. Paul contends that our life, our identity, is located in this place with Christ. He is hiding it away and storing it securely for eternity. We will never truly know who we are until he reappears. In his triumphant return, we will fully realize who we really are in Christ.

Until that time, we intentionally seek identity not by looking within but by looking at Christ. The question is not who am I, but who is Christ? When we look at his life we see truth and grace. We see his forgiveness and faithfulness. We see not only the truest form of who he is but also the truest form of who we are. This is what Paul describes as the new self that is free from the old self. When we look inside of ourselves for identity we find kindness, mercy, and love. Markers of God. Yet, we also see terrible things that Paul describes like anger, rage, malice, filthy language, lust, greed and sexual immorality. That is why we set our hearts instead upon Christ for our own identity.

Practice intentional identity formation today by setting your heart and mind on Christ. Think of one story from Jesus's life. If you don't know one pickup one of the gospels, Matthew Mark Luke or John, and read just one short story from his life. Meditate on this story all day. Meditate on who Jesus is in this story. What is the story teach about the nature of Jesus, what does it teach about his identity? In doing so what does that teach us about our identity?