Imagine this: You get pulled over by the police. As soon as the officer arrives at your door, you suddenly realize you don’t have your wallet with you. You have no way of identifying yourself. As your heart sinks, you realize it doesn’t matter how well you know yourself and how certain you are who you say you are, the police officer can’t and won’t ascertain your identity by your verbal claims of who you are.
I remember being sixteen years old and being so excited to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get my brand-new driving license. Before I went there, I had to be sure I had plenty of identification papers with me so the state of Illinois could properly identify me. I brought along my birth certificate, my social security card, and my parents brought their utility bill for address verification. All of these papers I had with me showed the state I was who I said I was. After all was said and done, I had a brand-new way of verifying I was who I was: my driver’s license with my picture on it. From then on, my license was my main way of proving to others that I was, indeed, Matt.
But while the license may verify my physical identity and has my picture on it, it can’t (and will never be able to) identify WHO I am as a whole being. There are so many ways that we can identify ourselves: our job position, our role in our families (as a parent, child, sibling, spouse, cousin, uncle, aunt, and on and on), our role in our relationships (friend, girlfriend, boyfriend, etc.), and many other factors that I don’t have room to print. The cumulative influence of all of these factors influence how we identify ourselves and how we ultimately view and interact with the world.
One of the biggest identity markers for us should be our Christianity. Is our Christian belief so core to our being as our skin color and body build? Is the knowledge of the saving grace of Jesus Christ as near and dear to us as our name? It was for Paul. Here is just a smattering of how he introduced himself in some of the letters he wrote:
– Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God (Romans 1:1)
– Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God…” (1 Corinthians 1:1)
– Paul, an apostle – sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead (Galatians 1:1)
– Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope (1 Timothy 1:1)
– Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 1:1)
– Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus… (Philemon 1:1)
If you read all of Paul’s letters (Romans through Philemon in the New Testament), you’ll see that’s how he introduces himself to the people he’s writing to. For Paul, being an apostle was so integral to his identity that he COULDN’T identify himself without Christ, without stating what he was called to do, and without what God had done for him. For him, all of those things were tied with his name and who he was. It was his core.
Is that the case for us? Is Christ so ingrained in us that we cannot go a single day without acknowledging that part of ourselves? Do we always identify ourselves as an apostle, understanding that by being an apostle, we are called by Christ to go into the world and make disciples (see Matthew 28:16-20)? Do we realize that in Christ, by the will of God, we have the promise of eternal life? If not, maybe it’s time we start doing so.
I, Matt, am a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle by the will of God the Father. May Your will be done through me.
-Matt
identityMatthewnamePaulworldview
I, State Your Name
November 19, 2009
Calvary
Comments Off on I, State Your Name
Matt
Imagine this: You get pulled over by the police. As soon as the officer arrives at your door, you suddenly realize you don’t have your wallet with you. You have no way of identifying yourself. As your heart sinks, you realize it doesn’t matter how well you know yourself and how certain you are who you say you are, the police officer can’t and won’t ascertain your identity by your verbal claims of who you are.
I remember being sixteen years old and being so excited to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get my brand-new driving license. Before I went there, I had to be sure I had plenty of identification papers with me so the state of Illinois could properly identify me. I brought along my birth certificate, my social security card, and my parents brought their utility bill for address verification. All of these papers I had with me showed the state I was who I said I was. After all was said and done, I had a brand-new way of verifying I was who I was: my driver’s license with my picture on it. From then on, my license was my main way of proving to others that I was, indeed, Matt.
But while the license may verify my physical identity and has my picture on it, it can’t (and will never be able to) identify WHO I am as a whole being. There are so many ways that we can identify ourselves: our job position, our role in our families (as a parent, child, sibling, spouse, cousin, uncle, aunt, and on and on), our role in our relationships (friend, girlfriend, boyfriend, etc.), and many other factors that I don’t have room to print. The cumulative influence of all of these factors influence how we identify ourselves and how we ultimately view and interact with the world.
One of the biggest identity markers for us should be our Christianity. Is our Christian belief so core to our being as our skin color and body build? Is the knowledge of the saving grace of Jesus Christ as near and dear to us as our name? It was for Paul. Here is just a smattering of how he introduced himself in some of the letters he wrote:
– Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God (Romans 1:1)
– Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God…” (1 Corinthians 1:1)
– Paul, an apostle – sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead (Galatians 1:1)
– Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope (1 Timothy 1:1)
– Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 1:1)
– Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus… (Philemon 1:1)
If you read all of Paul’s letters (Romans through Philemon in the New Testament), you’ll see that’s how he introduces himself to the people he’s writing to. For Paul, being an apostle was so integral to his identity that he COULDN’T identify himself without Christ, without stating what he was called to do, and without what God had done for him. For him, all of those things were tied with his name and who he was. It was his core.
Is that the case for us? Is Christ so ingrained in us that we cannot go a single day without acknowledging that part of ourselves? Do we always identify ourselves as an apostle, understanding that by being an apostle, we are called by Christ to go into the world and make disciples (see Matthew 28:16-20)? Do we realize that in Christ, by the will of God, we have the promise of eternal life? If not, maybe it’s time we start doing so.
I, Matt, am a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle by the will of God the Father. May Your will be done through me.
-Matt
Share this:
identityMatthewnamePaulworldview