More on Identity

Yesterday's comments included this gem by St. Nikao: "Scripture hints that identity is determined by what we obey..."

At first read I did not really taken in the full power of the statement. As I pondered the words, I was struck by the significance and truth of his assessment. Many years ago there was a made for TV movie called (something like) "Whose Life is it Anyway?" A man, dying of some disease, was arguing that he had the right to terminate his life. In the 1970's many social issues were "debated" in this format. Taboos were broken on the TV screen (like Maude's abortion, or ground breaking shows on sexual morality) to provide a context for people to become more comfortable with non-tradtional morality. Because identity is a funciton of social systems, at least in part, to change the social system is to impact the identities of members of society. The premise of "Whose Life is it Anyway?" is that human beings are self determinative (and not God). There is no law or expectation imposed from outside the individual will of each person.

St. Nikao's point is that we find out who we are by obeying God. I agree. When I generate my own identity I end up creating a mess. I applaud his post because it is a wonderful reminder of that important insight.

Short of monastic isolation or the creation of a self contained community, most of us interact with and are impacted by the world we live in. We live in an atheistic culture. Secularism and Natualism are in the air we breathe. It is hard, even in a church community, to find people more focused on God then on themselves. It is hard, even in a faith community, to find the values of people shaped by Christian dogma/doctrine. So much of what we unreflectively think or value is shaped by a world obedient, not to God, but to human creation. I think another word for a man-made god is an idol.

Who am I? I am God's image and I am God's servant. I will ponder more deeply how that starting place provides a more complete and accurate answer to the question.