• Protecting Our Christian Identity?
• It Is So Easy To Give Up Who We Are.
• If we want to go to heaven, we must control our identity.
• Christian Identity
• We are told to take pride in who we are, in our identity.
• We’re encouraged to remain true to ourselves, and so we resent it
when others pressure us into changing some aspect of our core identity.
• In fact, the world tells us – and we have become convinced –
that such efforts are about control.
• And sometimes that’s exactly what it’s about.
• Christian Identity
• But not necessarily.
• Sometimes Our Identity can be stolen.
• This causes problems in the real world and puts a financial burden upon
us which we did not ask for.
• This is true in the real world, but it’s also true within Christianity.
• As hard as it is for us to accept, sometimes who we are is not who we
need to be, which means that change is sometimes needful.
• Christian Identity
• Christianity is about change.
• More specifically, when we commit our lives to Christ, we are agreeing
to give up who we are, in one sense, to become who God wants us to be.
• Our new life is no longer about ourselves, Jesus tells us to deny ourselves
(Matthew 16:24),
• and Paul tells us to be “transformed by the renewing of [our minds]”
(Romans 12:2).
• Christian Identity
• Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer
I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh
I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
• Sometimes we tell people to be true to themselves and to follow their
dreams.
• Sometimes we do this without qualification.
• Christian Identity
• Many people will do what they want to do, but to become a Christian means
we must do what God wants us to do.
• If we do not attach the qualifications, we’re sending a dangerous
message.
• Shouldn’t we be true to Christ instead?
• And shouldn’t we be pursuing God’s plan and purpose for our
lives?
• Christian Identity
• Maybe you’re thinking that these two are not mutually exclusive.
• We can be true to ourselves AND to Christ.
• We can have our own dreams while also pursuing God’s plan and purpose.
• To some extent, this is true, but only to the extent that our identity
and our goals are subservient to the will of God.
• Also remember that circumstances and environment have a huge part in who
we become.
• Christian Identity
• It happens when we learn to be happy when we serve God.
• It happens when we get satisfaction from helping others.
• It happens when we feel a sense of pride for sharing the gospel with someone.
• It really matters if they accept and obey the gospel.
• And it happens if we can mentor and teach these people to become more
like Christ.
• Christian Identity
• This doesn’t mean that if you like sports, you have to stop liking
sports.
• Sports have a place in our world.
• We just cannot allow sports to take over our number one goal.
• If you’re an environmentalist, it doesn’t mean you have to
give up your passion for the environment.
• If you want to hug a tree, go ahead and do so.
• But check for ants and other bugs before you do so.
• Christian Identity
• This doesn’t mean that you must start wearing some kind of Christian
costume.
• Certain religious groups wear specific clothing of which the world identifies
them.
• Certain clothing, the way they wear their hair, they way they behave in
public, etc.
• When we are told in Galatians 3:27 that we should put on Christ in our
lives, it does not mean wear it like a garment.
• It means we put it on as a culture of obedience to Christ.
• Christian Identity
• This isn’t about how you do your hair.
• Mohawks and spikes may have a place, but it is usually done to get attention
or express rebellion.
• Even though some hair styles are radical against the norm, some might
question the reasoning for wearing hair in such a provocative way.
• There may not be anything wrong with getting tattoos, but the attitude
and reasons for getting them might be.
• Christian Identity
• This is not about what kind of music you listen to.
• We all know that some music is nothing more than noise, and listening
to foul language or ungodly concepts is something to be avoided.
• What we’re talking about here is an attitude of total, unwavering
self-sacrifice.
• It’s about not being insulted at the mere mention that we may have
to change who we are.
• It’s about not feeling resentful when the gospel convicts us of
changes we do have to make.
• Christian Identity
• It’s about having such trust in God’s wisdom and His plan
for us.
• It’s about loving Him so much because of everything He’s done
for us.
• It’s about the fact that we’re willing to do anything, to
give up anything, to change anything to please Him and glorify Him.
• That’s the attitude we need to have.
• Christian Identity
• If this ”giving up of self” insults, bothers, and angers you
to your core, then the fact is, you do not yet understand biblical Christianity.
• And that’s fine, so long as you recognize the conflict between your
desires and the Scriptures.
• As long as you see a value in following the Scriptures, and do so.
• But you must also be willing to be challenged, to fight the battle, to
press on.
• Christian Identity
• Philippians 3:12-14 “Not that I have already obtained it, or have
already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay old of that for
which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself
as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind
and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize
of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”.
• Christian Identity
• If we truly believe in and trust God, we have to understand that God’s
original design for us is better than the world’s hack of us.
• Christianity is about self-sacrifice,
• Yes – and that attitude is critical – but more importantly,
it’s about achieving our full potential (per God’s original design)
as children of the Almighty Creator of the universe.
• Christian Identity
• When we refuse to give God full control and sway over our lives, we’re
robbing Him.
• But we’re also robbing ourselves.
• And yet the world and sin have stolen you from God and redefined you.
• Sometimes in big ways, sometimes in small ways.
• Oftentimes, who we are is who the world has trained us to be.
• Christian Identity
• Philippians 3:7-8 “But what things were gain to me, these I have
counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of
all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”
• Conclusion
• God made you.
• You are His.
• It is your choice to determine how you are going to live.
• If we want to go to heaven, we must conform to what God wants us to be.
• So do you have a Christian Identity in this world?
• If not, let us help you to get one.
By Carey Scott from an article by Casey Head
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