Identity challenges

Transitions like this one back to the USA always have a way of stripping away all of the fluff that we often use to identify ourselves.

Fluff like our jobs, ministry positions, clubs, sports teams, even possessions (cars, houses, recreational machines like boats, motorcycles, quads, etc.)

Having left Slovakia just 2 weeks ago, I have been stripped of:

1. Ministry positions of youth ministry director in our church


2. Elder status in our church


3. Team leader of GEM-YM (Greater Europe Mission’s Youth Ministries)


4. All recreational involvement of any sort - sports, etc.


5. Possessions - sold our car, gave away a ton of stuff (camp materials, books, and more)


6. Packed all of our remaining goods into a 20-foot container (with room to spare I might add) and sent it on an ocean-going ship. So all we possess is what we brought with us on the plane in 7 suitcases


7. And now we are house-sitting for about 5 weeks, then we’ll travel for another 3 or so and finally on August 1st we will move into a house that we’ll call home for at least a year

So, my identity has been stripped down to what it should be: a child of God.

That’s it.

Over 32 years ago, as a new believer in Jesus Christ, I remember coming to a realization: As a child of God, I am simply to know my Savior and daily do what He asks me to do.

At that young age as a follower of Christ, this thought crossed my mind and cemented in my heart the kind of posture I am to have towards my Lord: If He asks me to do nothing but to sit in a puddle on a sidewalk for the rest of my life, that is what I SHOULD do in order to find the deepest fulfillment in my life. The question is, would I do it?

If my identity is truly ONLY in Christ, then it should be no problem for me to do that. If my identity is connected to anything else, I would struggle with that simple and strange request from my Lord. Wouldn’t you?

Thankfully, the Lord has more productive (at least in our eyes it appears more productive) work for us to do. But, really, if that were His command to you, would you be content to do it? I struggle with that myself - and I’m feeling it more now than ever, thanks to the recent transition.