Identity & Evangelism
- Who am I?
“Who am I?” This is the question virtually every teen asks themselves. Identity is important in more ways than most could imagine. It isn’t just about a sense of self worth, it is much more. Students gather into groups based on ethnicity, dress, activities, and all kinds of other things in an attempt to fulfill their need for an identity. Everyone wants to belong, they desire a purpose for their own existence or at least a group of people to exist with. Growing up my mom used a phrase with me, it was “guilty by association.” The principal is simple, you are who you hang out with. This certainly has limits, but lets think about this. We tend to act like those we are around. When I travel to the south after a few days I start talking slower, saying “ya all,” and if I am there long enough I might even develop a little bit of an accent. This is especially true for teenagers. They want desperately to be accepted, to belong!!
When it comes to identity, it can be one of the biggest obstacles a person faces in sharing their faith, it can also be their sources of strength. Let me explain. Who we are, and who we identify with isn’t just about self –esteem, it spills over to how we behave and what we believe. This is exactly why Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” The point was clearly not hate, but identity. Jesus knew that a person who found their identity somewhere else would not allow him to be the most influential person in their life.
Think about being in tenth grade. You go to school and you find yourself surrounded by others who love _____________ like you do. They believe in God, but they certainly don’t practice their faith or they believe in a different god. You attend youth group and your youth pastor, or leader tells you that you need to tell others about Jesus. You begin to get excited, but then he says, “let’s start with your friends at school.” When you think about it, when we ask many students to share their faith, we are asking them to abandoned their identity. If they share their faith they might be ostracized by the very people that give them their identity. It is in circumstances like this that identity can be a huge obstacle for evangelism.
This is why it is so important to develop a place where students feel like they belong, a place where they find their identity outside of school, a place where believing Jesus and telling others about Jesus is celebrated. If this is the case and a student begins to find their identity at church and, most importantly, in Christ, their identity becomes their strength. Making a decision to follow Christ is not only about heaven and hell, it is about finding our understanding of who we are and who we were created to be in the God we serve.
Fear of rejection is a symptom of false identity. A closer look at 2 Corinthians 5 helps us to see this:
Versus 1-10
These verses are filled with what is commonly called eternal perspective. Our earthly bodies or tents (as Paul calls them) are not permanent. Ultimately our identity should be based on our relationship to Christ. One day we will lose these bodies and get new ones, and when we do we will be with Jesus. That is the day we should look forward to. Until that day comes, we must realize the purpose we were created for, to please God.
Versus 11-15
Because our identity is found in our citizenship in heaven, our eternal bodies, our never ending, glorified tents given to us by God, our lives are to be lived for Jesus because it is in Jesus that we also died.
Versus 16-21
Though we died in Christ, we were also raised with Him, made new creations, and given the ministry of reconciliation; that is reconciling people to God.
So in this passage seems to be a logical order, first we realize that this life is temporary, then we begin to understand that our focus need to be long term, eternal, then we are free to do the ministry given to us in Christ. So where is identity in this? It’s all over. Our identity is in the eternal not the temporal, rejection on earth is not important because we find love and acceptance in the eternal.
Helping Students think through this
Have students read verse 1-10 and ask these questions:
- What is death? What happens to us when we die?
- One hundred years from now, when we are all no longer among the living, what will be our relationship to our friends?
- If we wer to say that our life here on earth in some ways prepares us for eternity future, what should we be doing with this life?
Have students read verses 11-15
- If we were to think of death as a doorway between what is temporary and what is eternal how should we live now?
- Considering that this life is temporary, and that the next life is eternal, where should we find our identity? Which life should be more important?
Have students read verses 16-21
- What one thing stops you from telling your friends about Jesus? Is it rejection?
- Should we find our identity and self worth in our friends or in Jesus? Why do you think Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”?
- What friend are you going to try and have a conversation about Jesus with this week?
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