When
I preach, teach, and mentor leaders I often bring the message around to mission
and identity. These are the foundation for our discipleship.
Mission
is what I do.
When you are asked, "what do you do?", I'm sure you answer with
your occupation. Now, you could also answer with any number of other
roles you play, i.e. parent, spouse, good neighbor, community activist,
volunteer, youth coach, PTO member, student. However, if you want to
answer with the most important thing you are here on this planet to
"do" the answer is, "I make disciples."
Matthew
28:19-20 tells us that as we're going through life we're to make disciples for
Jesus. In other words all these other occupations are simply our
"going." They're the activities of life but not the mission of
life. As you are going through your life, every occupation offers the
opportunity for you to share your faith and teach others how to follow Jesus.
As you work toward making disciples remember that your mission isn't
exclusively individualistic, it is also a corporate mandate. We should
work together with our family and with Christian friends and we should
especially work together with our church, to lead others to Christ and teach
them to follow Him
Identity
is who I am.
When asked to describe yourself, I'm sure you start with your first and
last name. The answer to this question reveals how a person views
him/herself and how they expect others to view them. You could answer the
identity question with the titles and the accomplishments of your life.
You can also answer with your membership in a group or your ethnicity or
your social group. Some people want to be known as artists, musicians,
doctors, educators, homemakers, politicians, ministers, missionaries, union
members, citizens, Americans, Pro athletes, accountants, gay, straight,
Democrats, Republicans, African Americans, Latinos, Cardinals Fan, etc.
Christians
must remember that our primary identity is found in Christ. Jesus created
you, He redeemed you, He guides and provides for you, and He has a place ready
for you to live in heaven. I must remember that without Jesus I am
nothing and I have nothing. Because of Him all my sins are forgiven. I
don't feel like I'm a perfect person but the fact is that in God's eye's I am
perfect because when He looks at me He sees Christ in me (2 Cor 5:21.) I
am as righteous as Jesus but I certainly couldn't make myself THAT righteous.
In fact, I keep failing and falling short but remarkably I'm righteous
anyway. So, stop thinking of yourself as a failure or a sinner or a
member of a group. He redeemed your soul and gave you everything and in
the process you became His. You belong to Him. So the question
isn't "Who am I?" but, "Who's am I?" My identity is
that I belong the Christ!
2
Questions - How do these truths interact with each other? If the greatest
pupose for my life is to glorify God then, how do these truths help me to do
that?
