Pastor's Note January 2022

What's Your Identity in 2022?
By Pastor Dave

“Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all”

(Colossians 3:11)

I have many identities: husband, father, son, brother, pastor, gardener, hiker, Philly sports fan, resident of Delco, Christian. Which is the most important? How do we make that determination? Right now, the church is facing lots of division. I believe a significant part of the problem is a crisis in identity, or more accurately, a disordering of identity. Consider some of my personal identities listed above. There’s nothing wrong with being a Philly sports fan (roller coaster emotional turmoil aside), but if it becomes more important than being a husband or father, I’m in trouble. If I fill my downtime watching games and obsessing over stats, and spend money needed for my family on tickets and memorabilia, then my identity is disordered. Similarly, gardening is a restorative hobby for me, but God hasn’t called me to be a farmer. If I devote more time to having my hands in the dirt than ministering to the saints at SLPC, my priorities are out of whack.

The division we’re facing in the American Church over politics, vaccines, COVID-19 mitigation, race, and a host of other cultural issues, is the result of individuals allowing their primary identity as Christian to be superseded by lesser identities. Consider the verse from Colossians above. When Christianity broke onto the scene in the Greco-Roman empire, it shattered existing categories and reordered identities. Like today, your cultural heritage, religion, and socio-economic status mattered tremendously. But Christianity sidelined all these other identity labels. What mattered most was to be in Christ, and this meant adoption into a new family with brothers and sisters you formerly would not have associated with. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:14, “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” The gatherings listed in the NT, whether the apostles or leaders in the early church (as in Acts 13:1), describe a formerly disjointed collection of humanity who now comprise a single Body. Previously, Simon the Zealot would be more likely to knife Matthew the tax collector in the street, not spend years traveling around with him! But their individual relationships with Jesus changed everything. Enemies become brothers.

As we enter 2022 with new variants threatening and the midterm elections on the horizon, may God give us the grace to focus on our shared calling as followers of Jesus, heeding his command to love even our enemies (Luke 6:35-36), and to “bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2) that we may “shine as lights in the world” in the “midst of a crooked and twisted generation” (Philippians 2:15) for the glory of God and the increase of his kingdom.

This is our most important identity and is truly the “common thread” that binds us together!

Pastor Dave

*If you’d like to read further about the importance of identity and deepening community to overcome our current divisions, I recommend Them: Why We Hate Each Other -- And How to Heal by PCA Ruling Elder, Ben Sasse (also serving as a US Senator from Nebraska).

If you don’t want to read a whole book, you can watch this Trinity Forum presentation with Senator Sasse and Russell Moore. Although the focus of Sasse's talk is mainly on the impact of the digital revolution, he addresses the danger of embracing identities that shouldn't be primary. His main talk can be found from 9:00-39:00, followed by comments from Russell Moore and concluding with a moderated Q&A session.