Who Am I?

Our church (http://www.thecitylifechurch.com/) is in a sermon series entitled "Passing The Test." We are exploring 1 John and it's hard hitting message of what is necessary to be certain of our eternal life. John not only says that we can know but that we should know, meaning that the consequences are just too great to settle for anything other than certainty. Are you certain? Read 1 John and check out the pod casts of the sermon series, beginning with the first Sunday in April.

According the Expositor's Bible Commentary, 1 John was probably a circular letter to the seven churches that would today be in modern Turkey over which he had apostolic authority, rather, under his supervision. Clearly, from the letter, people had begun to lose sight of the breadth of evidences necessary to be certain of their adoption into the family of God or what is also spoken of as eternal life. I believe one could categorize 1 John into four tests, resulting in determining the certainty of one's eternal life: the test of believing, the test of obeying, the test of loving, and the test of experiencing.

Many people I talk with think that the test of believing is the only one that matters, referencing John 3:16 or Romans 10:9,10; however, I always point out that the gospel of John and the epistle of Romans are not the only two books of the Bible. There are 66, not two. Our beliefs must always find the voice of the full counsel of scripture. 1 John, in my opinion, adds to the test of believing. And I would argue that John in his gospel and Paul in writing Romans only and always intended their readers to understand that believing necessitated life transformation, belief that would change the way we live. 1 John is an exhortation what that change should look like.

In the first part of our sermon on The Test of Obeying, we talked about how we tend to understand the answer to this blogs title question, Who Am I, by considering all our many life roles, passions, personal history, etc. We used the illustration of a library that has scores of collections. Our lives are a collection of various identity giving experiences. Unfortunately, our life as a devoted follower of Jesus becomes a part of "our collection" rather than being what houses all the rest of who we are. For example, instead of my being a father, brother, Jesus follower, neighbor, sporting clay shooter...I should see myself as a Christian father, Christian brother, Christian neighbor, Christian sporting clay shooter, etc. We are not supposed to compartmentalize our Christianity but rather allow our Christianity to compartmentalize us.

What does this have to do with obedience you ask? What got me thinking about this was a question someone asked me recently when we were talking about the do's and don'ts of Christians. You know, is it right to listen to secular music, is it right to watch R rated movies...you know the drill. Of course we talked about the difference between absolutes, matters of conscience, and forgoing liberties and where each of the issues we discussed properly fall. We talked too about how even among committed Christians, we will tend to categorize things differently in those three groupings.

But in the end, what I began to realize, was that our identity ultimately determines how we categorize "things" within those three categories. Meaning, that if I see myself first and foremost as a child of The Living God, a devoted follower of Jesus Christ, it just changes the way I think, act, feel, etc. not just about issues of right and wrong but everything in life. It reminded me that identity is one of those foundational questions we must understand, answer. It is our anchor in life, our foundation. And that many Christians categorize the do's and don'ts with such a wide variation because many Christians have compartmentalized their faith instead of being compartmentalized by their Christianity.

So, back to my conversation I was having...I shared that I had chosen to abstain from the use of any alcohol or tobacco because I felt that my doing so would cause others who knew me to be a pastor to have a hard time, and for some possibly even question their own faith. I could see people being surprised to learn, if I did, that I used alcohol and tobacco and question my sincerity to my calling...which is what forgoing a liberty is all about, giving something up you may feel at liberty to do but forgo because of the possible negative impact on others. The question was then posed to me, "Well, what if you were on a deserted island and there was no possible way for anyone to know?" I said, "Well hell, I'd cuss, drink, and smoke cigars!" Just kidding! I said no, not even then.

This is what I'm learning about being a devoted follower of Jesus, a child of The Living God. Where I am should never determine who I am, rather who I am should only and always dictate what I do wherever I might be.

Know who you are and you'll find that many of the other questions you are facing aren't quite so perplexing anymore, especially if you are child of The Living God, a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. If you are not certain about that, then read 1 John and listen to our sermon series Passing The Test!

Pastor Fred Michaux