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Prior
to 2016, if you were a native of
Cleveland, Ohio, involved in a discussion
of sports with a group of new friends,
you received sympathy. The city
is home to three professional sports
franchises—basketball, baseball,
and football. Through 2015, those
teams had gone 147 combined seasons
without a national championship.
Clevelanders selfidentified as losers
when it came to professional sports.
But
that identity changed in 2016. The
Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA basketball
championship! People couldn’t
believe it. The drought was over!
And then—the icing on the cake.
The major league baseball Cleveland
Indians made it to the seventh game
of the 2016 World Series before
being narrowly defeated. So after
149 combined seasons, suddenly Cleveland
was a city of winners.
They
had a new identity—something
not always easy to embrace. In fact,
when the World Series began, The
Wall Street Journal wrote an article
entitled “Success Is Giving
Cleveland an Identity Crisis.”
But the city has embraced its new
identity. Nobody is feeling sorry
for Cleveland and her long-suffering
fans anymore.
We
use the term “identity crisis”
less accurately than we should.
We apply it to anyone who seems
to have lost his or her way in life.
But, clinically speaking, the phrase
was coined (by psychologist Erik
Erikson) to refer to a person who
fails to establish a solid personal
identity in adolescence. That person
then enters adulthood not knowing
who they really are, which can lead
to an identity crisis.
That
clinical definition of “identity
crisis” applies helpfully to
the theme of this month’s Turning
Points magazine. It’s my concern
that many adult Christians came
through the adolescent period of
their spiritual growth without solidifying
their identity according to the
teaching of Christ. That is, Jesus
taught His disciples that there
was one thing that should be the
priority of their lives—one
thing that would instantly identify
them as His followers.
See
if you can select the option that
Jesus said (in John 13:35) should
be the core of His followers’
identity:
A.
“By this, if you belong to
the right political party, all will
know that you are My disciples.”
B.
“By this, if you condemn aggressively
most aspects of your culture, all
will know that you are My disciples.”
C.
“By this, if you retreat into
a holy huddle instead of engaging
with society, all will know that
you are My disciples.”
D.
“By this, if you fail to befriend
your non-Christian neighbors, all
will know that you are My disciples.”
E.
“By this, if you are against
more than you are for, all will
know that you are My disciples.”
F.
“By this, if you have love
for one another, all will know that
you are My disciples.”
I
hope you picked “F.” as
the words of Jesus. But consider
this: If we took a poll of a cross-section
of society’s non- Christians,
which would they pick as the words
of Jesus based on their perception
of the actions and priorities of
most Christians? I fear most would
not pick “F.”
Is
the Church having an identity crisis?
Did we not learn, in our formative
spiritual years, what our identity
as Christians in the world is to
be—people who are known by
how they love one another? We seem
to be known today more for what
we don’t like, what we don’t
believe, and who we can’t vote
for than for being people of love.
I
know—love can require hard
choices and even hard words at times.
But if the world sees us as hard
people more than loving people,
I fear we have lost our identity.
We need to review the teachings
of our youth. We need to remind
ourselves of verses like John 13:35
and John 15:12 in which we are exhorted
to be people of love.
To
that end—in addition to this
month’s Turning Points—you
can hear my Power of Love series
via radio this month and explore
a destination website called Love
Changes Everything. You’ll
find details on both as you explore
this month’s magazine.
Let’s
address our identity crisis! We
need to embrace what Jesus said
so that when the world sees us they
see Him and His love.
Dr.
Jeremiah is the founder of Turning
Point for God, and serves as Senior
Pastor of Shadow Mountain Community
Church in El Cajon, California.
For more information Turning Point
go to www.DavidJeremiah.org
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