The Way of Jesus: Shaped by our Identity

Who are you?

Long before rock band The Who put those three little words to music, people have been wrestling with that question. Who are you? What defines you? Does the answer lie in your career, in your group affiliations, your appearance, achievements, lifestyle, finances, relationships?

Every day we are pressured by our culture’s messages urging us to define our identity with temporal measures like these. That in these things we will find our purpose and meaning. And while it may seem to work for a while, at some point, these measures inevitably fail us. We become disillusioned in the job. We face shifting circumstances, or a relationship disappoints. We experience heartache or failure.

The problem arises in how we think about matters like our achievements or career or relationships. These are gifts from God. Not sources of identity.

When we make them our identity, they end up leaving us empty and disillusioned because they were never meant to be at the center of who we are.

How does the Bible speak about our identity? Let’s start with a look at Jesus’ life to dig into that question a little.

Early in the gospels, we read about the baptism of Jesus. The first three gospels are quite similar in their brief description. It’s the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and Jesus heads out to find John along the shores of the Jordan River, where John is baptizing people. There are several things that could be pointed out in these few verses, but let’s focus on the words Jesus heard as he came up out of the water:

“Just as Jesus was coming up out the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased’” (Mark 1:10-11).

At this point in the gospel narratives, Jesus hasn’t done anything in public ministry. No miracles, no healings, no noteworthy sermons that we read about. But God’s affirming words to Jesus express something that we need to pay attention to.

You are mine. I love you. And I find delight in you.

The words that God spoke to Jesus, express firstly who God is and what God is doing. This is the essential starting place for finding our identity as well. God is our Creator. And that means God gets to define who we are. The first pages of Scripture tell us that we have been made in the image of God, but we are also sinners. The brokenness of sin also means a brokenness in our identity. The incredible news of the gospel is that in Christ we are given a new identity.

“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure” (Ephesians 1:4-5 NLT).

You are a child of God. Through Christ, you are redeemed, forgiven, and accepted. This is who God says you are.

There is no person or thing more secure, more enduring, or more perfect to anchor our identity. Our identity, now found in Jesus Christ and bought with his blood, is something we cannot lose, and it is true of us down to the deepest level of our being.

In God, our identity is eternally fixed and irrevocable.

As followers of Jesus, our identity shapes our calling. When we anchor our identity in who God says we are, then our calling is centrally shaped by who God is and the work that he’s doing in the world. Our calling leads us to participate in God’s kingdom purposes.

It leads us to be the images bearers of God that we were created to be.

This means that we reflect God’s character in ways that bring glory to him, we produce fruit that is in step with the Holy Spirit, we serve and love others, and we tend to God’s created world in ways that highlight his character.

Jesus is the ultimate image bearer of God, perfectly reflecting who God is to the world. Soon after Jesus’ baptism, the gospel writer Luke shares this story of Jesus announcing his calling.

“[Jesus] went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’” (Luke 4:16-21).

Throughout the rest of the gospel stories, we witness Jesus live out his calling, from conversations to miracles to doing life with his disciples. All the way to his death on the cross. Every step, Jesus lived out his calling. It meant loving and serving others and surrendering self-seeking desires. It meant obedience to God. And it meant new life for you and me. For everyone.

You and I are called to follow the way of Jesus—living out of our God-defined identity, into our unique callings in a way that makes this Jesus known and shines a light on God’s glory.

But what does that specifically mean for you? How do you figure out your calling?

When we talk about calling, we simply mean the particular ways that you can love and serve others, inviting them into a relationship with Jesus. It highlights the things that tend to tug at your heart, the things you feel passionate about. It helps you be attuned to ways you can help others see God. It can stem from the gifts and abilities that you develop in your life, and it can arise from hard or painful experiences that have opened your eyes to hardship and pain in the world. And it will be different for every one of us.

When you strive to walk out your calling, you imitate the way of Jesus—but in a way that is unique to how God has interacted with you and expresses himself through you.

So how does God’s redemptive work in your life draw you to his redemptive work in the world around you? What does it look like, in a practical sense, to live your calling in this chapter of your life?

If we want to mature as disciples of Jesus, we need to grapple with these questions, looking for opportunities to obey and join Jesus on his mission of redemption and renewal.

Action Step

Take time to think through what your calling could look like in your current season of life. Use these questions to help you process. What things in this world tend to tug at your heart? What things do you feel passionate about? Is there a specific group that you have a soft spot for? What abilities or gifts can you share with others? What personal experiences have sharpened your focus toward a particular pain in this world?

How would you name your calling in your current season of life? Write it out specifically and be prepared to share.

Here are a few stories to highlight what this might look like. It’s not always big and flashy, and it can look different for everyone. There are so many ways to partner with God and live into his kingdom purposes.

John’s story

John grew up in a large family, the twelfth of fourteen children.  With so many kids around, he often felt that he was not seen or truly known. That experience developed a passion within him for listening to the stories of others, especially those who often also feel unseen.  John loves to visit with elderly folks who are unable to leave their homes. He lets them know he cares for them and is interested in their lives.  He shares that God knows them, loves them, and is always with them.

Marlae’s story

Marlae has loved flowers for as long as she can remember.  She tends a huge garden bursting with blooms.  As a social worker, Marlae also has a tender heart for women who are lonely or frazzled.  She has decided to combine these two passions, inviting small groups of women to come to her home, wander through her beautiful gardens, and learn how to arrange a bouquet of flowers to take home.  She’s seen how women open up and release some of the burdens they are carrying as they spend time enjoying God’s beautiful creation and share some of their lives together in conversation and prayer. 

Ellie and Josh’s story

Ellie and her husband Josh enjoy rock climbing together and have been frequenting a rock-climbing gym. There, they have met several other couples and have begun to build some friendships. Their climbing friends are not believers, so Josh and Ellie have committed to spending more time at the climbing gym, hoping to not only enjoy some great exercise with their new friends, but so they might also have an opportunity to share about Jesus.

Daily Scripture

Read each day’s Scripture passage. Journal any responses you have to what you’ve read.

1 Peter 1:1-2:14 | 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 | Ephesians 4 | 2 Corinthians 5 | 2 Peter 1:1-11

What to do when you meet
with your group:

Begin with a short prayer.

Ask God to open your eyes to his perspective on things. Take turns each week.

Questions.

Begin by discussing how you are loving others.

What opportunities has God given you to love other people through serving, speaking truth in love, or pointing them towards Christ since we last met? How did you respond?

Talk about what God has been stirring in you through your time in the Word.

Share about one of your quiet times in God’s Word. What has God been teaching you and how will you respond?

Questions about section 1.

Identify potential wrong sources of identity in your life. If that is at the center, what mistakenly becomes your calling?

Share what you wrote from the Action Step.

End your time by praying for each other.

Pray for discernment in naming your calling in this season of your life. Pray that you would boldly live into God’s kingdom purposes.