Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Lost Identity

Lamentations 1:1-12
I wonder which is more tragic, those who are compelled to give up their identity, the essence of who they are, or those who give it up with no thought or concern. One answer comes from the book of Lamentations. “Judah has gone into exile with suffering and hard servitude;” we read, “she lives now among the nations, and finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress” (Lamentations 1:3). As a result of their sins the people of God have been dispersed into exile. They no longer have a place to call their own. They have been stripped of their identity in many ways.

I’m afraid that too often we are willing to lay down our identity as believers in order to blend in with the world and what it offers us. It’s a fools bargain, a bad deal for us, but we do it anyway. I’m not encouraging sectarianism or isolation or fanaticism on our part. What I am suggesting is that we honor our beliefs, that we participate fully in our religious institutions, that we teach our children to value the tradition in which they are being raised, that we study and pray and discuss and listen and contribute so that the community of faith may offer things to the culture that are worth having: peace and hope and justice and righteousness and truth.

We worry a great deal about identity theft these days. We fear that someone will use our name or our credit cards without our permission. Wouldn’t it be something if our identity as Christians so appealed to others that they were willing to use it as their own? Isn’t that what evangelism is all about? What will it take to get us to that point, where we live the joy of our faith to the fullest?

Prayer: Lord, help us to live our faith in obedience to you so that others may know the love that you alone offer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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