Disciples Making Disciples: Christian Identity
We are called to make disciples who make disciples and we use Discipleship Maps to help us live out this calling. These maps explore twelve essential qualities of a disciple who makes disciples.
The fifth essential is Christian Identity. Disciples reflect on their identity in Christ, claiming their baptism and recognizing Jesus as their only comfort in life and in death.
Identity is a hot button issue these days. Identity is our answer to the question: “Who am I?” We spend a lifetime trying to sort this out and if we fail we call it an identity crisis.
For disciples, identity is not primarily shaped by our family, or our race, or our gender, or our occupation or education or marital status or any personal preferences. Our identity is in Christ. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20a).
Christian identity is how God sees us through Jesus Christ. It is God’s answer to a disciple’s question, “Who am I?” Because Christian identity is a divinely proclaimed reality, it supersedes all the other identities and identity markers that a person or a group may have.
This identity shifts the focus from inward to outward, redirecting our purpose from serving ourselves to serving God and others. This dramatic change is made possible only by the work of Jesus. “For by grace you have been saved through faith… For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians. 2:8a, 10).
Because we are God’s “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,” we now live for God and others. While worldly identity defines us according to personal characteristics, Christian identity defines us according to God’s design. It defines us as we truly are meant to be according to God’s Word.
Pastor Kent
Kent Landhuis
Pastor of Teaching & Leadership
