Finding our Identity in Christ

April 6, 2021

DAILY READING

Colossians 3:12-17

FIELD NOTES

Because of Easter, we claim a new identity in the Risen Christ.  The Colossians, in this passage, are doing the same thing.  Our identity is no longer primarily in our careers or our roles in our families.  Our identity is in Christ.  

I remember a story about a committee at a seminary that was interviewing prospective students.  The prospective students sat in one building and had to walk through an outside breezeway to get to the interview room.  The interviewing committee placed a man disguised as a beggar in the outside breezeway and had him ask every prospective student that walked by for help.  Furthermore, an interviewing committee member came and got each waiting prospective student ten minutes early and told the interviewing student that she or he was needed “right now.”  In a rush, the students hurried down the breezeway, saw the man who asked for help, and all but one rushed by, nervous and consumed with their forthcoming interviews.  All but one, consumed with the stress and worry of the interview, essentially forgot that they were first Christians, called to clothe themselves in Christ’s love.

This was a bit of a cruel experiment in my opinion, but it’s also a convicting story.  Put in the same situation, I would probably rush by the man in the breezeway as well, more consumed with my hopeful identity as a seminary student and less consumed with my identity as a Christian called to love the least of these.  In fact, I rush past people in need all the time when I drive past men and women begging on my way to work or don’t call the friend who I know needs someone to check in on her.  Our passage today in Colossians, however, calls us to “clothe [ourselves] with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.”  

PRAYER GUIDE

Lord, let us find our identity first in you, the Risen One.  May we be ever mindful of the moments where we need to slow down and be your hands and feet in the world and show your compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience to our neighbor.  Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR THE FIELD

• When people ask you about yourself, do you describe yourself first as a Christian or first as something else?  How do you identify yourself?
• If people looked at your life, do you think they would know you are a Christian?
• How can you better live a life of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience so that people know your identity is found in Christ?

FAMILY FIELD TALK

• What are three things you can do so that your friends know that you want to be like Jesus?