Identity Crisis

1 Peter 2:9-12 Have you ever experienced an identity crisis? You might ask why this question. I believe that most people have experienced an identity crisis or they will experience one in their life. What is an identity crisis? It is “a psychological state or condition of disorientation and role confusion occurring especially in adolescents as a result of conflicting pressures and expectations” (American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition [Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1982], 639). Identity crisis is experienced by adolescents because there are many changes in the body, mind, and emotions at this stage of development. These noticeable changes are accompanied by role changes and new expectations of self and others. As we go through life we may experience changes that causes stress and pressures, and we may begin to question who we really are. When I went through a divorce I experienced an identity crisis. I will not go into details, but I can tell you that one night as I sat alone in my new apartment I asked myself this question: “Who are you?” At some point I claimed my identity as a Myles child. My marriage may have failed, but I was not a failure. I was born into a long line of Christian folks who put their faith in God and overcome hardships, trials, and tribulations. I still have hardships, trials, and tribulations, but I do not suffer from an identity crisis. I know that I am a Myles child, and I am a child of God. However, as I observe people in the churches and hear what they say I am convinced that many suffer from an identity crisis. What do I mean? People who do not know who they are and do not understand themselves can easily become a victim of identity crisis. In the secular world we are told that some people have low self esteem. The world has various philosophies, theories, and methods for helping to elevate a person’s self esteem. People need to feel good and have a sense of hope. They need to have a sense of self worth. However, the bible never talks about having self esteem. Self esteem is not something that the scriptures tell the people of God to ascribe to. Rather, the people of God are to identify themselves with God. God is their Father (parent) and His Son Jesus is their role model. Christians are to look up to Jesus and model His character and behavior. They are to expect to go through the same things that Jesus went through and to do the same things that Jesus did. Since we cannot do this on our own strength, God gives the believer the Holy Spirit to help His people know him and to live according to His expectations of them. The prophet Isaiah is an example. Isaiah was a prophet during the “reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah” (Isa. 1:1, NASB).In Isaiah 6 we read that when king Uzziah dies Isaiah experiences a great crisis of loss in his life. Isaiah has a vision of God in His majesty. Isaiah comes to understand God more fully, and he comes to understand himself more clearly. Uzziah is no longer his role model that he is to look up to. His hope does not die because Uzziah is dead. Isaiah sees who he is in relationship to God. God gives Isaiah an assignment which he carries out faithfully for the rest of his life. We too look for human role models and successful people to inspire us. That is okay in the secular world, but do these people give us an identity with God and our savior Jesus Christ? Isaiah has an experience in which he sees God and comes to know God according to what God says. Have you experienced God? If you can say yes that is great. If you cannot say yes do not feel condemned. You are not the only one. In fact all of us can know God and His expectations of us. In our text today, Peter is writing to a people who have given their life to Jesus Christ. They believe that Jesus died on the cross to save them from their sins. They believe that their relationship to Jesus and the Father has given them a new lease on life. However, they are being persecuted by their families, friends, and their communities. They are tempted to go back to their old way of life. They begin to think that their old way of life is the way God made them. You see the pressures of persecution, hardships, trials, tribulations which causes suffering and pain makes them want to go back to what is familiar to them. The pressures of life will tempt us to think carnally instead of Godly. The pressures of life will make us question who we really are. The people are being persecuted because of their relationship to Christ. They have tried to change their lifestyle, but their new identity seems to only lead to suffering and pain. They wonder if they are who they think that they are. Are they really Christians? If so, why do they suffer? Peter writes them to give affirmation to their identity in Christ. Church folks know who they are in their families, their communities, and in their churches. The problem is that people do not know who they are in Christ Jesus. Because they do not know who they are in Christ they do not know what Christ expects of them. Now, I have discovered by studying this book that Christians are not who the world says that they are. On the contrary they are quite different from whom the world says that they are. Contrary to the world’s views they are expected to do their best to live a lifestyle that sometimes defy human logic and wisdom, while at the same time bring glory and honor to God. Their lifestyle should be like that of their Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. The world today is telling Christians that they need to fall in line with the world. They need to look at sacred texts other than the bible. They need a modern hermeneutic on the bible. In our churches today preachers are telling the people to be who they really are; to be their authentic self. They can do what they want to do because God made them that way. God is so loving and so kind that His grace covers all sins. We turn our heads and refuse to see sin. Peter writes to these Christians to tell them who they were before they gave their life to Christ. He tells them that they have been made new. They have a new hope in the resurrection of Jesus. As we read through this letter we discover that the moral behavior and ethical expectations of a Christian are different from that of the world. Christians who identify with Jesus are to have a different view about their lives than they had before becoming a Christian. In chapter 1 Peter reminds them of their behavior and expectations in the world, and he reminds them of who they have become. He wants them to embrace their new identity; and that they have been “born again to a living hope through the resurrections of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1:3, NASB). They are to receive an imperishable inheritance that is protected by the power of God (vv. 4-5). Thus, they are to rejoice in spite of being persecuted (vv. 6-7). Today, we are no different from the people that Peter writes to. We think that our salvation sets us free from the troubles of life. We are tempted to cease to making any effort to live a godly life. However, we are reminded that we identify with Jesus Christ, and He suffered and we suffer with Him. As chapter two begins, Peter begins to emphasize the kind of people that they have become. He instructs them to put “aside all malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander” (2:1, NASB). Instead they are to grow in their faith like newborn babies grow. They are no longer dead stones, but they are living stones being used to build a spiritual house. We can say that their new identity gives them a new purpose. In verses nine through twelve Peter tells them who they are and what is expected of them as a believer in Jesus Christ. They are chosen by God to be priest of God. They are holy; set aside by God. We can only come to God because God chose to call us and sanctify us through the blood of Jesus Christ. It is the sacrifice of His blood alone that makes us priest of God. God has called us to be priests because he expects us to make Him known in the world. He has called us out of darkness into His light. The contrast between darkness and light is a contrast between evil and good. It is a contrast of a lack of knowledge of God and knowledge of God. It is a contrast between a life without God and life with God. Thus, Christian’s first priority in ministry is to seek the salvation of all people. Since ministry is meeting the need, we are reminded that one’s relationship to God is a person’s greatest need; including our own needs. Since the world persecuted Jesus, we can expect to be persecuted also when we identify with Jesus. Christians are not immune from life’s hardships, but we have the assurance of an inheritance that will never perish or fade away.