Hello everyone, time for a worldly monk post which is something I think I have said before in some ways but I am revisiting it. It is about identity and how people always say your identity is in Christ. I just heard a variation on it from a nice person who I like named Jonathan Merritt. Hi Jonathan if you are reading this. Jonathan quoted a famous church person named Henri Nouwen who said there are three lies people tell themselves which is “I am what I do,” “I am what I have,” or “I am what others say I am.”
And I just want to say what I have said before which is this is such a common church teaching that as much as I don’t want to take it for granted, I also see that healthy people do need those other three things. We do express who we are through our lives, through worthwhile activities, through whatever we spend our time and money on, and through the reputation that accumulates as we make our choices and interact with people. And a lot of church leaders who are used to having a lot of meaning and purpose don’t realize that that meaning and purpose are missing for some people, especially women and other people who get crowded out of competition and discrimination. So their message that everyone should just base who they are on God’s love is actually reinforcing the status of people who are missing other totally legitimate “signs of life.”
It's also a tool of people like evangelicals who have to gather their own following. There is justice in that which hasn’t been acknowledged in our society, how these leaders did acquire their own congregations and didn’t just rely on work from other generations. However, often people in their early stages of ministry especially want to encourage people to give up their worldly ambitions and invest in the church. Why? Because they need those people's resources for their own goals. I feel bad for everyone who falls for some of that scheme. A lot of work gets used and cheapened, and over some years people realize they have wasted their time and lost some opportunities.
I made my choices to be more worldly and I stand by whatever losses happen from it. But most of all I stand by my opinion that people need to express their identity in meaningful activities and a fruitful life. And preachers find it all too convenient to make people lose everything instead of increasing what they might have already had to erroneously miss out on.
