Recently I watched a documentary in which a homosexual man tried to discover why he was gay, the cause of who he was. Whatever your views on the nature/nuture debate it was heart wrenching to watch him ask questions cutting to the core of his identity, not just who am I but why am I; and if the cause can be identified as environmental does that mean I'm not who I think I am??? The science in the programme seemed inconclusive and at times tenuous but it got me thinking about the construction of identity. I'm no psychologist but it seems to me that we may have a 'real' objective identity (who we actually are) which may differ from our 'percieved' identity (who we believe ourselves to be), although the latter may as well be real as it becomes the basis of our decisions and actions. The frightening thing is that a considerable amount of our percieved identity seems to be constructed unwittingly either by ourselves or by forces outside of our control. It is a rare moment of clarity in which a person says to themselves 'this is an opportunity to create myself, now who do I want to be'.
So back then to the idea of a 'real' identity which may exist for each of us whether we recognise it or not. The biblical conception of the human self does seem to suggest that before we shape and are shaped 'we are'. The biblical call to repentance and faith is nothing if not a call to rediscover who we really are, made in God's image, designed to glorify him. But the Bible doesn't just focus on this underlying intrinsic (and quite slippery) sense of self, many of the biblical writers also engage in identity construction; for example Peter in his first epistle takes time to lay out the identity of those he writes to before giving moral instruction hinging on 2:11 'Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.'
For Peter identity is a conscious and deliberate basis for behaviour, and perhaps our Christian faith enables precisely that; open eyes to percieve our real nature and freedom from sin to shape ourselves and our world accordingly.
2 comments:
The only thing disappointing about your blog is that you are no longer writing. I really enjoy your perspective and your willingness to go deeper into issues that most would rather ignore. I will be linking to your blog tomorrow, so check mine out for the link! Thanks for spurring me to a deeper level.
Anna you bless me so much!
I think we can never truly know who we are until we are in a relationship with God, our creator, the author of our lives and the one who designed us!
Society go with the media example, the peer role model the stereotypical because they dont know the truth of who they really are!The enemy tries to deceive them and blur their vision, keeping them as far from truth as possible so as to not allow Gods plan for them to be fulfilled.
I am not trying to portray that I know it all just know that I am his child and heir to his promises!
Thank God for RESTORATION! For his power to heal and open blind eyes and for the testimonies of so many who have been released into their true calling in God. ( Whether they were Homosexual or otherwise)
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