Continuing in our series entitled Identity Theft. As you may recall … the fastest growing crime in America is Identity Theft… a means by where who we are is taken by another. But of course our identity is far more than our credit card number or bank account. And in truth… the greatest danger of identity theft is losing who God created us to be. So we are looking at what can steal our ultimate identity… and how to reclaim it.
I want to begin this final part of our time this morning by asking you a question:
Are you successful? And perhaps more importantly…How would you know if you are successful?
As we consider what can steal our ultimate identity… and how to reclaim it… perhaps the most common but complicated of thieves… is SUCCESS.
It’s complicated because it can imply something that is very positive. The problem is that success bears no inherent definition. It is often whatever validates us… whatever offers a sense of significance.
It’s common because there is always plenty of means that we can mine. There are plenty of ways that outward socially notable success can become the definer of identity.
We have diplomas on walls that say I’m smart… trophies that say champion… school polls that declare who is most likely to succeed… whose the king and queen… workplace titles that declare our position. We will fill out forms that place us in income levels, marital status, and work history.
Cars have luxury models. Airlines have first class.
And of course there are plenty of gadgets like phones and PDAs that we might find significance in. Of course none of these things themselves are wrong… they aren’t really anything… which I suppose is the great reality for us to discover… but they represent something that is out there says, “Here it is. Have you reached it?”
Most of us certainly try to do a good job trying to live above it… but deep down it’s hard.
• Parents… just when we seem mature… have kids begin to play on sports teams…(Ex. in Book Identity Theft p. 106 – parents talking to coach calls their child ‘her franchise.’)
• Countercultural… may be the right idea… but often has it’s own cultural symbols of success.
• And while some may seem above or below the fray… often inside one feels the loss of success.
As has often been said…
We end up spending money we don’t have to buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t know or even like.
> God wants us to be successful but He wants us to understand discover what true success is… which will free us from the deceptive pursuits of this world.
The critical issue in life is not that of succeeding but that of knowing what is truly successful.
“Failure is to succeed at something that doesn’t really matter.”
I’ve long recognized the vital truth that
We can work hard to climb ladders only to reach the top and realize they were leaning on the wrong wall.
And I might add that I see the even wider phenomena of so many looking up and assuming that such high climbers are the one’s to follow. After all, those at the top may realize far sooner what is and isn’t there than those below.
How many stories like Howard Hughes and Heath Hedger do we need?
Can we learn from someone at the top before we go climbing the wall?
God has provided one who asked for wisdom… has become a voice calling out from the tops of ladders. Solomon… You may recall that Solomon was a man of massive wealth and power.. who asked God for the gift of wisdom. Along with writing much of the Proverbs… his journal about life’s meaning is The Book of Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes 4:4 (NLT)
“Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.”
We are looking for validation… meaning… and can’t come up with anything more than having more than others. We end up worshipping whatever appears to be the goal. That becomes what we allow to validate us.
It can help us appreciate that when God made known the top ten most important boundaries for our human life,,, he put these two commandments at the very top:
Exodus 20:3-5 (TEV)
3 "Worship no god but me. 4 "Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. 5 Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation.
It speaks to our common cycle.
Image > Idolatry > Identity
An image is taken in of what is worthwhile… what will make us successful.
We start chasing after this image. And the more we allow it to drive us… the more it consumes of us. It becomes a place where all our energies, our time, our affection, our attention, and our resources are set on.
There is a name for this… it’s WORSHIP. When something becomes the defining pursuit… that which we allow to define us and drive us… we are worshipping it. And when we worship anything but God… the Bible calls that idolatry.
The Apprentice – all these passionate ambitious driven lives competing to hear Donald Trump say, “You’re hired.”
They’ve dreamed about it… there’s nothing else they want… they’d do just about anything..”
It’s become their identity.
Image > Idolatry > Identity
Jesus comes to liberate us and lead out of this way of missing what matters. In one particular event in His ministry, Jesus had a brief encounter with a rich young ruler.
Story of the Rich Young Ruler - Luke 18:18-23 (NIV)
“A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 19 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ’Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’" 21 "All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said. 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.”
In this story we find a young ruler who came to Jesus caught in the vicious cycle of success. He was absolutely committed to keeping up his image. You could imagine that he was young, handsome, well-liked and well-dressed. I mean, he was the cover boy for Mediterranean GQ wearing an Abercrombie toga w/ Gucci sandals. I’m sure he power-lunched at the Jerusalem Athletic Club, drove a new chariot, and lived in a big hut. Truth is, by all human appearances, this guy looked like he had life by the tail. He had it all figured out and everyone came to him for answers. People wanted to be with him and people waned to be like him. But in reality he was running on empty. Success had left him wanting more. So when Jesus came to town, the rich young ruler came to Jesus looking for answers to give him peace of mind and heart. We see a man stolen by success.
So he comes to Jesus to ask a big question. What must I do to inherit eternal life?
His question itself is telling – he is asking about inheriting. What do you do to earn an inheritance? Nothing! You cannot earn an inheritance… you are simply granted it… based on your relationship with the giver..
But because this guy is a peak performer, a high achiever in areas ranging from finance to religion… he figures he’s got to do something. “What must I do?”
Runs deep in us. So naturally equate blessing with merit.
God is not like us. There is no performance plan… only a gratitude plan.
So Jesus says… well… you’ve been following the rules… and clicks off a few. But likely no coincidence that Jesus doesn’t mention the first two… the one’s about ‘no other gods’ and ‘no bowing down to images.’ He lists only the outward… the one’s that can reinforce the image.
The young man answers… “All these I’ve kept.. since my youth… you can sense the pride… I’ve got a 4.0… I’m looking good. The truth is that he probably had no clue what was askew. When we are given to an image… we don’t even know who we are.
In the Gospel of Mark… we are told that Jesus looked at this man and loved him.
The issue here wasn’t the guys money in itself. A person can be rich or poor and be lost.
Jesus isn’t saying that salvation is based on our poverty or works. Jesus is saying it’s based on who you give your life to… truly believe and trust in. The call to sell all of his stuff touched a nerve that exposed the condition of his heart. He didn’t trust God for his life, he trusted his stuff.
This guy’s image…his possessions…had stolen his affection, stolen his worship, and stolen his identity. As a result, he walked away from eternity with God for that which will eventually fade away.
It’s a driven search that forever has led to tragedy.
This is what Christ penetrates… our false pursuit of meaning. Luke also records Christ’s poignant words…
Luke 9:25 (NIV)
“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”
Luke 12:15 (NIV)
"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
Jesus invites us into another way of life centered in God. Don’t lose yourself.. your soul… your true identity. Identity is what must get settled before we allow the offers and symbols of success to define us.
We see the intensity of this in the Baptism to temptation:
Luke 3:21-22 (NIV)
21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
Luke 4:1-14 (NIV)
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." 4 Jesus answered, "It is written: ’Man does not live on bread alone.’" 5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours." 8 Jesus answered, "It is written: ’Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’"
Now there are two more temptations of a similar nature… but out of limited time and our intent this morning… let me simply describe that after Jesus holds his ground in all three it concludes…13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. 14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.
If we stand back and see what is unfolding… we can see from our text this morning just how prominent the issue of identity was for our great forerunner, Jesus Christ.
Identity > Intimacy > Image
True success begins with and flows from identity.
The entire prelude to the ministry of Jesus is centered in the settling of identity.
His baptism was identification with God’s people.
Why is water baptism so important? It is important because it is our public identification with Christ. When we go down into the water we are declaring that our old life is over, our old man is dead, we will no longer live according to that old identification.[4] We will now live according to our identity in Christ. Your water baptism gives you a specific point in time to look at in your history and be reminded that the life you know live is defined by your new relationship in Christ. Old things have passed away. You now have an identity which you have been born into. It’s not a status you earned it was feely given to you in Christ. For any of you who have not been baptized as an adult I encourage you to consider confirming your identity in Christ this Easter.
Out of this his Identity is Confirmed from God the Father speaking -: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
Focus with me for a moment upon what the Father said, “You are my Son...” What is the Father doing? He is confirming identity! “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Jesus is unique in that He is the only divine Son of God. There is no other to compare with Him and there never will be. We are partakers of the divine nature but we are not divine and never will be. But having said that let me also say this: every born again believer needs to hear something like this in his spirit from the Father. “You are my child, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” The Father is pleased with us because we are “in Christ”, covered by His precious blood and sanctified by His Spirit. I can think of no better therapy for the human soul than to hear from God, “You are my child, whom I love; with you am well pleased.”
His identity is rooted in eternity… and so is yours…
Ephesians 1:3-5 (MSG)
“How blessed is God! … He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ… Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ.”
Spirit leads him into dessert…which reflects the process of INTIMACY.
God will only have as much of us as we make possible. Jesus set out to center himself… from all other forms of identity… 40 days of prayer and fasting.
Jesus reveals a life that begins with identity and deepens itself through INTIMACY.
For our own good, for our own emotional health and spiritual well being, we need time in our heavenly Father’s lap hearing His words of love and assurance. When we neglect intimacy with God we deprive ourselves of much needed identity affirmation. It’s tragic when we try to get it somewhere else because that is always insufficient. Only God has the ultimate right to tell you who you are. He will connect your identity with family, with local church, with the Body of Christ. But our identity is defined by the Father and by our relationship with Him.
Identity Challenged: The enemy of God comes to steal our identity… and like Christ… he will do it when you are “in the desert.” He will do it when you feel spiritually dry and emotionally depleted. He will question all that God has said and done. He will tell you that it was just you. He has a thousand and one lines to use while questioning your identity.
In Luke 4:3 what are the first words that come out of the Devil’s mouth at Jesus’ temptation? “If you are the Son of God...” Well, of course Jesus is the Son of God. The Father has just declared that at his water baptism. Here we see the prominence of identity issues in this spiritual battle, “If you are the Son of God...”
Verse 5, “The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours." He is offering him an alternative means of significance…another wall to place his ladder. He knows that if he can get Jesus to be drawn away from his true identity… into some other way of goal… he will have totally defeated him. But Jesus wearied as he was… maintains who he is.
And to appreciate the significance… the power of this process…. What follows in coming out of the desert is striking. Immediately enters the synagogue and declares His true identity in His home town… and announces that the Kingdom of God is now at hand.
(Everyone knew that Isaiah 61 passage was a prediction of the Messiah. Jesus was identifying Himself as the promised Messiah.)
How do we discern and develop true success… that which reclaims our true identity?
Let me offer what I find to be 4 inward goals… not quick steps .. but inner goals.
I reclaim my identity from “success” …
1. When my significance is settled in God.
Now I know most of us may know what we are suppose to find significance in. But ask yourself… “What gives my life significance?”… and don’t be afraid to be honest. Very likely we are finding significance in our roles, accomplishments… children (… or not). Acknowledging this can be a way to seek to rise above them.
2. When my ambition is centered simply in His glory.
Was Jesus ambitious? Yes… but never driven… because his ambition was never self centered… never striving… but rather simplified down to bringing glory to God.
Paul would capture the process as that which must lose “selfish ambition”.
It’s never easy to admit selfish ambition… but it’s usually there. When others get attention that you may have desired… how do you feel? What makes you smile… when you get attention/… or when God does?
It is vital to understand that ambition itself is not wrong… in fact it is great.
Ambition itself is a God given gift. Healthy ambition is the desire to exercise one’s influence and impact upon the needs before us.
Someone once said…
“Pride is faith in the idea that God had when he made us. A proud man is conscious of the idea and aspires to realize it. He does not strive towards a happiness or comfort, which may be irrelevant to God’s idea of Him. His success is the idea of God, successfully carried through, and he is in love with his destiny-this is the right kind of pride.”
-Laurie Mahan restating Brad Bailey’s thoughts, Feb. 1983+
Think about that for a second. You’re not here to take up space and suck up air – you’re here because the Creator of the universe wants to work in and through your life for an eternal and abundant purpose. He wants to redeem our lives for something remarkable for His glory.
There is nothing more prestigious than knowing and being used by God. It doesn’t no matter who you are, what you do, or what you’ve done.
3. When faithfulness matters more than success.
SORTY OF CLARENCE JORDAN, KOINONIA FARM
Clarence Jordan was a man of unusual abilities and commitment. He had two Ph.D.s, one
in agriculture and one in Greek and Hebrew. So gifted was he, he could have chosen to
do anything he wanted. He chose to serve the poor. In the 1940s, he founded a farm in
Americus, Georgia, and called it Koinonia Farm. It was a community for poor whites
and poor blacks. As you might guess, such an idea did not go over well in the Deep
South of the ’40s.
Ironically, much of the resistance came from good church people who followed the laws
of segregation as much as the other folk in town. The town people tried everything to
stop Clarence. They tried boycotting him, and slashing workers’ tires when they came
to town. Over and over, for fourteen years, they tried to stop him.
Finally, in 1954, the Ku Klux Klan had enough of Clarence Jordan, so they decided to get
rid of him for once and for all. They came one night with guns and torches and set fire to
every building on Koinonia Farm but Clarence’s home, which they riddled with bullets.
And they chased off all the families except one black family which refused to leave.
Clarence recognized the voices of many of the Klansmen, and, as you might guess, some
of them were church people. Another was the local newspaper’s reporter. The next day,
the reporter came out to see what remained of the farm. The rubble still smoldered and
the land was scorched, but he found Clarence in the field, hoeing and planting. "I heard the awful news," he called to Clarence, "and I came out to do a story on the tragedy of
your farm closing."
Clarence just kept on hoeing and planting. The reporter kept prodding, kept poking,
trying to get a rise from this quietly determined man who seemed to be planting instead
of packing his bags. So, finally, the reporter said in a haughty voice, "Well, Dr. Jordan,
you got two of them Ph.D.s and you’ve put fourteen years into this farm, and there’s
nothing left of it at all. Just how successful do you think you’ve been?"
Clarence stopped hoeing, turned toward the reporter with his penetrating blue eyes,
and said quietly but firmly, "About as successful as the cross. Sir, I don’t think you
understand us. What we are about is not success but faithfulness. We’re staying.
Good day." Beginning that day, Clarence and his companions rebuilt Koinonia and
the farm is still going strong today.
-Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat
Do you find peace in being faithful to what is right regardless of the outcome?
4. When I distinguish greatness from fame.
MARTIN LUTHER KING’S GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT
Not long before his death, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to the congregation at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church:
Martin Luther King Jr. - “If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. Every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize; that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards; that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. I’d like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody.” -
- Citation: William Willimon, Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry, (Abingdon Press, 2002), p. 53+
GREATNESS
“We who sit in history’s bleachers are inclined to confuse fame with greatness. We seem willing to let the press, television, and radio determine whom we shall call great. Prominence, however, is a poor yardstick with which to measure greatness. If one would know the truth he must pull the pedestal out from under the man and see what is left. Many of the men we place on pedestals would stand tall without the pedestal. And many whom we never think of in terms of pedestals deserve the accolade of greatness.”
I invite you to reclaim your identity… to declare that your significance lies in God… that your ambition because Him… and to enjoy becoming great… rather than famous.
(This message was drawn and adapted from Mike Breaux’s “Identity Theft” and others drawing upon it including Joseph Rodgers. There is plenty of fresh thought and development of themes… but much from Mike’s original thoughts and words.)
