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So this past Friday at Youth Group, I taught the lesson for the week which was on our “Christian Identity.” I led off with an activity where we split up into groups, and each group recieved a group identity that they had to become. The group that was able to most realistically become that new identity was the winner. It was actually pretty funny since the 4 group identities I had picked out were: Pop stars, Rappers, Cheerleaders, and Mimes. I think the Mime group had things the easiest, but Elaine, Eric, Keith, and Marissa did a really good job.

The main passage that I took my lesson from was Daniel 1, where Daniel and his friends are taken to Babylon and basically forced into a new society and culture. Despite being surrounded by new people, new customs, given new names, and being in a completely different society, Daniel and his friends new their Identity. They knew who they were, Children of God. They held firm to their beliefs despite the pressure of those around them. They continued to pray to God, continued to follow his teachings, and they continued to keep their faith in God. Despite the attempts to try and “brainwash” them, they understood and knew their identity.

Many times, we lose sight of what our own identity really is. We get caught up in worldy activities, we go and hang out with non-Christian friends, we go and do things that we really shouldn’t be doing. We do all this while trying to keep a second identity as a Christian, by going to church, youth group, or fellowship group every week. At first, we may think we know what we’re doing and think that we can balance our dual identities, but as time progresses, we will always begin to favor one identity over the other. It says in Romans, that we are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. There’s no inbetween, and there’s no going back and forth. You either live your life for one or the other. In the same way, if we lie to ourselves that with our multiple identities, we will more often than not become slaves to sin. Lost in the world, without a firm identity in Christ.

I ended by telling them about a recent news article I found about the death of one man in Pittsburgh who was such a die hard Steelers fan, that since he knew he was dying due to cancer, he planned it so that at his wake, they would have him seated in a recliner facing a big screen TV that continuously replayed Steelers highlights. This was how he wanted to be remembered after he died, as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. His identity belonged to the Steelers, and he wanted everyone to know that. The title for this post comes from when I was trying to ask everyone “How do you want to be remembered?”, but instead, out came “How do you want to die?” Oops

We can go about our lives pretending to ourselves that we can live with two identities. Pretending to serve God and be a Christian, while really only serving ourselves. Are we rooted firmly in our identity like Daniel was? Despite the circumstances, and his surroundings, Daniel knew who he was, a faithful servant for God, and stood by that. Are we able to do the same?