Remembering Who We Are
The Little Vagabond by William Blake, ca. 1825.
We recently finished a 6-week sermon series called “You Are.” When we put our faith in Christ, we take on the title of Christian. But if we look to the New Testament there are other titles that are given to refine for us what it means to be a Christian. So, in this series we looked at a few of the titles that we find in the Bible that describe who we are and who we are becoming when we put our faith in the risen Christ and follow him.
Although we have already finished the sermon series, I think it would be extremely useful for us to consider these designations all together.
Disciple. Being a disciple means that we are people who spend our lives apprenticed to our master, Jesus Christ. We are in a growing and learning relationship with him, seeking to absorb all that he taught. But being a disciple is not only about knowing what we believe; it also involves learning a whole new way of being and living in the world. Being a disciple is not a program that we follow, but it’s simply to hear the call of Jesus that comes to us by grace and then to submit our lives to his Lordship and follow him in obedience (Mark 8:34).
Witness. As Jesus’s disciples, we then become the conduits by which Jesus is made known to a world that is lost and that he loves (Acts 1:8). Belief in God’s sovereignty in evangelism should give us enormous freedom and confidence to live out our identity and our calling to be witnesses. Our responsibility is to simply give an answer as we pray for opportunities to share our own experience of the grace of Jesus (Col 4:5-6).
Servant. Jesus came not to be served, but to serve; even to the point of going to the cross. But before he died, Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, revealing to us the heart of God and the heart of the kingdom, and giving an example for us to follow (John 13:14). Being a servant is challenging for us because deep down we want to be recognized or rewarded when we serve. We want to feel that it’s benefiting us in some way. The only way that we will be able to serve sacrificially is to see how Jesus has served us; that’s what will give us the motivation to serve others.
Child. One of the most delightful privileges of the gospel is that God adopts us as his children (Gal 4:7). By faith we become sons and daughters of our heavenly Father. We were once slaves to sin and the law, but in God’s deliberate plan he sent his Son to redeem us and then gave us the Spirit to make our adoption an experiential reality; something that comes within and changes us. We no longer need to act like orphans; rather we can enjoy relating to God as our Father who loves us.
Member. Not only do we belong to God as his child, but we also belong to one another as members of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27). The Scriptures teach us that God has, by the power of the Holy Spirit, given various gifts to his people and that we need to be built up by these varied gifts in order to fully become ourselves. Understanding this helps us to reframe our perspective on empowering the whole body to use their gifts to serve, seeing others as those who bring us wisdom and goodness that we do not have in and of ourselves.
Pilgrim. Lastly, the designation of pilgrim tells us that we are people who spend our lives going somewhere. Our destination is God, and our path for getting there is Jesus Christ, who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:5-6). Abraham and Sarah left everything they knew, searching for a new home, simply based on a hope and a promise from God (Heb 11:9-10). Abraham’s story continues with the people of God who travel with him on this pilgrim journey of faith to the promised land. We are called to live in this world as resident aliens (1 Pet 2:11) who find their true home in Christ and who await their ultimate home in the new creation (Col 3:4).
As a Christian, you also are a disciple, a witness, a servant, a child, a member, and a pilgrim. I hope you will embrace these titles and identities that belong to you in Christ. Which ones resonate with you the most? Which ones do you wish to grow into and live out more fully?