Finding Our Identity in Christ

The first time that the reader is introduced to Peter and his brother Andrew in the Gospel of Mark Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee (Mark 1:16). And the two brothers were there casting their nets into the water because, as Mark adds, “they were fishermen.” Now fishermen had a bad reputation in those days: they were known to be hard workers, rough in their speech, crude in their mannerisms, and coarse in their treatment of others. In other words, they were a pretty rough and tumble bunch of guys who were known to be really rough around the edges.

But Peter and Andrew “were fishermen.” They were defined by what they did for a living. When people would have seen them they would have thought, “There are Peter and Andrew the fishermen.” Being defined by what a person did as their profession was commonplace in the first century. Jesus’ step-father was Joseph the carpenter. One of Jesus’ disciples, Matthew, was known as Matthew the tax-collector. Later in Mark chapter 6 when people are wondering about the identity of Jesus they will ask, “Isn’t this the carpenter?” identifying even Jesus by His former profession.

The same thing is true today: one of the first questions that a person usually asks when they meet someone new is, “Now what do you do for a living?” These same things define us and serve as our identity: we are engineers, and managers, and pastors, and businessmen, and stay-at-home moms, and teachers. For Peter and Andrew, as well as for us today, part of who they were was drawn from what they did.

But it is not only our career that defines us and gives us a sense of identity, but many other things as well. Some of you may be defined by your successes: wealthy, successful, powerful. Some of you may be defined by your failures: unwed mother, addict, loser. Some of you may be defined by your past: sin, disappointment, abused, tragedy, victim. That is your identity that you feel that you are living with that defines you and who you are. And there are times where you feel that you cannot shake it and that you will always be “that.”

But the thing that Jesus offered to these fishermen and that He offers to us as well is not a change of identity, but the opportunity to find our identity in Him. That we could be defined by Jesus and our relationship with Him and that we could find our identity in Jesus Himself.

Do you remember the ridiculous years of high school where everybody was just trying to fit in with one group or another? If you were a jock you dressed one way and did one group of things and if you were a preppy you dressed another way and had another group of friends and did other activities. Each group had their defining characteristics as everybody was searching for their identity and what was going to define them. There was franticness about fitting in and being accepted and being noticed and being somebody. Unfortunately the ridiculousness of high school did not end there: many people today are still searching for what will define their lives as they look to find their identity and who they are in what they do and what they have. 

So the freeing alternative that Jesus offers is to find our identity in who we are in Jesus. No matter what else I may or may not be, or whatever I may or may not have, I must first and foremost be defined by my relationship with Jesus Christ. Before anything else, before I am a missionary or a husband or a father or a friend or a whatever, I must be defined as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Do not let your past or this world dictate to you who you are. Find your identity in Jesus Christ and let that define you. Because all of those other things may change, but who I am in Jesus will never change. If I can find my identity in Jesus and be satisfied in Jesus then I do not need the latest and greatest things to define who I am. I do not need a huge bank account to make me feel like a real somebody. I will not crave more stuff to impress others. Because I am secure knowing who I am in Jesus Christ.

When that happens I am free to find worth in who I am in Jesus and in nothing else. Peter the fisherman and Andrew the fisherman were about to become Simon Peter and Andrew the followers of Jesus as Jesus said to them, “Follow Me” (Mark 1:17). How sweet and freeing to lose ourselves in Jesus Christ!