He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Matthew 16:15 Do you know the real you? Are you sure about your role in life? If your answer was “no†to either of these questions, you may be experiencing what experts call an “identity crisisâ€. Someone coined that term because they believed that having an identity crisis was one of the most crucial conflicts people face in their development. Psychologists suggest that an identity crisis is a time of intensive analysis and exploration of different ways of looking at one’s self. According to their research, they have found that those who have made a strong commitment to an identity tend to be happier and healthier than those who have not. According to them people with a status of identity diffusion tend to feel out of place in the world and don’t pursue a sense of identity. They say that exploring different aspects of yourself in the different areas of life, including your role at work, within the family, and in romantic relationships, can help strengthen your personal identity, but the truth of the matter is in today’s rapidly changing world, identity crises are more common than they were in old days. Why, because we have so much more competing for our attention. In this age of advanced communication technology where cell phones, e-mails, and numerous other electronic systems compete for our attention, is it any wonder why there is an identity crisis taking place within our society? Watch this, I did some research and get this, the average employee switches assignments every three minutes and once interrupted they might take nearly half an hour to go back to what they were originally doing. Families and friends find it increasingly difficult to meet face-to-face and even more difficult to do so without interruption or willful multitasking. News segments bombard us with superficially simple pieces of information which causes us to always be looking to find out more. We have essentially been ushered into a world of constant distraction in which reflective thinking and undivided attention has become exceedingly rare. That’s true of everyday society but you wanna know the sad reality? Somewhere between the 1st century and the 21st century we, the Church, have lost our identity too. Listen, there is so much going on in our churches today that no longer are we concerned with understanding the nature of God. We want the blessings of God, but not bad enough to learn about the God OF the blessings. So in essence, the Church is in the midst of an identity crisis, and it’s no wonder. In examining our text, we find that the disciples were locked in an identity crisis. There was some confusion, some uncertainty, some perplexity about who Jesus was and watch this; this confusion took place some 2,000 years ago, but even in today’s society there is confusion over who Jesus is. Theory after theory keeps coming up about who Jesus was. More and more documentaries are being made to discover who Jesus was and practically all of them manage to slip their own agenda into the mix, distorting the identity of Jesus. In fact, it seems that even the Church cannot agree on who Jesus is, which could possibly explain why there are so many different denominations. Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do men say that I am?†Then He turned around and asked them, “Who do you say that I am?†Jesus is still asking us this same question today. The veracity of it is that until you decide for yourself what you are going to do about Jesus, your life will never be settled. Until you answer this most important question, you will never know true satisfaction in life. Until you answer this most important question, you will never know true peace in life. Until you answer this most important question, you will never know joy in life. Until you answer this question, you will be in an identity crisis with yourself. Your life will go from one crisis to the next crisis to the next. Do you know who you are? Word For Today Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. – 1st John 4:15 - The test of Christian attainment is the sign of the cultured soul that can grip the truth, that Jesus is the Son of God. Prophetic Word “My grace is sufficient to see you through this time in your life, for I am in the midst of the pain, the frustration and even now I have declared peace over your life. Trust Me to carry you, because I know what I am doing in your life. I know what it takes to bring you out alright and My promise still remains in that I said I would never leave you nor forsake you. This place that you are in may not be comfortable, but stay right there and watch Me move on your behalf†declares the Lord.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 05:16:43 +0000
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