Abraham Kuyper spoke of our calling as Christians quite often. Kuyper offered a comprehensive approach to the Christian walk that left no room for neutrality. For the Dutch theologian, one always stands before God and every decision—whether to oppose or obey—is made in His presence.
“Whatever man may stand, whatever he may do, to whatever he may apply his hand – in agriculture, in commerce, and in industry, or his mind, in the world of art, and science – he is, in whatsoever it may be, constantly standing before the face of God.”
We are Coram Deo, and although we know what is true and although we know how the story ought to go, we deceive ourselves into thinking that there is better timing than God’s timing or a better way than God’s way. The Book of Proverbs bombard us with similar themes: trust in the Lord, lean not on your own understanding, don’t follow the path of the wicked. Solomon knew our tendency to quarrel with the obvious. We may be tempted to ask, Who wouldn’t do these things? Who wouldn’t follow the ways of a God who created the heavens and the earth? Who wouldn’t wait on the Lord who created time itself?
Doubting the Obvious
But we are prone to self-deception. We often doubt what we know to be true. Therefore, we need to constantly reflect on our identity. Our identity refers to who we are and who we believe ourselves to be. A departure from our identity is often a departure from the Sabbath rest of God’s ways. But our identity is far more complex, which is why we so easily forsake it. Our identity is not formed overnight, but by a variety of factors: parents, self-reflection, abilities, education, associations, close relationships, etc. We don’t form ideas about who we are on our own; it’s formed by everything we do and with whom we engage. All that we experience, know, feel shape us. The question is whether those voices echo Solomon, or whether they are a mix of voices, or whether they are altogether contradictory to the voice of Yahweh.
The Christian needs to get back to the clear foundation that God’s opinion needs to have the final say. God’s imperatives need to overwhelm our doubts and fears and alternative voices. Wherever we may stand, whatever the intellectual or physical endeavor, we need to open our minds to the profound reality that God’s opinion of us is louder and clearer than our opinion of ourselves.
It is God who defines our reality and identity. We only know ourselves in relation to him. Therefore, when we are confused, in a fog; when we don’t have any idea what our next step is, when in humility we present our uncertainties to God, the biblical answer is a glorious one. After all, it’s in acknowledging our doubts that God shows us his ways. It is a good thing—at times—when we feel lost because if we felt overly confident about how to proceed, it is doubtful we would pause to wonder about our identity. It is doubtful we depend on Another.
Identity Tour
After the resurrection, around a fire, Jesus takes Peter in an identity tour. In a previous fire, Peter decided that his path would differ from his Masters’. “I don’t know this man,” he uttered. But now, Jesus takes Peter back to his true identity. Peter is only true in his calling when he allows Jesus to define who he is.
It’s precisely when you don’t know what’s next that God reminds you of your finiteness and directs you to himself who knows all things. Our identity in Christ puts us back in the ways of righteousness.
Our culture has made an idol of knowing all the right answers. We have made an idol of our certainty so that when the first thing goes wrong, we collapse, we crawl into our comfort zone. And that’s why often we hurt so much. We hurt because it is burdensome to define ourselves. It is burdensome to make our paths straight; to sing our own melodies instead of allowing God to sing over us.
So, the lesson of this short essay is for us to remind one another and our children who they are: to text them who they are, to teach them who they are, and to point them to Who identifies who they are. Knowing our identity does not solve all our problems, but at the very least it diminishes our tendency to lean on our own understanding and it puts us back where we belong: in the presence of God.
