Thayer Thursday – Who are you?
Chris Thayer is the Director of Discipleship at Good Shepherd Church in Charlotte, NC where he oversees adult life groups and Biblical education. On Thursdays I share his weekly “Thayer’s Thoughts” for small group leaders, which are based on the previous Sunday’s sermon. Click HERE to watch or listen to the accompanying sermon.
If somebody asked you who you are: how would you answer? Most would answer by giving their name. Suppose, however, that this questioner wasn’t satisfied with your name. They want you to give them your identity. What makes you who you are? At this point, we might start to go a little deeper. We might share where we work, our hobbies, our likes, dislikes, or even about our family. We might define ourselves by past experiences, present realities, or future hopes and dreams.
Now, in one sense: all of this is true. Your personality, your past, your hopes, and your family: they all make up who you are. However, what strikes me about 1 Corinthians 6 & 7, and one of our verses from this week’s sermon (7:39) is that Paul radically redefines people’s identity away from themselves and into Christ. In 1 Corinthians 6 & 7, Paul teaches the Corinthian church to see everything through that new identity – the lens of their belonging to Christ. Their situation in life (slave or free, married or unmarried) is not what defines them – but a place for them to live out their true identity: a follower of Christ. Paul shows remarkable leeway in how this is practically lived out – but when people do have a choice in the most intimate relationship a person can have (a spouse): he gives them a command: they must marry a fellow Christ follower. He doesn’t give them any other criteria. He simply says: they must belong to the Lord. When he could have talked about compatibility, romance, attraction, or any of the other plethora of criteria we think of when choosing a spouse he gives them only one. This, of course, doesn’t imply that the others are unimportant or to be ignored. It does, however, (along with the rest of chapters 6 & 7) show that Paul’s primary concern for the Corinthians is that they be rooted in Christ in every possible way they can. That is of the utmost importance.
This is deeply counter-cultural in 21st century America. We live in a culture that tells us to surrender to our impulses, to assume our identity in our possessions, our status, our power, or our sexuality. 1 Corinthians, however, this teaches us that our identity is found in Christ. Every other part of our being must surrender to that reality. When we root our identity (either knowingly or not) in anything other than Christ – we lose our foundation. Everything we do – including choosing our spouses – is inextricably linked with who we are. Our very identity is fundamentally and inextricably linked with Jesus. To live in any way contrary to this reality is the antithesis of what it means to be a Christ follower – to be In Him. The real question for any Christian is not who we are, but whose we are.
Chris Thayer
Categories: Blog, Ministry, New Testament, Thayer Thursday