Explore the Bible Series for March 18: Boldly Donning a New Identity

Posted: 3/08/07

Explore the Bible Series for March 18

Boldly Donning a New Identity

• 1 Peter 2:1-12

By Kathryn Aragon

First Baptist Church, Duncanville

What happens when someone is endowed with a special purpose or special powers? According to the movies, they become super heroes. According to the Bible, they have become children of God. Let’s take a moment to look at the difference.

Superheroes

Most comic book superheroes have special powers and a calling to use those powers for the good of mankind. Superman has super-human strength among other abilities. Batman has gadgets and gizmos and a commitment to a higher-than-average moral standing. Spiderman can create webs with his spinnerets and can move about with the ease of a spider.

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Each hero must not only learn how to use his gifts, but also when and where they are needed. But one of the earliest lessons they learn is to hide their super-ness. As they user their powers, they begin to realize that the world doesn’t always appreciate goodness and giftedness, so they create an alter-ego, the common every-day personae that prevents people from knowing who they really are.

SuperChristians

Although this works well in the comic books and movies, God has a different plan for His children. When we are born into the kingdom of God, we are endowed with a calling and the gifts necessary to fulfill that calling. This calling has been preserved for us from the beginning of time. As Paul says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

God not only has a purpose for our lives, he also equips us to accomplish that purpose. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul explains that each of us is equipped with different gifts. “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). The giftings are different, but the purpose is the same. We are to use our powers, as the superheroes, for the good of all mankind.

To Hide or Not to Hide

Like the superheroes, we have a special calling and are endowed with special powers. But we also learn, just as the superheroes do, that there are people who are not impressed by our super-ness. They question our faith and belittle our calling, and, in some cases, may even persecute us. So far we are quite a bit like the comic-book superheroes, but that’s where the similarities end.

Comic-book superheroes handle social difficulties by hiding their identity. We, as Christians, are called to do exactly the opposite. Jesus tells us, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden,” and “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14, 16). We are not to hide our identity beneath a common every-day personae. We must flaunt our identity, allowing the world to see our “super suits” and watch us live as superChristians in a common world.

Your Decision Sends a Message

Think about it for a moment. What are superheroes communicating by covering up their true identity. What are we communicating when we act like closet Christians?

Though the world may criticize Christianity, they watch Christians closely. They wear a mask of scorn, but they are actively seeking answers to life’s problems. If a religion or organization offers answers, they want to see evidence that those answers will really work. Christianity offers the answers, so they want to see Christians actively demonstrating that the answers work. This is especially true since the answers we offer are so inconsistent with worldly wisdom.

When we fail to let our light shine, we are communicating that we ourselves don’t really believe in the answers that we offer. In the eyes of a seeking world, we are inconsistent. Logically, if our answers were valid, we would not be ashamed of them. In fact, we would probably be shouting them from a mountaintop. Instead, we hide our supersuits until Sunday morning and take them off again as soon as we get home.

We also demonstrate a lack of commitment, which is inconsistent with the language we use to describe our beliefs. We tell people that we aren’t merely a religion, but a faith. Faith suggests that we don’t doubt the ability of our beliefs to hold us up. Yet we will lay down our beliefs for convenience’s sake or because we feel that “in this instance” there’s a better way. The world is right to say that that’s no faith at all. We have too little commitment to our own beliefs for them to be appealing to people who are looking for lasting answers to real problems.

Not only are we being inconsistent, not only are we communicating a lack of commitment, we are also demonstrating a lack of courage. When Spiderman decides to stop being Spiderman because of the danger is poses to his family and friends, he is saying that he doubts his powers to overcome those dangers. When we try to hide our identity as children of God, we are saying that we doubt God’s ability or desire to protect us from attack.

Flaunting Your Identity Glorifies God

The truth is that God is powerful enough, and He does care enough. But God also has an agenda that spans the full scope of time, an agenda that we can’t possibly understand. Jesus teaches that sometimes bad things happen, not because God isn’t big enough to stop them and not because our sin is so great that He can’t attend to us, but because God’s glory is at the top of His agenda. Even when his friend Lazarus was sick, Jesus did not run to his aid. “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it” (John 11:4).

Like comic-book superheroes, we have been given a calling. Our job is to glorify God through everything we say and do, and to share God’s love with everyone we meet. As simple as this assignment sounds, we all know how difficult it is to live out. That’s why God has equipped us with super powers: the gifts of the Spirit and His fruit.

But our calling is even greater than that of a superhero. We are not called to passively wait for a problem, then jump into a telephone booth where we can put on our supersuit. No, we are called to actively address life’s problems. We are called to wear our supersuit every moment of every day. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” Paul tells us in Romans 12:3. “Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good,—pleasing and perfect will.” Yes, wearing a supersuit day in and day out will attract some attention. But God wants all the attention He can get. And His reward for risking attention is that we will know Him better.

Flaunting Your Identity Is an Act of Worship

Let’s look back at Matthew 5:16, from above: “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” God desires for us to wear our faith openly and unashamedly, and He promised a reward for those who dare to obey. When we openly display our Christian identity, God promises that people will notice. God will receive the glory.

Living a life of faith, then, is an act of worship that brings glory to God. In essence, this is what Peter is saying in 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Today’s lesson is about coming out of the closet and donning our supersuits. It is about daring to be a superChristian in a common world. Christianity, you see, is not a casual commitment. It is a calling to a life-changing relationship with God Almighty. We cannot enter this relationship lightly. We must change.

Peter tells us to rid ourselves “of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind” (1 Peter 2:1). These are not qualities of a superhero, but of a villain. We must be sure that we wear the right supersuit. After all, the world is watching.

We can take to heart Peter’s mandate: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12). Living out our identity as children of God will definitely attract attention. It may even attract some abuse. We must simply remember that our lives have become a spiritual sacrifice, and God is glorified when His children honor Him through obedience and imitation. It’s a high calling, but the world needs to see it. They want superheroes, and they need to see our supersuits.

Discussion Questions

• Have you ever seen someone whose actions don’t line up with his/her words? How does that make you feel? Does inspire you to follow them?

• Are there times when you take off your supersuit? Why?

• Read 1 Peter 2:12. Are your words or your actions more important to your testimony? What kind of impact could you have if your words and your actions always lined up?