Identity Crisis

People today are in an identity crisis. I do not mean to say that they are believing themselves to be someone other than they really are, or that they are dissatisfied with who they are, but rather they are forgetting with whom they are identified. It seems people give no thought to the fact that their actions do not affect themselves only. Our every action not only benefit or detract from our own effectiveness, but they impact those who we are identified with.
Almost a month ago now, I remember driving to school in my usual way, and happened to notice a man crossing the street. Now, this is a most common occurrence, but what stood out to me was that he was j-walking across Broadway, a four lanes, highly busy street, carrying political campaign signs. I could not help but wish that the candidate named on the sign lost the election. I had no idea who the candidate was, I did not know what party he stood for or what kind of a person he was, all I knew was that if this was the type of man representing him, I would not want to give him my support.

Another way we fail to recognize how our behavior reflects on others, is that of our parents. How many of us look at the parents when we see a child screaming out of control in a grocery store? Rising through the ranks of high school and now college, it seems true still, that a student who is rebellious and out of control are often the products of a lack for solid parenting.

Exceptions do occur in the rebellious child illustration, which brings me to my third scenario, and those are the students like me. I had life peeled, sliced and ready to go with all the solid preparation and careful parenting my parents provided, but some choose to walk their own way, and let their sin run rampant despite all the checks and balances they may be in place. I shudder to think back at how I reflected on my parents, my church and my school. What a duplicity and hypocrisy! It is sad to say, but the caliber of most institutions today is measured by the lowest common denominator. When running a three-legged race, the slowest person tethered does not run at the pace of the faster partner, but it is the faster that must slow to the pace both can achieve.

In an attempt to wrap this thought together, we impact associations we are tied with. A citizen will reflect on his political party of choice, a child will reflect on his parents whether or not they are at fault, and we a Christians, will reflect on the church of Christ. That is the application I would like to draw, we reflect on the church of Christ, and we will be held accountable for that. We may think that we can live to lives or we may think we can act how we want and that it does not reflect on others, but it does. If we do not attempt to conform to those that we would be identified with, we will only mar the surface, and differ others from wanting to join. In closing I will use one last illustration.

I have recently become a staff member with the One28 ministry. As excited as I am about serving in this way, and as hard as I try, I was confronted by a student one a way of my conversation that was apparently causing my reputation to be tarnished. That would be sad if that reflected only on me, but the fact that it reflects on the ministry then becomes atrocious. I may or may not agree with this student, but it caused me to think long and hard about how it is that I come across to others, or even how I think in general. My actions do not affect me alone. I would encourage all of you to examine how it is that you act, and know that it is not just your life, it is your life as has been trained by the coaches God has placed in your life, and as such, it reflects on those coaches in every way.