The eternal identity crisis

Posted by admin on Oct 22, 2008 in From the Editor | 0 comments

It’s becoming a real problem.

Every year, thousands of transitioning youth enter the world of university, and begin asking that pesky question that has plagued the thinking person for centuries: Who am I?

The ensuing identity crisis has been the woe of many university students faced with the critical thought of academia for the first time. Unfortunately, I think the group that has the most problem answering this question is Christians.

I decided this after I was recently forced (by the unnatural force that many internet web pages hold over me) to read the blog “Stuff Christians Like.” The site, a shameless rip-off of the popular “Stuff White People Like,” lists activities Christians stereotypically enjoy. The self-deprecating, satirical and sometimes serious posts are usually good for a smile of solidarity and a second thought.

It amazed me how many “activities” the blog pointed out that Christians have to distinguish themselves. We label ourselves Christian because we do wear Christian T-shirts (the classic “God’s Gym” instead of “Gold’s Gym” example), we don’t sleep around, we do listen to U2 – and we begin to place our identities in a variable subculture.

Culture is fluid and changing – that is intrinsic to its definition. It is constantly redefined by the people who are part of it. Though Christians assert that they subscribe to an ideology that is eternal, we fall into the same patterns as any other subculture. For example, one generation may believe drinking is wrong, the next says it’s okay and redefines those rules, and the next reverts back to the old tradition or tries to settle in the middle. It’s a constant cultural ebb and flow that Christians are no more immune from than the secular world.

The problem comes when Christians begin to equate their Christianity and the Christian culture with which they associate. We claim to hold truths that are part of something that transcends history and time: something that is universal and outside of culture. Yet we define ourselves and others on standards produced by said culture.

I’m not proposing all group identity found in a specific time and place be disposed of. In many cases, it’s helpful. It can facilitate community, emotional support, be a source of knowledge and a good reference for life. Nor do I advocate a free-for-all lifestyle where no guidelines for life are set because they could or could not change in the future.

What I am saying is that we shouldn’t stake our identity on the aspects of Christian culture which change from country to country and generation to generation. I was no more a Christian in 1994 because I listened to Jars of Clay on my walkman than I am now because I read The Shack in an emergent church. Assuming this will lead to an identity crisis of epic proportions, because one would live in a constant state of redefinition that cannot keep up with the changing tides of culture.

But if we are not defined by what we do, then who are we as Christians? I believe for Christianity to be worth ascribing to, it must be something that is defined outside of malleable standards. Finding our identity as Christians is a matter of who we are: we are saved. Therefore, we live for a God who transcends time, according to a gospel that transcends history and culture. That is the beauty of the unchanging core of the Christian faith.