Category: “Because He Lives” series

We Don’t Need to Drag Out Doubt

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(John 21:1-14)

There are certain doubts that are rather easily put to rest with a simple proof. Someone tries to convince you that a certain dessert is spectacular, but when they describe it to you, your face wrinkles up in disgust. Your doubt can be either confirmed or corrected simply by taking a bite of the dessert. You are at lunch with a friend and she is convinced she’s spotted a certain celebrity eating a few tables away. You doubt that it’s actually him. Your doubt can be put to rest by simply asking the individual. Your cousin says he makes a shocking amount of money on some side gig, but he’s always stretched the truth a bit, so you doubt him. He can prove it by showing you the direct deposits or his pay stubs. Some doubts can be rather easily be put to rest. 

Others demand more attention. We often want to see the same magic trick repeated a few times because we don’t believe that what we just saw happen, actually just happened. Someone familiar with a child’s history of bad behavior is likely to doubt that the behavior has suddenly changed overnight; they’d need to see the improved behavior consistently to believe it. If a rookie athlete about whom analysts are skeptical will succeed at the professional level has an outstanding game, a similar effort will need to be repeated with some frequency before analysts are won over. Some doubts require more extensive proof to be put to rest. 

I probably don’t have to ask under which of those two categories a resurrection from the dead would belong. People don’t normally rise from the dead, so when such a claim arises, it’s natural for people to expect to see multiple proofs. And the Jesus who knows us so well is aware that our doubt doesn’t always disappear so easily.

That’s why John’s introductory and closing words in the verses from chapter 21 carry so much weight. Don’t miss them: “Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples…” (v.1). “This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead” (v.15). What does John want us to take away from this account? This Resurrection stuff is not made up! Jesus had risen and appeared – and more than just once, you doubters! It’s the real deal, and Jesus went out of his way to make sure that was known by appearing on multiple occasions.

The Sunday after Easter always has the account of doubting Thomas as the reading for the Gospel (cf. John 20). Jesus appeared to the disciples in the locked upper room, but since Thomas wasn’t there to experience it the first time, he doubted Jesus had actually risen. So Jesus showed up a week later to the disciples again and who is there that time, but Thomas. Then – after seeing with his own eyes – the doubts erode and his confidence is boosted. Jesus didn’t show up to shame Thomas; he showed up because he wants to be found so that doubts can be put to rest.

Isn’t how Jesus still operates? He wants to be found. Do you hear that? Jesus wants to be found! How could we draw any other conclusion today? He hasn’t left it up to chance, basing Christianity on some spiritual experience that a person needs to seek out in hopes of finding him. He gives us his Word, where we can read, study, and learn about him for a lifetime. He has given us the visible sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, where the power of that Word can be seen at work.

And where is all of this done? We have churches, physical buildings all over the earth, built to facilitate the proclamation and teaching of Word and Sacrament in order to make him known and visible. We have believers, who make him known through the way we radically love others and allow his compassionate grace and forgiveness to be experienced through us. Jesus wants to be found. Why? To put doubts to rest. 

Perhaps in the past the church went too far on this matter of doubt. It seems to me that there have been too many stories from childhoods and upbringings in church where anyone who doubted was chastised for not having a stronger faith or being a more confident Christian. Sure, in some cases, that may have been more a matter of perception on the receiving end of some tender, guilty, conscience, than it was the message that was actually communicated. But I am also sure that there have been any number of times when any doubt was too firmly denounced as being incompatible with saving faith. That may have been overstating the case and going too far.

If we’re willing to look back and acknowledge that fault on the part of the church, then let’s also be willing to acknowledge the possibility that in the present day, we have may gone too far the other way. Have we given the impression that some measure of doubt is a good sign?

While I believe the intent behind that message is good (for example, when a believer reassures a fellow doubting believer that doubts are actually good, because they are evidence of faith, since no unbeliever would be concerned about any doubts), it may be contributing to an attitude that not only welcomes some measure of doubt, but actually embraces it as being a desirable thing. After all, in our culture, we are now skeptical of everything: science, politics, weather, government, medicine, technology – we have plenty of doubts about all of it, and the general sense is that we’d be silly not to, since none of it can be trusted outright.

What ends up happening then, is that those spiritual doubts lead us to pull back, and when we pull back we also hold back. We aren’t all in. We end up straddling the fence and kind of like the view from there. It’s one thing to have doubts and questions about the Christian faith, but we don’t want them to transition from being temporary guests into permanent residents in our hearts. That’s what happens when we don’t deal with those doubts or address them by seeking the necessary truth and certainty to dispel them. 

This can happen at times because we’re spiritually lazy or apathetic. Or, it can happen because we want to play both sides; we want to dabble a bit in the Christian culture, but also remain “relatable” and “in-touch” with unbelieving friends and acquaintances. But then we speak out of both sides of our mouths. We profess the faith and praise and thank God while around our Christian friends, but then nod in agreement and even freely offer up our own doubts and disbelief about certain teachings when around our unbelieving friends. That’s not being all things to all people as Paul encourages us to do; rather, it is deceiving yourself with a divided heart.

Do not let that attitude creep into your faith, as if a healthy amount of doubt is desirable or to be celebrated when it comes to Christ. Jesus Christ does not want you to doubt; he wants to be found so that your doubts can be laid to rest! Jesus Christ did not come to create doubt, but to crush it.

We want to have the same confidence the disciples did as Jesus appeared this third time to them. “None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord” (v.12). We don’t want to be wrestling with the question of who Jesus is, but rather knowing that he is the Savior.

What happens when we deal with doubt and by addressing it, refuse to let it linger? We’re all in! What does that look like? Remember the apostles being thrown in the slammer and threatened, only to be released to point others to Jesus with as much zeal as ever?!? That kind of passion, that “all-in” attitude doesn’t exist while doubts are hanging around!

What does that look like? It looks like Peter, when the lightbulb went on and he realized who it was on the shore. “Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water” (v.7). Peter was literally all-in. Refusing to wait for the slow fish-towing boat to make it to shore, he dove into the water to swim and scramble his way to the shore and sprint to his Savior.

What would it look like today if we were deliberate about dealing with doubt? We’d have a lot more men engaged and active in the mission of the church, leading their marriages, their families, and their homes, instead of deferring that responsibility – the biggest one we have as men, mind you – to their wives.

If you disagree, just wait until Mother’s Day and then about a month after that and you’ll see. Why is Mother’s Day one of the most well-attended Sundays of the year? Because moms want their husbands and kids to come to church with them. In stark contrast, why is Father’s Day often one of the lowest-attended Sundays of the year? Because dads want to skip church to do something either by themselves or fun with the family. What’s wrong with that picture? 

More importantly, how do we fix it? We don’t. Jesus does. The same Jesus who appeared to his disciples again and again to put their doubts to rest. He had truly risen. He didn’t want half-hearted disciples, constantly questioning their cause. They needed to be sure. They needed to be all-in. So he showed up for them again and again.

In the activity of the early Christian church, we see the direct result of Jesus’ multiple resurrection appearances reflected in the preaching and teaching recorded in Acts. Again and again they point to the Resurrection. They don’t, perhaps as we too often do, stop with “Jesus was crucified and died to pay for your sin,” but rather allow his sacrificial death to serve as the foundation on which the mighty truth of the Resurrection is built. The Christian faith depends on it and also has something to deliver because of it! Jesus rose! Jesus lives! Jesus rules!

He’s still here, showing up again and again. He shows up in churches every Sunday with his Word. He shows up in churches to serve us himself in the Supper. He shows up in churches with an open invitation to become a part of his family through baptism. He shows up in weekly small groups that gather to build deeper connections within the body of Christ through the Word of Christ. He shows up through our hands and feet as we carry out works of service to each other and our community. He is still here, showing up again and again. He wants to be found, for wherever he is found, doubt departs. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Don’t Miss the Mission

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(Acts 5:12, 17-32)

Unless you’re an employee showing up for your shift, when you make a stop at In and Out or Chick-Fil-A, you aren’t there to roll up your sleeves and get to work; you’re there expecting to be served whatever you ordered to eat. When you walk into Home Depot, you aren’t there to seek out customers who look lost and offer to help them find what they’re looking for, or to stock shelves with products; you’re there to grab what you need to start or finish that DIY project at home. The same is true of Target, Aldi, Best Buy, etc. – when we pull into the parking lots of these places, it’s because we’re there to get something that we want or need. We aren’t there to check in and see if they’re short-staffed or need a hand with anything. We’re there as customers, consumers who intend to pay for a product or service, expecting to get what we want. 

And there’s nothing wrong with that at all, as all of these places exist to provide you with a service or product. They want your business – in fact they need your business; they rely on it to stay in business themselves. They know that if they don’t provide the good service or good product you expect, then you’re likely to take your business somewhere else. They know there are plenty of other options you could choose, so they will do what they think they need to in order to keep you as a customer. 

Is it possible that our consumer culture could – or perhaps already has begun to – rub off on churches? More to the point, is it possible for similar expectations to drive the “bottom line” in our own congregations? It could if churches (including yours?) aren’t careful and lose sight of why they exist in the first place.

What we’re talking about could easily be caused by one or both of two things: 1) It could be driven by a consumer mentality of congregation members demanding to be served in the way that a customer expects, and/or 2) it could be driven by a the church leadership holding to a business mindset that is only interested in the bottom line and hitting the numbers to generate as many happy customers as possible. 

So how do we avoid either of these traps? How do we avoid being driven by a consumer mentality that views church as just another place that should be concerned with the customer’s happiness and meeting the customer’s needs as they determine them? How do we avoid becoming a business consumed with the bottom line and doing whatever it takes to get more people in the pew and get bigger and bigger with the goal of… getting bigger and bigger, as if that’s why churches exist?

We remember that as the church, the gathering of believers, we have a very special and specific mission. After the Holy Spirit had been poured out on believers at Pentecost, allowing them to perform miracles, signs, and wonders, “the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail” (v.17-18). The followers of Jesus were getting more attention than the self-righteous religious elite of the day, and they wanted it to stop, so they put them behind bars. But when the church is on mission, God isn’t going to hesitate to intervene and open doors – on this occasion, quite literally! “But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life” (v.19-20). 

The believers were carrying out their mission, and when arrested for it, what did the Lord’s messenger tell them to do as he freed them? There was no pivoting or plan B. His message was, “keep it up! Go right back where you were and tell everyone about the new life you now have in the crucified and resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ!” They were arrested for carrying out their mission, and then were not only directed to keep it up, but to keep it up in precisely the same place that would have put them most at risk – right back on the home turf of the religious leaders! 

But the most shocking part was not what the angel told them to do; it was that they did it! “At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people” (v.21). The apostles did exactly as they had been told! This would be the part of the movie where we cringe when we see something bad happen to the overmatched hero, and rather than taking his lumps and moving on, he gets right back up and after it again! It goes against common sense and wise judgment! There’s a fine line between being fearless and foolish, and it might appear initially that the apostles’ actions are closer to the side of foolish.

To provide context to their actions, let’s contrast the behavior of the apostles in Acts with the actions of the disciples from John’s Gospel. The difference? John records for us that the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked “for fear of the Jewish leaders” (John 20:19). Fear! They had locked themselves in out of fear.

In Acts, though, the very Jewish leaders they feared had indeed carried out exactly what the disciples were afraid of and put them in jail. But there was no fear! No hesitation. No trepidation. Why? What had changed?

Yes, some time had passed between that first night on the day of Jesus’ Resurrection and the early church after Pentecost, at least a couple of months. Nevertheless, self-imposed hiding behind locked doors versus breaking out of the very jail you once feared, to engage in the same behavior that put you there in the first place – that’s a pretty drastic change! What accounts for it?

They had been giving a mission, and a special one at that – a mission given to them by a guy who died and then came alive again! This was not your garden-variety mission by any means!

Neither is ours, for it is the same. We have been given a mission by a guy who died and came alive again! Is that any less impressive simply because more time has passed since the day it originally took place? It’s so easy to forget, isn’t it, even with Easter having taken place so recently – we worship someone who died and then came back to life!

If you heard a similar story today of someone being put to death and then buried – all with plenty of eyewitnesses – only to hear that he came back to life, the story would be everywhere! Every major news outlet would be running related stories 24/7 and social media would be blowing up over it. We wouldn’t be able to stop talking about it!

So why is it so easy to stop talking about the most prominent dead guy to ever come alive again? Because we assume people won’t believe us? That wouldn’t shut us up if something similar happened today, so why should it shut us up just because it happened over 2,000 years ago?

Some would say it’s because the church has neglected its focus on evangelism. Such a conclusion is the opinion of many who study church culture and metrics. They would say that one of the biggest struggles the church faces today is in the area of evangelism. Churches don’t prioritize it like they should. Members either aren’t equipped to evangelize or aren’t empowered or impassioned to do so. Might that be the case here? That’s probably a question for you to answer. 

Why are your church? Is it just the religious version of In and Out or Chik-Fil-A  – you’re there because it appeals to your personal preferences and does church the way you like it? Are you there as a customer to be served, or because you’re on a mission, looking to be serving others? Speaking of mission, do you know what your church’s mission or tag line is?

Ours is Seeking the Lost, Serving the Found. Notice what isn’t included there: Show up sometimes on Sundays when it’s not inconvenient and you’re good to go.

Obviously, Sunday morning worship is the heartbeat of what the church does – it is hugely important! But, just as a body has so many other essential and necessary functions than just the heart beating, so the church also has so much more going on than Sunday morning worship. Sunday morning worship isn’t the finish line to cross each week; it’s the starting blocks, where we position ourselves to get the best possible start to carrying out our mission each week!

To imagine it any other way is to not only redefine what church membership means and what the church’s mission is, but to blatantly disobey what God has commanded us to do as believers. It really is that simple. When the apostles were set free from jail, they were told what to do and they obeyed. Later on, as they found themselves in trouble once again for carrying out their mission, what was their response? “Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!” (v.29). They were obeying what God had told them to do. 

When we entirely disregard or are indifferent to what we have been commanded to do as believers, we are disobeying God’s direct orders and failing to carry out the mission he’s given us. And where does that leave us? It drags us back to Calvary yet again, prior to the empty tomb, right back to where we are forced to face the painful reality of our rebellious disregard of Jesus’ mission for his church. There, plain as day, as I scan the endless list of all my other sins for which my Savior was crucified, it is listed: disinterested, disobedient disregard for the very mission for which Jesus gave up his life.

And I am then instantly reminded of why I need to return here to this place – to church – as often as possible. Here I see the cross front and center, yes – but also to witness the white of Easter, the embrace the confidence of the empty tomb, to remember that the Resurrection means I am redeemed and restored from my rebellion. The very mission of Christ’s church that I so often think so little of is his mission to me, too, for I need to hear of my forgiveness. I need his grace. I need to be assured yet another week that no, God has not and will not forsake me, even in my most stubborn moments. So I need to hear his mission to me to renew the zeal of his mission for me. 

Starbucks used to want to be the “third place.” After home and work, they set out to be the third place people would gather at to spend time. A number of factors, like the convenience of mobile orders, led them to change their business model. Once they realized how quickly they could churn out more drinks and serve more customers, they were less interested in a cozy, welcoming lobby, and more interested in volume and speed: more drinks, faster drinks, would mean increased profit margins.

Meanwhile, as local coffee shops continued to pop up nearby, providing the comfortable make-yourself-at-home vibe that Starbucks used to be known for, and having baristas that got to know their customers, Starbucks had some serious competition. Suddenly, the short-term boom in business sort of popped like a pin-pricked balloon. For that reason, you may have noticed recent efforts to restore that “third place” culture that they first became known for. The tables and chairs that were removed from the lobbies, leaving them eerily vacant and open, have been returning. Free refills are being offered to encourage customers to hang around and linger for a bit while sipping their beverage.

So what happened? Some would say that they became more concerned about satisfying shareholders than caring for their customers. They lost sight of their mission.

May we never lose sight of ours. May we never lose sight of the mission Jesus gave us to carry out together. May we never miss out on our mission together, so that others don’t miss out on meeting the same loving Savior we know and love, Jesus Christ. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Identity Gift

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(John 20:1-18)

It cost anywhere from $20-50 billion last year (depending on how cases are classified) and impacts multi-millions of people. Identity theft is serious problem. Its attempts are also so common that most of us can filter out the spam emails or even texts as soon as they hit our inbox or phone. For those who have fallen victim to identity theft, though, it’s not just a financial burden they face. There is the emotional stress of not knowing what someone who is pretending to be us may be trying to get away with, or what other personal information of ours they may have access to. Then there’s also the painstaking process of having to cancel this card or re-issue that I.D. to essentially start all over again with establishing your identity. Victims of identity theft face big challenges!

Maybe you’ve personally experienced identity theft; maybe you haven’t. But I am quite certain you’ve experienced what we might call identity “uncertainty.” Maybe you’re even going through it right now. What causes identity uncertainty? Any number of three significant scenarios might trigger it: a significant shift, shock, or shame/success.

We all experience significant shifts. A high school graduate is indecisive and overwhelmed by all the considerations for the next phase of life. New parents have to adjust to the shift of splitting their time from just between each other to now a new member of the family. Or, the other side of that shift back to being empty nesters can its own challenge. An occupational change that disrupts the workplace identity others have associated you with for so long is also a significant shift. Such shifts find you at a crossroad – now who are you?

The identity uncertainty could also be the result of significant shock. You experienced abuse or assault recently or a long time ago that still shapes how you see yourself and/or how you think others see you. A traumatic event or injury robs you of a unique trait or ability that has permanently altered how you function. The absence of a spouse means the two who became one has now unexpectedly morphed into a much lonelier one. Now who are you?

We might be going through identity uncertainty as a result of our own significant shame or success. It may have started at a very young age, possibly pushed or pressured by parents in specific direction academically or athletically. As a result, you either burned out or failed to excel after a certain level and don’t know who you are anymore. Or it could work the opposite way – you achieved a level of success that came so fast that you became ungrounded and forgot who you were.

Or, in your young adult life you accomplished something spectacular that brought about your fifteen minutes of fame, which then quickly fade and leave you scrambling to achieve something similar ever since. Or instead of fifteen minutes of fame, it was fifteen minutes of shame as a result of some past humiliating act or even a crime. Maybe you were the golden boy or darling at work who could do no wrong, nailing everything that came your way, until a new boss came along and made it a point to be unimpressed by your efforts. Now who are you? 

So, whether it’s caused by a significant shift, shock, or shame/success, how do we address “identity uncertainty?” The advice that often seems to make the most sense is also some of the worst: take a good hard look at yourself or go on a journey of self-discovery to really find yourself; find out who you are by focusing more on you.

But if you follow that advice, it’s like trying to get from point A to point B only by staring at your feet the whole time. You’ll just spend the rest of your life correcting every time you realize you veered off course. You pursue a different identity only to be left unsatisfied or uncertain. You will remain on an endless chase, always coming back to the same struggle of who you really are.

If you want to know who you are, there’s a better place to start rather than looking at yourself. Start by looking in the Bible, specifically in the Gospel of John.

One of the themes of John’s Gospel is to make sure of what we’re looking at. Or better, “who” we’re looking at: Jesus. John he provides this direction to us as one with firsthand experience. In the first chapter he states, “We have seen His glory” (John 1:14). He didn’t say that he had heard about it from someone else or that he speculated or pondered what it would be like, but that he saw it with his own eyes. John saw God’s glory in Christ.

He highlights what he sees again later in that same chapter when, pointing to Jesus, he says, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn. 1:29). Later, when Philip encourages Nathanael to find out more, he invites him to come and see. The Samaritan woman at the well does the same thing, pleading for the people in town to come and see the Jesus who told her things about herself that no one else knew. Seeing Jesus is a common theme in John.

Now, on Easter morning, Mary expected to continue that theme of John and go see the body of Jesus. Only, when she arrives, she sees something else: the stone is rolled away and the tomb is empty. Her fear swells. She runs to inform Peter and John and then returns back to the tomb. Then, after the angels attempt to ease her fears, distraught, she turns around and… sees Jesus!

Only… she doesn’t see him. She doesn’t know it’s Jesus. “At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him” (John 20:14-15). Mary saw Jesus, but she didn’t really see him.

That can be the case for many people, sadly. They can look right at Jesus and not recognize him. They don’t see him for who he is. They might as well be blind. Let’s be honest. We all suffer from some kind of blindness. It may be that the pile of sin that I’ve accumulated over my life appears to me to be too big for me to see Jesus. Perhaps I can’t see Jesus because I don’t trust him to actually make a difference in my “real-life” problems that need fixing. We can even attend church occasionally, speak the words and sing the songs, and still never see Jesus.

When did it all change for Mary? When did she see Jesus? She didn’t give up. She continued to look at Jesus and listen to him. And finally she recognized his soothing, saving voice. Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). (v. 16). She knew this was not a fluke or apparition, for she raced back to the disciples and burst out the words, “I have seen the Lord” (v. 18). 

Speaking of the disciples, did you catch the message Jesus asked Mary to relay to them? “Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’” (v.17). Jesus hadn’t called them that previously! This was new. Now, post-resurrection, they were “my brothers.” Jesus called them brothers! They had a new identity! The Resurrection had changed their relationship with Jesus! They were someone new!

So was Mary. This Mary is mentioned along with others as having accompanied and supported Jesus during his ministry. She was present at his crucifixion. Since Mary was a common name, and there were other Marys involved in Jesus’ life and ministry, this Mary is identified by Magdala, the seaside village from which she came. But it’s hard to imagine that any of these things carried as much weight regarding Mary Magdalene’s identity as another detail that the Gospel of Luke brings to light: this Mary had been possessed by seven demons, and Jesus had healed her. I can’t even imagine what that must have been like, and so I can’t imagine her really being identified by anything else more significant.

Until now. Now, she was not just the woman who had been possessed by seven demons. Now, she was the first one to lay eyes on the resurrected Jesus! Her identity had changed! She was someone new, made so by the Resurrection!

So are you. The Resurrection has changed your identity. Your identity is not determined by some significant shift or shock in your life, nor by some shame or success, but by your Savior. Your past doesn’t define you. Your sin doesn’t define you – how can it when it’s been forgiven and paid for?!? Your shame doesn’t define you – how can it when it’s been removed and cancelled along with your sin?!? None of that determines your identity; Jesus does.

In the book of Colossians, Paul wrote, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:3-4). When we see Jesus by faith, what we were, who we were, died. Now we are in Christ, hidden and unable to see he full glory that is ours until he returns on the last day, yes, but we are no less in him! Paul even writes that Christ “is your life.” That’s who I am now! That’s who you are! We are “Christ’s.” We are Christians. That is more than just one of many labels we attach to ourselves; it is who we are over and above every other label. I am a God’s child. I am a Christian. That is my identity. The Resurrection guarantees it!

Now what? What do we do we this new identity? Now where do we look? “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:1-3). You still look at Jesus, only you look up at him, where he is seated at the right hand of God. And we heed the encouragement to set both our hearts and our minds on things above.

Why both? They work together. Your heart reflects what you desire. Your mind reflects what you think about and give your attention to. Like it or not, the two work together. So I cannot claim to desire something that I rarely or never think about. And, if I rarely or never think about something, then I won’t ever really desire it, either. On the other hand, whatever consumes or takes up most of my thoughts and attention – that is the thing I desire. 

So an addict desires the next fix – why? Because that’s all the addict thinks about all day long. And when that’s all one thinks about all day long, that is what a person desires. The two – heart and mind – work together. And this can be an extremely destructive thing. 

Or, it can be an extremely positive and powerful thing. For the believer with a new resurrection identity, it can be an extremely powerful thing. My new life in Christ doesn’t just mean that I think about Jesus once in a while, maybe when everyone else in my family goes to church. It doesn’t mean I can legitimately claim to desire Christ… if he is never more than a passing thought in my life. 

No, when both the heart and the mind are focused on Christ, my true identity in Christ begins to take shape. So I can believe what Christ says about me, that in him I am new, I am his, I belong to him. But if I am to experience that to the fullest, it means the new me focuses both heart and mind on Christ. I desire more of him, and I think of him more, and the more I think of him, the more I desire him. The two feed each other in a beautiful cycle of spiritual growth and maturity! That’s the purpose and goal of my new identity in Christ – and life does not get any better than when we discover that.

I hope no one here ever has to deal with identity theft. But I hope everyone reading this knows and believes that because Jesus lives, you have been given an identity gift: you are his. Keep looking at him, with your heart and your mind, and embrace your true identity: you are Christ’s, Christian.