
Who Am I to Others?
In a previous blog post, I referenced the eternal question people have been asking since the Fall of Adam: who am I? This is a fundamental question for each person to answer and the answer you settle on will largely determine the trajectory of your life.
The next question that a lot of us are sorting through in the 21st century is “Who am I to others?” or put another way, how would I like to be seen by other people?
It’s important to note that this question is a bit of a luxury. For most people in human history, mere survival has been the daily task and asking questions of perception has been far down the line. But it was still there. Even if you were a farmer in Africa hundreds of years ago, you had a community to exist in. At a minimum, you wanted your community to view you as valuable, certainly not an enemy to their existence. And having friends has always been part of survival, no matter the time or place.
For us as Americans today, however, the question of how we would like to be seen by others is often a question that boomerangs back on us. As we answer that question, we are exposing the truth of how we would like to feel on a daily basis. Do you want to be seen as a victim by others? Perhaps you believe this will give you the preferential status that allows you to take shortcuts to what you want. You’d like to feel sympathy, perhaps, because you feel unheard, unknown, ignored. Do you want to be seen as powerful by others? You may believe that life has value when it achieves something, that the weak and outcast simply get what they deserve and you are not weak.
I believe this question , who am I to others, is often most dangerous when predicated on a self-determined answer to the first question, who am I, that is in direct conflict with Our Creator, God. A person determined to live against their nature and that others participate with them in that fictional proposition is unsustainable. They may cope for a lifetime of 70ish years but it is not anything to build a legacy upon. You certainly cannot build a civilization on it. Be wary of any answer to question one that suspends connection to reality. And as one of my mentors once said to me, “Gavin, the Bible is reality.”
In Holy Scripture, God makes clear who we are. We are made in His image, created to live in harmonious peace with God the Father through Jesus the Son, empowered by God the Holy Spirit. This takes many forms, from artistry to parenting, to worship, to study, to taking risks, to being patient and to being diligent. It is often tedious, many times far more exhilarating than we realize and at all times, good.
The risk of idolatry is real. With the continued emphasis on individual self-expression taking center stage against all other outlooks, we risk making an idol out of the perspective of others. This leaves us at the mercy of whimsical masses, often leaving us empty-handed in the end. One extreme example of this, tragically, is youth that die seeking attention online, doing reckless things simply to gain the temporary approval of others.
There is likely no more foundational truth for us as created beings than Genesis 1:31, which declares, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”
We may bear the stain of sin. Some of us more than others. But in the beginning, God made you. And He said that in creating you, it was good. Look to God for cues on who you are and don’t trouble yourself too much with how others perceive you. Treasure the opinions that agree with God and the Scriptures. Above all, resist conformity to an identity that does not match who God created you to be.