On Identity and Being Chosen

This is in some ways a continuation of my last post, dealing as it did with my ongoing struggle to find an identity for myself. My church just last week launched a series on the book of Ephesians, and after reading the book this week (first time for everything, eh?) I've found "identity" to be an overarching theme for it.

In the kickoff for the series last weekend, Pastor Pete spoke on the topic of being "chosen" and what that means. The service itself, like so many at Quest, was deeply moving and - this is the single most important aspect to me of Quest - relevant to today. The concept of being "chosen" for something, for anything, runs deep in the human psyche regardless of one's spiritual leanings. I know I certainly put a great deal of stock into being 'chosen' by a college, then by a graduate program, then by an employer, and so forth and so on. I chose my wife, or she chose me, or both. Together, we chose our boys (our kids of a feline or canine persuasion). Choosing, being chosen - whatever the direction, the concept itself is certainly sound and relevant.

What was truly interesting was seeing this theme turn up in a 2000+ -year-old letter from a guy in prison to a bunch of churches around Asia Minor. Peter defines himself solely as chosen - specifically, "chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus" (Eph. 1:1; NLT). So Peter, as well, draws his identity based on his status of being chosen.

However, it doesn't require a theologian to realize that being chosen by God and being chosen by, say, an office committee to attend a conference are two rather different things. Heck, I picked up on that, and I'm (as the title goes) a simple seeker. It wouldn't be too far off base, though, to suggest that there are people today whose identities are as tied up in secular concerns as Paul's was in God. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I'm in that same lot. Trying non-stop to define one's own identity diverts vital energy from other aspects of life. The hope in last week's service sprang from the idea that, whenever a person is ready, the same God who chose Paul also stands ready to choose them.

I've spent a great deal of time - my entire life, essentially - trying to craft my own identity. Frankly, it hasn't been the most fruitful of pursuits. Perhaps at the end of this journey of self-discovery something, somehow will convince me that it has never really been up to me to do that anyhow.