We always need more books on identity. Timothy Keller shows the importance of what we believe about ourselves when he states, “If our identity is in our work, rather than Christ, success will go to our heads, and failure will go to our hearts.” How often is our identity in something other than Christ? Let’s be honest. More often than not, our identity is in our work, our play, and our relationships. That is why we are more insecure, and anxious than ever before.
I received the book, Who do you think you are, about 8 months ago from a company called booklook. It’s a decent book when it come to identity. I based a whole sermon series (Identity 3 Week Sermon Series) on this book, Who Do You Think You Are?: Finding Your True Identity in Christ
The book, Who Do You Think You Are?: Finding Your True Identity in Christ, is worth adding to your library. It’s a great resource on identity, and the book of Ephesians. No matter what your view is on Driscoll, this book is worth having.
When I think of my life, I need to constantly hear that my identity needs to come from Christ and him alone. The students in my youth ministry are struggling with their identities, and what they find theirs in. Our culture today wants us to find our identity in things and people, not in Christ.
This book does a great job sharing where our identities might be, and where they should be. Mark Driscoll states, “You aren’t what’s been done to you but what Jesus has done for you. You aren’t want you do but what Jesus has done. What you do don’ts determine who you are. Rather, who you are in Christ determines what you do.” I love that. I need to hear that more often. It’s what Christ has done in me.
Here are some great quotes:
“Performance is done for the sight and approval of others. Service is done knowing that God is watching and approving whether or not anyone else is. Performance causes us to be enslaved to others’ opinions, unable to say no, and prone to being overworked. Service frees us to do what God wants, thereby saying no as needed. Performance presses us toward perfectionism, where we seek to do everything just right so others will praise us. Service allows us to do our best, knowing that God’s appreciation of us is secure regardless of our performance. Performance causes us to focus on the “big” things and only do what is highly visible or significant. Service allows us to do simple, humble, and menial tasks—the “little things”—knowing that the peasant Jewish carpenter we worship equally appreciates them both.”
“While this may look loving, when we struggle with an idol of dependence, we’re in fact not loving people as much as we’re using them to fulfill our need to belong, be liked, and be desired. This explains why some friends and family members can be so demanding, smothering, and needy. It also explains why we’re so easily inflated by praise and deflated by criticism. It’s as if others have the ability to determine our identity for that day based on a word or even a glance”
“You aren’t what’s been done to you but what Jesus has done for you. You aren’t what you do but what Jesus has done. What you do doesn’t determine who you are. Rather, who you are in Christ determines what you do.”
“You were created by God, are on the earth to image and glorify God, and when you die, if you are in Christ, you will be with God forever, imaging and glorifying him perfectly in a sinless state.”
This is a good book to have. If you want to get a preview of this book you can see every sermon that this book is based on here. If you want to build a decent library on identity, I would add these other books which are far better than Driscoll’s book, Who Do You Think You Are?: Finding Your True Identity in Christ.
– Disciple: Getting Your Identity from Jesus (Re: Lit Books) by Bill Clem
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– Freedom of Self Forgetfulness: The Path to True Christian Joy
