Continual Identity

Covid-19 has been like a mirror to the entire world. Lots of different faces are being reflected. The things people hold near and dear to their heart are closer than they appear. What used to be just subjectively surface and not much of a big deal has now become objectively root level deep and real. In other words, YOLO and “you do you” are no longer acceptable lenses to view life in this world.

Chaos tends to do that. Give a new set of lens to view life. Especially to the ones who are having immense trouble with the pandemic mirror reality. If people are unsure about their identity before a crisis hits, then that lack of surety is magnified hundredfold once it hits. Who am I now that this crisis has hit? Who am I now that my life has been turned upside down? And then comes the next question that we all have to wrestle with: who am I to be for and towards others now that life has been turned upside down?

This is where this particular blog finds a silver lining of hope.

For the nonbelievers, there’s hope in being a good human. It almost sounds patriotic. It’s definitely chalked up to being American. What the world needs now is a lump sum of good humans being good humans for and towards others. It’s a system built off happenstance fed by guilt and fear. Guilt of not being the best you that you can be; fear of making things worse as a result of not being a good human. There’s a lot of common sense in this system. Good and practical mores to adhere.

For the believers, there’s hope in being what God said you were a long time ago. Peter the apostle wrote his first letter to a group of exiles for the purpose of encouragement: “Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” Then in 1 Peter chapter 2, God sets a designation on all believers who are being built by him as a spiritual house to be a priesthood of believers. That’s our lens.

This lens isn’t new for the believer. This lens isn’t a crisis produced identity. This lens has the benefit of being an ongoing one. For the believer, the lens which we look through is none other than the identity God gave us that Peter the apostle wrote about in his first letter. We are priests. We stand in the gap for people. We listen to those happy and hurting. We value all people. We seek to be a vehicle for provision for people. We go to God on behalf of people. We are messengers of good news. We are messengers of bad news. We empathize with the lowly and the arrogant.

The way we view this present world under much chaos ought to be the same way we did before this invisible killer was lurking. We may even risk our lives for those unwilling to save theirs. We may even risk our lives for loved ones and neighbors with whom we’re not familiar. We may even risk our lives to help bring rest to someone else. We do that because we know we’ve set our hope in the divine human being known as Jesus, and we believe he’s coming back at which point his glorious deity will be revealed to all. So we act in wisdom. A priesthood of believers is our continual identity.

Much like the group to whom Peter wrote 2 letters, we know ourselves to be exiles here in this world and its kingdoms. This isn’t our final home, and yet we are citizens left here to be the hands, mouths, and feet of Jesus to others. May that mark our continued presence here under the reality of a priesthood.