Spiritual Theology

Identity. The very word itself has a certain emotional power to it, despite seemingly simple. But simple it is not. There is so much to a person’s identity which is both so complex and so simple at the same time. Many questions arise.

What is identity? Where does one’s identity come from? How is one to identify oneself? Why should one identify oneself the way one does or is expected to do so? Why is identity so important to people? What is identity loss and why does it happen? Why does identity loss feel so painful?

Identity is so innate to us as human beings that we often do not even realise how we identify ourselves, or how our own identity is shaped, or even that we have one at all. We sense the world around us. We feel our emotions as well as that of others.

We think about things regarding both ourselves and others. We use intuition to understand the less obvious and the subtle. Yet, knowing who oneself is, is complex, despite these marvellously intelligent faculties of the human personality.

One of the greatest mysteries is what human nature is. Philosophers have tried to answer the question as to what it means to be human, from what it means to be a good person and to not be a good person, to what it means to live a good life.

Literaturists have spilt much ink over what the human condition is, examining both the valour of noble, heroic, and selfless behaviour, and the unpleasant, darker, and less appealing side of human behaviour, often with great fascination for the latter.

Moralists speak about the human nature in relation to how it governs morality, and especially on how immorality and degeneracy negatively impacts society.

Psychologists, of course, seek an understanding of the human condition for the purpose of treating patients with problems stemming from the human psyche. 

Likewise, understanding who one is no less complex, as it pertains to the human personality, of which the concept itself is extremely complex and nuanced, and examination of which is a vast subject matter. The human personality is complex and so is each person, who is intricately, intimately, and wonderfully made by the Creator God. As the Psalmist wrote:

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

(Psalm 139:14)

One only begins to know someone else when one realises how much one does not know him at all. One only truly knows someone else when there is nothing left to learn about him, both the good and the bad. It is no different with oneself, except that the more one knows oneself intimately, the more surprised, shocked, and even confused one will be towards oneself.

A person who is self-aware will find over time that one’s personality and character is often much in line with how others see one, and respond to one’s behaviour, both positively and negatively. A person who lacks self-awareness is a bumbling fool, who is completely unaware of how others see him, and why others respond to his behaviour, especially his bad behaviour, the way they do. Such people often think their lack of concern about how others see them is to their own credit, but it is not; such people only lack concern about how others see them because of their self-righteousness and their pride.

Such a person will never develop his personality and character, especially his moral character. People who lack self-awareness that is not owing to immaturity, childishness, lack of life experience or youthfulness, are often selfish people who think that everything they do is right in their own eyes.

Today’s Western world is full of people who identify themselves fundamentally on the basis of characteristics such as race, gender, and sexual orientation. This has led to the rise of the identity politics movements, which are based entirely on individuals wanting to validate their identity on the bases of such characteristics. Such characteristics, however, have no real meaning at all to a person’s moral character, as these do not pertain to virtue, except as far as deviancy is concerned in relation to unnatural sexual orientation, such as homosexuality and bisexuality.

Such people who build their identity on such bases are people with no real identity and insecure at their core, whether they realise it not. Most such people do not realise that they are really searching for their own identity and are insecure because of it. Some would even commit suicide for the sake of their identity because their purpose of living rests on being a ‘person of colour’, ‘woman’ or ‘gay’.

Some ‘people of colour’ who cling to their identity as such and support the liberal side of politics, would commit suicide owing to disillusionment if forced to realise that people on both sides of politics – including the liberals – have their racists. Many homosexuals and transgender people commit suicide because of disillusionment over their identity in relation to sexual orientation. Many famous women’s liberation activists have committed suicide owing to disillusionment over the continued oppression of women in spite of their efforts.

Indeed, resting one’s identity on such deeply personal characteristics that are innate to the human person, such as ethnicity and biological sex, provide nothing but a vacuous foundation as to who one truly is. Such factors do not pertain to the core of one’s very being as to who God made one to be, and how God intended for one to live. Building one’s identity on the basis of these characteristics as the core of one’s being itself will lead only to much insecurity, frustration, and disillusionment.

This is not to say that personal, innate characteristics such as ethnicity and biological sex have no reality; these are real characteristics and form part of a person’s reality both in themselves and as they relate to the world around them. Rather, it is that basing one’s identity on such characteristics is problematic.

Likewise, basing one’s identity on characteristics that are external and mutable, such as occupation, profession, socioeconomic status, educational status, and marital status also provide a vacuous foundation for one’s identity. While making these the foundation of one’s identity may not cause as much frustration, confusion, discontentment or even anger as when innate, immutable characteristics are made the core of one’s identity, owing to their mutability, doing so nonetheless leads to insecurity.

Unlike biological sex and ethnicity, people can take steps to change such characteristics, such as changing profession, earning more money to climb the socioeconomic ladder, or getting married. Making any of such the core of one’s identity, however, leads only to insecurity, as one is constantly having to maintain the status achieved in relation to these.

What is Identity?

This leads to the critical and fundamental question, what is identity? This is not a mere abstract and philosophical question, meaningful only for philosophers to muse and debate over. Identity is a very real issue for the implications it has for the way one lives. One must know who one is to live rightly.

Identity is not merely who one is, but who exactly one is that makes one of value and worth. ‘Who’ one is the core essence of the human personality. ‘Who’ as opposed to ‘what’ one is, connotes a certain significance of the person inherent and unique to the person in himself.

What a person is pertains to characteristics such as their ethnicity, nationality, biological sex, and occupation, but such characteristics do not comprise of, or define, the core of a one’s being. It is who one is that goes right to the heart of the human personality and defines the essence of a person, which is the soul.

Who one is, is defined by what one loves, specifically, whether one loves God and the things of God, or whether one loves the world, and the things of this world.  That is the true definition of who a person is, which is determined solely by reference to the state of his soul, and nothing else.

Characteristics that pertain to what one is are immaterial in defining who a person truly is, and only relevant to the earthly, temporal roles and functions a person may play in this life. This is not to say that characteristics such as a person’s biological sex, occupation, and ministry are not important as to who a person is. These are important as they pertain to his role, function or calling in this life.

A person’s cultural background is also important as it shapes a person’s outlook on life and his values, which in turn goes to the core of who a person is. Although two people of different cultures may be both Christians, their cultural backgrounds still do have an influence on the way they understand certain concepts and practice the faith. The Christian Faith in no way requires people to abandon their own culture, as far as it does not conflict or contradict the Faith. Rather, virtuous aspects of culture may shed light on the true living God to an unbelieving people.

For example, Confucianism (儒家), the most influential school of thought in Chinese culture, is the cornerstone of Chinese civilisation, and the bedrock of Chinese culture. Confucianism teaches good moral virtues, which are consistent with the moral teachings of the Old Testament, as well as that in the New Testament, such as maintaining harmony with others, as opposed to causing discord and strife, and filial respect as well as respect for governing authorities. Such teachings, though not motivated by faith in Christ, still nevertheless point people of that culture to the teachings of the Christian faith, as evident in the natural law to all of humankind.

The same may be said of many other cultures and even religions whereby many, if not most moral teachings are consistent with that of the true Faith, and despite not being of the Christian Faith, are nonetheless still of value in showing and directing people to the ways of God. Such can even pave the way for a person’s faith in Christ through cultivating a heart that despite not yet knowing God, seeks the ways of God.

One’s occupation can also be critical in shaping one’s identity as it pertains to one’s mission in life. However, it is not one’s mission that is the foundation of one’s identity or core, but rather one’s motivations from one’s heart from which it is born, unless one’s choice of occupation was foisted on oneself by others, be it parents, society, community, or government.

The Importance of Identity

Identity is so innate and so intimate to the human personality that little does one ponder on it, unless specific attention is drawn to it that causes self-awareness. It may be that one sees others suffering from an identity crisis stemming from an identity that one shares. It may be that one is confronted by one’s own identity crisis, owing to a loss of identity or a challenge to one’s identity in accordance with the way one sees oneself.

Alternatively, it may simply be that one sees much discussion over the issue of identity that one’s intellectual curiosity on the subject is piqued. Whatever the cause of one’s interest in one’s own identity may be, there is no question that self-examination of one’s identity is the mark of a mature, self-aware person.

More importantly, there is no doubt that finding one’s identity is what the human heart desires. If one does not know oneself, how can one know what one’s purpose is, or how one should or should not live? How can one know if one is living as one should or should not live? To know who one truly is, is key to living out the fullness of one’s personality and purpose. To live out a life in accordance with who one truly is, is to not only to examine life, but to live out the examined life.

Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates famously said that “The unexamined life is not worth living.” It is his most famous quote, said to be uttered at his trial for impiety and corrupting the minds of youth, after which he was subsequently executed. Indeed, without knowing how one should live, life serves no purpose.

However, truth is not merely external to the human personality, but also internal. It is not, as the postmodernists erroneously think, that truth is determined by one’s perception. Rather, it is that there is an internal reality as well as an external reality. The external reality pertains to the realm outside oneself. It comprises of the spiritual world of the angels and demons, and the physical world outside of one’s body. The internal reality pertains to the realm inside oneself. It comprises of one’s thoughts, emotions, feelings, and desires.

Socrates recognised that the soul, or ‘psyche’ in Greek, was the true essence of the self. He failed, however, to find the truth about the soul and what made the self what it is, owing to his lack of understanding about the spiritual aspect of the human personality. For him, the human personality was comprised of only the body and soul, and that the soul was the repository of one’s intellect and thoughts. Though the soul was not devoid of desires, it was intelligibility, the ability to think and exercise control over one’s desires, that is the life force that makes a person.

Socrates’ theory of the soul was correct as far as it affirmed that it is the core of the human personality, and the repository of the immaterial in a person, such as the will, intellect, and desires. The error in his theory lay in his omission of the spiritual nature of the soul. This is understandable on his part because the spiritual nature of the soul, or anything spiritual for that matter, can only be understood by divine revelation; Socrates was a pagan philosopher and could not be expected to understand anything in realm of the spiritual. The spiritual nature of the soul was, in his own parlance, left unexamined.

The internal truth about oneself is the truth about one’s soul, specifically, the spiritual truth about the state of one’s soul before God. For God is not only truth, but without God, there can be no truth. Therefore, not only can the state of one’s soul be determined in relation to its state before God, but also that one can only know about the true state of one’s soul by divine revelation.

The state of one’s soul is the essence of one’s true identity. Earthly identities such as one’s cultural background and occupation that shape and determine the internal and immaterial aspect of a human personality, such as outlook, values, goals, and mission, also pertain to one’s soul, as far as whether they are ordered towards glorifying God.

One must know one’s true identity to be able to live it out to the fullest. Only when one lives out one’s identity to the fullest can one live out the fullness of one’s personality and purpose, as God intended it to be. One can only truly know oneself by receiving divine revelation from God as to who one is, not just as a child of God who has received Salvation, but also the way He designed one to be, as pertaining to internal characteristics such as temperament, inclinations, and desires. For this is what it means to live an abundant life.

An abundant life is not found in any earthly temporal thing at all. This is hard to accept and hard to perceive, especially when one is so caught up in pursuing all manner of earthly temporal things, but one will realise after experiencing the emptiness of pursuing such, that an abundant life is not found, nor can be found in such. Rather, an abundant life is spiritual, interior, and rooted in God’s intended purpose, plans and destiny for one.

The Pain of Identity Loss

Human beings are created to have an identity, as created beings made in the image of God. The image of God that each of us bear, as God created and designed, is our identity. This image is not merely just a visual or aesthetic that lies in each person’s face, but one that comprises of the whole of the human personality, comprising the soul, spirit, heart, and body. It is not merely each person’s face that is unique, but the entirety of their human personality that is unique, which testifies to the indescribably amazing power of God as a Creator.

God is an Artist. Each person He created is a wonderous masterpiece, whose image is magnificently and masterfully painted, crafted, and sculpted. Since the human heart knows deep within that one was created and designed to have an identity that is perfectly unique and designed to fit perfectly into a unique purpose and destiny for one, the loss of identity is painful.

It is a kind of affliction that is hard to understand or even conceive of, unless one has faced one’s own identity crisis or loss of identity, because not only is one’s identity deeply personal, but that the search for one’s identity is one that requires much introspection. It requires one to have one’s own vision about who one should be. One must be confronted with a loss or lack of identity to understand what it truly means to struggle with one’s identity.

Since identity is who one is supposed to be, identity crisis is a struggle between who one is, and who one should be in accordance with one’s perception of oneself. It is the unmet expectations concerning who one should be that is the cause of pain, rather than the identity itself, whether as perceived by oneself or others. It may be caused by a self-perceived failure to be who one wants to be or one believes should be. An example would be that concerning ethnic, cultural, or national identity. One may have certain expectations for oneself owing to cultural expectations, but not fulfil these, causing one to have an identity crisis.

An identity crisis may also be caused by a change in circumstances or state of life which has caused one’s perception of oneself to change and is struggling to accept. For example, a woman who has just become a mother may struggle with her new identity as a mother. Becoming a mother has brought significant changes in her life and she is struggling to accept not just the changes in circumstances, but who she now is. A new retiree may struggle with a loss of identity owing to his sense of self being squarely based on his professional success. Now that he no longer works and has a career, he has lost a sense of self.

Identity loss is a loss of self. It is a sense of loss that is unlike other types of loss, such as losing a loved one, or losing a valued opportunity, or path in life that one could have taken but did not, all of which are external. Identity loss is internal and made all the more painful because it concerns that which only one is responsible for, but yet not responsible for. It is a struggle with oneself. It is a battle with whom one is one’s own adversary that must be courageously fought – and the battle can be a very bitter one. One becomes one’s own adversary by placing expectations on oneself that cannot or have not been fulfilled.

Without finding one’s true identity in Christ, one will either build up one’s own identity as founded on certain external characteristics, such as cultural background, nationality, and profession, or be left constantly feeling frustrated, confused, and lost as to not only who one is, but also as to what one’s purpose and destiny is. Identity is important because it determines how one sees one’s purpose and destiny. Without a sense of identity, whether justifiably so, one will not have a sense of purpose and destiny, but will instead drift aimlessly and purposelessly in life, neither knowing who one is, or what one wants. That is a tragedy.

Human beings are designed by God to have not only purpose and destiny in life, but also a sense of that purpose and destiny. One must have a sense of that purpose and destiny to be fulfilled, because part of who we are as human beings, is to not only have purpose and destiny, but also a real sense of that purpose and destiny in one’s heart. The yearning for not only an identity but a sense of identity that one can be confident in is a very real and important one.

A False Sense of Identity

Many have a sense of identity – but a false one. Instead of being based on reality, it is based on an illusion, delusion, or outright fantasy. Almost everyone who has lived long enough has had a struggle with identity crisis, and for some it becomes very serious. A false sense of identity is caused by a gap between what one identifies oneself as, and one’s internal reality as to who one knows one really is.

The first type of false sense of identity is based on illusion. Though their outward identity may have a basis in reality, they do not feel a real sense of identity because their outward identity does not match their inward identity.

For many in today’s corporatist world, their identity is based on their occupation or profession – an occupation or profession that they are not suitable for and know in their own hearts they are not suitable for but build their identity on just to conform with society, fulfill social expectations, or show off to others. They create their own identity which has grounding in reality, but yet based on an illusion – that their occupation or professional status is, or reflects, who they are.

Such people, of whom are many, feel a gap between their occupation which is real, and their true self which is that they are not well-suited for their occupation. This is one major cause of frustration and unfulfillment in many people in today’s corporatist world.

The second type of false sense of identity is that based on delusion, which is that which does not conform to reality. It is the result of having a professed identity built on something that does not conform to reality. Some people struggle with such a severe inferiority complex about their ethnicity that they identity themselves to be of a different ethnic group, despite neither being of that ethnicity, nor growing up or knowing anything at all about the culture associated with the ethnicity they identify as.

For example, some people who are not ethnically Jewish identify themselves as such Jewish. They obtain a Hebrew name and speak only a smidgen of Hebrew and then identify themselves as Jewish despite being neither ethnically nor religiously Jewish, nor having any familiarity with Jewish culture. Some people who are not ethnically Chinese identify themselves as Chinese. They eat some Chinese food, have visited China and may have even lived in China. Some may even be married to a Chinese person and have Chinese relatives, but have no understanding of Chinese culture, nor were raised in such a culture or society. Such self-identification is utter delusion where one has no ethnic basis.

While it may be argued that that these identities are not purely based on ethnicity, but also culture and nationality, ethnicity has a physical and genetic basis, which is the real basis of ethnicity. To identify oneself to be of an ethnic group that one is not part of, is utter delusion. One makes oneself a fool to identify oneself to be of an ethnic group one is not part of, not only because one will never be seen as such by the ethnic group, but also because it shows so serious an inferiority complex that one deludes oneself into thinking that one is of another ethnic group.

The third type of false sense of identity is that based on fantasy. Fantasy is a special kind of delusion, being not only one that does not conform to reality, but that which could have no possible basis in reality at all whatsoever. An example of a fantastical sense of identity that is particularly pertinent to today’s world is the identification of oneself to be a person of the opposite sex. It is one of the greatest delusions in today’s era, that one’s biological sex is determined by one’s own feelings, rather than by anatomical features determining sexual function.

Unlike ethnicity which can be mixed and can change over time owing to interracial marriage, biological sex is binary and immutable. Identifying oneself to be of an ethnicity one is not, is delusion, but identifying oneself to be of the opposite sex is fantastical.

An example of fantastical identity is the ‘furry’ movement in the West where people identify themselves as an animal and dress up as such. In 2022, a year 8 student at a private school in Melbourne, Australia, identified herself as a cat, which the school reportedly allowed. What can be more fantastical than a human being identifying themselves as an animal?

Whether a person’s sense of identity seem reasonable or totally absurd to others, whether rightly or wrongly, a false of sense of identity is always a loss to the person, regardless of whether he realises it. It is to have no true sense of self that has a real basis, both in one’s interior and exterior reality. Such a person is often directionless and aimless. Even if the person has one’s own sense of direction in life, one will still lack of sense of purpose and be plagued by emptiness as long as one’s sense of identity is not rooted in who one truly was made to be.

True Identity is Rooted in Being Who God made One to Be

Since one was created and loved by God, who one truly is, lies only, and only in who God created one to be. To not be who one’s Creator created one to be is like a toy that is trying to function as another toy that it is not. It can have the strongest of convictions that it is another toy it is not made to be, but that does not change its reality. Yet, that is exactly how most people live, living out who they are not, while stubbornly persisting in doing so.

Who one is, is not merely found in one’s physical appearance or physical self. Who one is encompasses both the physical, material exterior, and the immaterial interior of the human personality. The physical, material exterior comprises of bodily functions, and the immaterial interior comprises of the intangible, non-physical aspects of the human personality.

God created each person exactly the way one is for His glory, His purpose, and His plans. Though we may not understand why, dislike, or even loathe some aspects of ourselves, each intricate aspect of us as created by God is good, because God created it good. We should therefore embrace we who are in a way that is proper and right before God and seek only to glorify Him in not only all we do, but in all we are.

Our true identity lies in being created and loved by God. It does not lie in our ethnicity, cultural background, nationality, or biological sex or gender. Nor does it lie in our educational background, socioeconomic status, occupational or professional status, marital status, or any other earthly, temporal status. It lies solely in being created and loved by God.

Come, let us all know who we are as God created us to be, embrace the way He created us, and glorify Him by being who He created us to be. Amen.