Discipling Teens Through Doubt, Culture, Sex, Identity, & PurposeSample

IDENTITY

"You have some script, some sort of values by which you filter who you are. The only way to be liberated and not do whatever your culture tells you is to go to God's Word because that will help you think outside the box of the culture."

—Dr. Tim Keller, Axis ParentingTeensSummit.com interview

Imagine a close friend coming to you and confessing, "I'm gay. I was afraid to tell you, but this is who I really am, and I don't want to hide it anymore." How would you respond?

One of the most pressing searches inside the hearts of man is the question of identity: Who am I? Cultural norms tell us to define ourselves through any of our traits—old, young, black, white, gay, straight—but are those attributes really what make us who we are?

Today's Scripture offers great insight, demonstrating that who we are in Christ is much more all-encompassing than any one trait.

Paul writes that we are a new creation, pure and freed from our degenerate nature. Second, we are reconciled to God, no longer liable for our sins. Third, we're Christ's ambassadors, the mouthpiece through which God is spreading His Gospel to the world.

Ultimately, because of Christ, we can transcend any labels the world uses and join the larger community of the Body of Christ, united under the mission of living for Christ and offering His life to a hopeless world.

So how does this relate to what culture says? In his ParentingTeensSummit.com interview, Dr. Keller reveals the truth of identity: No person is truly free from culture's influence on their identity except through Christ. This is because all people struggle with internal, competing voices to define who they are, and culture manipulates which internal voice should win. The only thing that frees our identity from culture has to be something outside of culture—Christ Himself!  

Discuss as a family:

• What cultural influences have most defined your identity?
• How would you be different if you truly lived into your redeemed identity, free from culture’s influence?

Dig Deeper: Click here to hear Dr. Keller’s insights for how to break free from culture and to download the Action Guide for his interview.