Who am I?

The question of identity gnaws at every human heart, whether one is conscious of it or not. One may approach this universal question in two ways: either one may look inwardly to determine who he (or she) is, or one may look outwardly.

The introspective option, which is the hallmark of philosophical existentialism and postmodern ennui, has come to dominate the cultural discussion surrounding identity. The thought of turning to an external source to define who one is is becoming quite foreign to the modern mind.

However, the introspective approach to solving the problem of identity has unfortunately yielded more questions than it has answers. Modern man has become increasingly aware that constructing meaning and identity for himself is indeed a Sisyphean* task.

There is another way to approach the issue. One may also look outside of himself toward something else to determine who he is. This is a risky business; the success or failure of this pursuit all depends on the quality of the external object used to define one’s identity. In other words, one’s identity is only as good as one’s identifier.

A man may look to his country to identify him. But what happens when his country succumbs to a foreign invader, or rots from within due to corruption? A man may look to his vocation to identify him. But what happens when his hands are too weak to work the wood, or his mind grows too dull to manage his business?

A man may look to other men (or better still, a woman) to identify him; but what happens when he is despised and forsaken, or his wife falls ill and dies? There is no solution to the problem of identity in these approaches either.

Despite the superfluity of potential identifiers in this world, there remains one viable option for external identification. There is One who simply is, whose being is original, and from whom all identity may be derived. This, of course, is God. If the quality of one’s identity rests in the hands of his identifier, he cannot do better than to place the weighty question of who he is in God's hands; to look to the infinite and unchangeable Creator as his ultimate reference point.

If he should do this, he will discover exactly who he is and what he was made for. He will discover that his purpose is the same as everyone else’s; namely, to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever**. As for identity, if he will yield himself to God, he will discover that he is not his own, but “belongs to his faithful savior Jesus Christ, who with His precious blood hath fully satisfied for all his sins***.”

There is his answer to the question of identity.

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* One of the foremost existentialist philosophers, Albert Camus, famously used the ancient Greek character Sisyphus to illustrate how absurd the pursuit of meaning and identity is in his essay The Myth of Sisyphus (1942).

** Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q. 1.

*** Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 1, Q. 1.