Who are you and where are you going?
Who am I and where am I going? -part one
Faith Fellowship Church PO Box 1586 Broken Arrow, OK 74013 Terry
Dashner
I came of age during the late 1960s. My difficult years were the
early 1970s. They were difficult because I was trying to
discover who I was really. It seems some of my friends who came
through this time are still trying to discover who they are, or
they are trying still to escape through drugs and alcohol what
they have become.
I was reading Peter Kreeft's book, Your Questions; God's Answers
(Ignatius Press, 1994), for the second or third time and had
some thoughts about the questions he raises. One primary
question for all mankind is this: who am I really? Kreeft says,
"The whole human race can learn this one great lesson, at least,
from teenagers: to be human is to wonder who you really are."
Kreeft continues, "Lesson One is to know that we don't know.
Socrates, the great ancient Greek philosopher and 'the father of
philosophy', was called the wisest man in the world by the
Delphic oracle (prophet); and the only way Socrates could
interpret that saying was that he was wise only because he alone
knew he was not wise.
"In other words, there are only two kinds of people in this
world: the wise, who know they are fools, and fools, who think
they are wise."
In the Bible the Apostle Paul writes to the church at Corinth
with the same understanding about life. I Corinthians 1:20-21
says, "Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the
philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of
the world? (21) For since in the wisdom of God the world through
its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the
foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe"
(NIV). What the world considers foolishness--the Gospel of Jesus
Christ--God considers His revealed wisdom; therefore, God turns
foolishness into wisdom and man's wisdom into foolishness for
His glory.
And again in I Corinthians 3:18-19 it says, "Do not deceive
yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards
of this age, he should become a 'fool' so that he may become
wise. (19) For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's
sight" (NIV). That boggles my human mind. In order to be wise in
God's eyes I need to recognize my limitations of mortality and
accept His wisdom, which is the good news of Jesus Christ.
More later...
In the next session I want to address the question: what is an
"identity crisis?" According to Peter Kreeft to be human is to
lack knowledge of our complete identity, to know only what we
have been so far, not what we are yet to be. Day by day, year by
year, choice by choice, we make ourselves into this kind of
person or that kind of person. Every time we change anything in
the world, we also change ourselves a little. Every time we help
or harm another, we help or harm ourselves. Our selves are
always under construction (Ibid 15-16). So from time to time we
may find ourselves in a crisis over who we are really.
Keep the faith. Stay the course. Jesus is coming soon.
Pastor T.