Whose You Are — Kevin Johnson

Did your parents have a speech that they always left you with before you left the house? Many parents stick with the classic, "Remember who you are and whose you are." I like that. It carries the implication that you are known. It's the idea that you're not walking into the world as a shadow, but you have an identity. You belong to a family.

The Apostle Paul once wrote a similar thing to his friends in the city of Philippi, in Philippians 1:27-28:

“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.”

At the end of the day, Paul wanted the Philippians to understand whose they were.

Philippi was a Roman colony that was on the outskirts of the empire in a place called Macedonia. When Octavian captured its strategic location from the Greeks, he honored the city by refounding it as a Roman colony, giving its people Roman citizenship.

For most of the Philippians, their Roman citizenship was a defining characteristic. In a sense, they belonged to Rome. Paul wanted the Christians to know that they actually belonged to Jesus. He tells them to live in a way that is “worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

How is that possible? Paul is not asking them to earn their salvation, but to live it out. He is asking them to live like they are a part of the family of God. If they’re trusting Jesus, they do!

My parents used to always remind me that when I was out in the world, I was not only representing our family, but I was representing Jesus. If we claim to be a Christian, people will associate Jesus with the way we live. How does that make you feel? Are you kind, faithful, and generous enough to represent Jesus Christ?

The truth is that we can’t be enough. Jesus is the only perfect example of God’s love. But, as we experience Christ and His forgiveness, we should live out what we see in Him. That’s the whole motion of a life lived for Jesus: we live what we see in Christ.

It can be easy for us to attach our identity to something other than Christ. We may think we’re Americans, graduates of a particular school, or members of our family. That’s who we think we are. However, if we’ve placed our faith in Jesus, He has not only changed who we are, but whose we are. Let’s live like it.