We used to talk about identity as a spiritual statement of the person we are, the community in which we live, or the nation with whom we stand. Some substitute a marketing term today and ask, “What is your brand? How do you want people to react to your brand, your persona?”
So, I ask: Is follower of Jesus my “brand?” Bono answers: “I’m not a very good advertisement for God. I generally don’t wear that badge on my lapel. But it certainly is written on the inside somewhere.”[1]
He’s on to something, this artist, activist, and follower of Jesus.
- Our faith is not a brand, a badge, a hat, a button, or a t-shirt that declares loyalty to someone else’s brand.
- Jesus is not a brand. He isn’t marketing a good idea or product; he invites us to join a new way of living, which he calls the kingdom of God.
- The cross is not our brand.
If anything symbolically declares our truest identity, it is baptism.
I’m a Baptist preacher. I love baptism, and I love water, a lot of it. But I am also a grandfather who participated in a different form of baptism with three grandsons. I was shaken by the words given me to speak over these infant boys: You are a child of God sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.” It takes my breath away every time I remember speaking those words as their Lutheran grandfather sprinkled those boys’ identities with as holy as bread, as wine becomes blood. Our identity, belonging, and sacred purpose are boldly declared in those baptismal words…
During COVID, United Kingdom churches created a video that sustained my faith in the vitriolic division of recent years. They sing what I can only stutter. If you tremble in fear for our nation or grieve loss, play this video and let it cause you to lose your breath because you, too, are captivated by tears of faith.
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
May his favor be upon you and a thousand generations and your family and your children and their children and their children.
May His presence go before you and behind you and beside you, all around you and within you. He is with you. He is with you.
In the morning, in the evening, in your coming and your going, in your weeping and rejoicing, he is for you, he is for you, he is for you, Amen.
Each day, faithful Jews recited a prayer that needs to have a resurgence in our culture and churches. Called the Shema, it fiercely confessed the defining character of their identity. “Hear O Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” A Christian teacher was asked, “Why do you follow Jesus?” His answer seals the deal: “Who else did you have in mind?”[2]
Watch The UK Blessing and have some Kleenex nearby.
[1] The Spirituality of Bono, Edited by Nicholas Nigel, p. 2.
[2] Dallas Willard, quoted in Seeking Another Kind of Life with St. Ignatius and Dallas Willard | Conversatio Divina
4 Comments
Keith, this is excellent. My personal discovery years ago that I am to take my identity to what I do, instead of from what I do, was transformative. And, my baptism at age 20 still occasionally appears as a video in my head.
Now that is a thought worth spending some time on, thank you Rich.
What a gift Keith. I am taking that prayer on my walks and imagining baptisms becoming a new pandemic. The most powerful remedy!
Keith, Sharing about your grandson’s baptisms speaks to me of the “Sacred Moments” of life. Those sacred moments give life richness and meaning. From monumental events to mundane moments the divine reaches into life with wonder and mystery. Sharing those stories with others not only renews our souls it brings the sacred to everyday life, the ultimate brand. Reading stories of Sacred Moments from you and your readers will enrich my life.