I’m watching an NFL game—Rams versus 49ers—and I find myself rooting hard for San Francisco. I need them to win. They don’t.
As the fourth quarter unfolds and the tension builds, a commercial comes on that nearly knocks me off my seat. The 49ers quarterback is shown walking up a hill, and then these words are heard: Don’t let the world tell you who you are.
It turns out to be an ad for Ariat boots and clothing. I wear Ariat boots. I’m not a cowboy, but I do know great quality when I try it on. And yes—you’re 100% correct—I look good in those boots.
Little did I expect to hear a national company sound like the Apostle Paul in an ad for western wear, but there it was:
Don’t let the world tell you who you are.
Yet Christianity has always offered something more complicated than rugged individualism. Scripture does not deny individuality, but it refuses to make the self the center of identity.
Paul was not a writer of commercials but he understood what Ariat’s marketers also seem to understand: We are shaped by the opinions, voices, and values surrounding us. Paul was clear and to the point:
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds…” 1
Do not be conformed; don’t let the world tell you who you are.
But we do, don’t we? I suspect Ariat wants you to stand on your own two feet (wearing Ariat boots, of course)—to be strong, independent, self-directed. It’s a deeply American vision of identity.
Why then does Paul caution us not to let the world tell you who you are?
That answer is easy to give:
- The values of our world do not always reflect the values of the Sermon on the Mount—or the words and ways of Jesus.
- We can be deceived into believing we are either more than what others tell us about our identity or just the opposite, that we are less.
- “The world”—and yes, I mean advertising, podcasts, movies, novels, and media of every kind—can lead us toward a false self, specifically as it convinces you that our identity is self-made—crafted by us, accountable only to ourselves, and centered on the self. But in reality, we hunger for divine meaning, which will not be found in my beautiful Ariat boots. Our culture wants us to believe that our identity is primarily as consumers; we know better.
Eugene Peterson once wrote:
“We are not ourselves by ourselves. We do not become more human, more ourselves, when we are behind the wheel of a BMW, or when capped and gowned we acquire another academic degree so we can get a better job and do better things….a culture as thoroughly secularized as ours can hardly be expected to come up with its own medicine…” 2
I was raised, like many others, to believe in the myth of the “self-made man.” The myth didn’t seem to have a word for women, which is telling. Jesus’ view refutes the myth and offers this instead: “The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one.”3 Our identity, our sense of belonging, and our sacred purpose—all are given to us by our Creator, who crafted us in love and purpose.
Don’t let the world tell you who you are.
Practice
Pay attention this week to the voices shaping your understanding of who you are.
What messages do you hear most often about success, value, belonging, or identity? Which voices draw you toward anxiety, comparison, or performance? Which voices draw you toward the words and ways of Jesus?
Spend a few quiet moments with Romans 12:2:
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds…”
For mentors and spiritual companions:
Share with one another a message or expectation from culture that has deeply shaped your sense of identity. Listen together for where God may be inviting renewal, freedom, and deeper belonging.
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Keith Anderson, D.Min., is a Faculty Associate for Spirituality and Vocation at VantagePoint3 and President Emeritus of Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. He is the author of several books, including his most recent: On Holy Ground: Your Story of Identity, Belonging and Sacred Purpose (Wipf & Stock, 2024). His other works include Reading Your Life’s Story (IVP, 2016), A Spirituality of Listening (IVP, 2016), and Spiritual Mentoring (IVP, 1999). In his writing, teaching, and mentoring, Keith seeks to set a table for people looking to enter the “amazing inner sanctuary of the soul” in the most ordinary and extraordinary moments of life.
1 Romans 12:2
2 Eugene Peterson, Subversive Spirituality, p. 19
3 John 17:22