Root Ourselves in Him

Personas are probably one of the worst things that can poison one’s faith, inhibit discernment, and lead to errors.  When we identify, fundamentally, as anything other than a son or daughter of God, we tie ourselves to something incomplete, and therefore inevitably hold to error.

For instance, if I esteem myself as one who courageously contradicts x, y, or z, then I pigeon hole my identity in always speaking and acting accordingly. But what happens when I encounter an actual moderate position of x, y, or z? My identity in being known for contrarian reactions blinds me to such moderation.  

This is why we see doctrinal Puritanism (not to be confused with a genuine orthodoxy), secular humanism, one-issue warriors, liturgical snobbery (on both sides), etc.

If you are a child of God, however, the whole heart and mind of God is worth knowing and proclaiming. If you are a child of God, other issues we do not harp on inordinately, but are rooted in knowing and witnessing to the Trinity.  You are liberated from a pressure to pander to the masses or one’s tribe, and only seek to glorify God.  

No matter how validated you feel by a “bold” speaker of the faith, if you get the sense that they are not beginning from a place of identity in adoption through the Father: distrust his words and discernment.  Do not rally behind him, for you only pave his way to destruction, enabling the feeding of a false identity.

There have been times where I have been lost to this, sadly. But we can always return to God as His children, and root ourselves in Him.