Airport security triggers significant, irrational, undue apprehension for me.
Standing in line with strangers in socks, pushing personal items in plastic bins through the conveyor belt, all of us, for some inexplicable reason, aiming to complete the process fast and first, as if we will earn a merit badge for flawless execution of warbled instructions delivered on repeat by intense people in uniform.
It begins with the directive, “Please be prepared to show your ID,” and even though I know who I am and where I am going, even though I hold a valid ID matching my ticket and the boarding pass on my phone, the direct and legitimate request to prove my identity sparks a little tension.
The truth that relieves it? My identity matches who I say I am. All I am asked to do is walk through the experience as myself.
Truth is, I face direct and legitimate requests to show my ID all day, every day.
Every word I speak, every thought I allow, every desire I entertain is an invitation to be who God says I am.
Reacting to interruptions to my neatly organized schedule of bullet points and blocks… Riding in the passenger seat while my husband chooses a parking spot… Giving time and space and resources to people who don't seem to have a return policy… Going the second mile with someone walking backwards… Waiting for a text to arrive or the phone to ring or a door to open... Wandering into wastelands of time and traps on social media… Accepting cards dealt in a game I did not choose to play… Absorbing a sleight-of-hand or change of heart… Sliding on the slippery slope of old habits dying hard… Sprinting when I should stand still… Standing still when I want to run…
Who am I in all the daily demands of life and how can anyone tell?
I am a child of the King, bought with His blood and raised to new life, sealed with the Holy Spirit. And I should always be prepared to show my ID.1
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
Colossians 2:6
It sparks a little tension, doesn’t it?
Much of our natural self works against what God desires.2 That’s a fact.
But, my identity as a follower of Jesus, a daughter of the King, means Christ has set me free. I am no longer a slave to my temperament or my personality or my fear or my pride or knee-jerk reactions or impatience or anything unholy or unloving. 3 That’s also a fact.
My ticket was purchased by the blood of Jesus and His righteousness was transferred to my account. My boarding pass is His Holy Spirit living in me. 4 Talk about skymiles.
The tension is not only internal, is it? A lot of the pressure in “walking worthy” is because I am walking in a world that is not my home. It is essentially a long layover. My ID as a child of God makes me an enemy of the state, and travel is difficult. There are many compromises I am asked to make to maintain my travel visa.
Let’s consider the verse again.
Since you have received the gift of Christ Jesus the Lord, [be prepared to show your ID.]
Colossians 2:6 [paraphrase mine]
The first step to addressing the tension of being required to show my ID is to remember that I have it.
Though it doesn’t seem like something I should forget, it is altogether too easy to put other forms of ID in front of it, labels I wore in the past or ones given to me by others, icons of the status quo, cheap and regrettable souvenirs from my travels. In my haste to finish fast and first, I may take the gospel for granted, losing the sense and recognition of how it defines and recreates my entire existence.
So, every day, I need to check my own ID, pull it out to look at it, explore all its resources, perks, and privileges. Ponder it, marvel it, soaking it in and working it out. 5
Every time I do, I am overwhelmed with gratitude, awe, and a deep desire to love Jesus, the One Who died for me, which is good, because I am also warned by Jesus many times to be sure I have not picked up a false ID, that I’m not carrying a stolen identity.
Turns out, IDs can be verified; the power of the gospel transforms.
It is a glorious chain reaction that begins when we meet Jesus and ends when we reach our final destination. 6 How does this metamorphosis verify my identity?
If I love Him, I will keep his commandments and abide in his word.7 Because His word is truth and life, I will be transformed by the renewing of my mind.8 When I abide in Him and his word abides in me, I will bear the fruit on one who has been with the Lord, fruit that shows people all around me what kind of tree I am, where my roots are, fruit that verifies my identity. 9
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:6-7
The fruit is visible to fellow travelers. When people around me see good works, changes in my priorities, reactions, purposes, and words, a servant heart, a humble spirit, selfless sacrifice, mercy, justice, and love, I pull out my ID and explain how it changes not only my ultimate destination, but my wait in the layover.
Best of all, I do not travel alone.
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him for He dwells with you and will be in you.
John 12:15-16
When I remind myself of “Whose” I am, I essentially pull out my own ID stand in the truth of incredible grace and power. The Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit of the Living God lives in me. He rescues me when I am tempted to respond to life in my old way of living instead of in my new name, and because of His presence and power, no temptation is more than I can endure.10 When I do fall short, my travel companion convicts me. I can confess it and God is faithful and just to forgive me and cleanse me.11 He keeps me on the right travel itinerary.
The truth that relieves the tension of showing my ID?
My identity matches who God says I am.
All I am asked to do is walk in Him.
References
- See 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, 5:5, 17; Romans 6:4; Colossians 1:13-1, Matthew 7:15-20.
- See Galatians 5:17.
- See Galatians 4:1-4; Romans 8; John 8:32.
- See Romans 6, Ephesians 1; Hebrews 9:14.
- See Philippians 2:12-15.
- See Philippians 1:6, 2 Tim. 2:7-8.
- See John 14:15, 8:31.
- See John 1, 17:17; Romans 12:2.
- See John 15, Acts 4:13.
- See 1 Cor. 10:13.
- See 1 John 1:9.
Faithful To Complete 