Happy Monday, Church!

 Yesterday we started our 9-part (yes you read that correctly: 9 weeks on 6 chapters), exegetical sermon series in the book of Galatians. Though Jewish practices are at the center of what Paul is addressing in this book, the deeper issue at play is identity. Paul’s audience was quick to move away from seeing their relationship with Christ as their superordinate, or highest ranking, identity. Instead, they were being led to see religious practices that defined the Jewish faith as their ultimate source of identity. Paul was not against Jewish Christians continuing religious practices such as circumcision, feast days, or making vows at the temple (he himself engaged with each of these throughout his ministry). His concern was with Jewish believers seeing these practices as core to a Christian identity and thus necessary for faith. In particular, he took issue with Judaizers who not only elevated these practices for themselves but also required them of Gentile believers.  

As we work our way through this book, I would encourage you to consider the identities in your life that compete with your identity in Christ. In our context, few of us are tempted to place our identity in celebrating feast days, but we are still tempted in this area. Our identity as a hard worker can subsume our Christian identity and we can find ourselves equating productivity with godliness. Our political identity, right or left, can be the lens through which we evaluate what is true, noble, and praiseworthy. Even our familial identities such as wife, mom, or daughter can become detrimental when they are mis-ordered. These identities are good, and they matter, but they cannot become the ultimate identity through which everything we are flows. That superordinate identity lies in our union with Christ, in whom we are heirs of God. So as we study this book over the next 8 Sundays, pay attention to what identity you are most living out of.  Because if we get our ultimate identity wrong, we get everything wrong. 

In Him,

Steveie, on Behalf of the Elder and Minister Team