Introducing Identity Theology

We are in a full-blown identity crisis.

In a society with greater connection than any that has existed before it, the individual pursuit of what it means to be human— of the purpose of humanity and of the full expression of that humanity— has collided with the emergence of a global community, and with the recession of the western Church; and it's not going well.

In the absence of the absolute, race, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity have failed to provide humanity with a common understanding of what it is to be human, leaving us socially, culturally, and politically fragmented.

We are constantly in flux, and it seems that the only thing that can be taken for granted, is that very little can be taken for granted. Even in language itself, subjectivity reigns as definitions are regularly redefined.

We have more freedom, but weaker foundations.

The once immutable is now regarded as socially constructed.

The previously unthinkable is now fashionable, and much that used to be appalling has become appealing.

And in the face of astounding human advancement, cries of oppression have reached a crescendo.

We are in an identity crisis, a culture-wide turning point that will decide what we kill and what we keep, what dies and what lives, as we create the future of humanity.

And though the Church is separate from the culture, it is not immune from this moment. We too are in an identity crisis of sorts.

Two thousand years of church history and five hundred years of reformation have found the western Church at a point where the question must be answered, "who are we becoming?"

But more than a question of ecclesiology, it is a quest for identity. And in reply, for the sake of the culture and for the renewal of the church, from the faith once for all delivered, a theology of identity must arise.

Not a new theology, but a fresh one.

A theology that offers exposition of Scripture that speaks to the search for identity.

A theology that perceives issues and events through the pursuit of identity.

A theology that declares that true human identity is not a personal discovery, but a divine revelation.

A theology that not only recognizes the orphan spirit, but restores it to sonship in the Father, and fellowship with His people.

An identity theology that rejects identity politics, self-consciously spurning the supremacy of the subjective self, and embracing the sovereignty of God.

An identity theology that resists outrage, and redeems activism.

An identity theology that sees the definition of what it means to be human as the defining question of our era; a question the answer to which will determine the future of the culture, the nations, and the church.

An identity theology that is not the work of one voice, but is the product of many interactions, the culmination of many conversations, conducted and curated by the Spirit of Christ.

This is my contribution to that conversation. Welcome to Identity Theology.