Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?
I grew up in the New Orleans area in a great Christian home, but the faith did not take root in my life until my senior year in high school. During college I began serving in a local church as a youth pastor and God used that experience to pull me into full-time church ministry. I now serve as Executive Pastor of Christ Fellowship in Miami, Florida where I live with my wife (Kaye) and daughter (Eden).
But part-time I follow Ed Stetzer's every moment on twitter and eagerly await all of his blog posts.
[Note from Ed: Eric has many problems.]
What compelled you to write a book on this subject?
When I wrote Simple Church with Dr. Rainer, I felt "this research, this reality has to be on paper" because the message, I believed, was so critical for church leaders to wrestle with. In the same way, I feel the theme and message of Identity must be internalized and wrestled with by everyday believers.
In the writing of the book, I felt a lot like Jeremiah in Jeremiah 20:9 - this was a message I needed to share, regardless of the result.
What is the main theme or point that you want readers to understand from reading your book?
The main point is to know who you are in Christ and to live the reality of who you are. As a pastor I see Christians constantly hampered from moving forward spiritually because they lack an understanding of who they really are in Christ. And the faith becomes checking off religious boxes and checklists instead of living the reality of who God has declared us to be. Yet the Scripture is loaded with phenomenal imagery describing who we are (and who the people in are church are), so the book re-discovers metaphors the Bible paints to describe us.
Why are people confused about "their identity in Christ" and how do Christians discover that Identity?
For at least two reasons...
(1) Our enemy seeks to distort our understanding of who we are. He cannot rob us of our identity, as our identity is secure, but he can mess with our view of our identity. For example, many people struggle with seeing God as a Father and seeing themselves as His child because of a bad earthly father. Satan's ability to destroy fathers impacts how many people grow up viewing God.
(2) We, as Christian leaders, under-teach our identity. I think we are fearful that we will come off like a self-help or self-esteem coach so we often stick to teaching lists of how people should behave. It is much easier to teach that way.
Are there some specific lessons you hope readers will learn and apply to their lives after reading your book?
I want people to walk away from reading the book with a greater sense of awe for God and His grace because of the great identity He has given us. I want people to return to knowing who they are. Beginning with our identity instead of the commands rescues us from performance based Christianity and a faith that is relegated to lists.
Few examples: I am His bride - so I live pure. I am His ambassador - so I live a mission centric life (I will leave AL out because of his pride). I am an alien - so I live distinct from the culture.
Do you have a favorite part of the book or a favorite chapter?
Our small group just finished discussing "the alien chapter." And the discussion was phenomenal as we wrestled with living pure but living pure among people who are far from God (I Peter 2:11-12). The chapter really ties into what you are so passionate about, Ed. That people would live transformed lives among people with intention and mission.
A gift for www.edstetzer.com blog readers: Our church recorded a seven-week DVD based small group curriculum that goes along with the book. The curriculum is about 15 minutes of me teaching each session and then has discussion questions for groups to go through together. If a blog reader will email me at egeiger@cfmiami.org and put Stetzer blog in the subject line, we will send out a complimentary DVD within a few weeks (they are being printed now).
How does realizing you are a priest change how you live?
Prayer is bigger than something I do at important junctures in my day. When I really grasped the privilege of the high priest in the Old Testament and realized that God has given me that honor, prayer became a more integral part of my life and day.
What is the essence of the chapter on the "bride?"
I am really completely forgiven. Not because of me, but because God brought His righteousness into our relationship.
How should understanding we are "an alien" and "an ambassador" impact how we live?
Realizing that we represent another King and another Kingdom in this culture for a specific period of time will cause us to leave our safe Christian sub-culture. The safe sub-culture can actually be dangerous as it gives us an excuse to disobey God.
Great stuff, Eric.
Now it is your turn. Eric will be by to answer questions all day so feel free to jump in.
Eric,
You said you had the inspiration for this book while you were writing Simple Church. In addition to the Bible (obviously), were there other teachers, books, or resources that God used to open your eyes to this stuff?
Chris
Chris,
You are right -- first the Bible.
The most influential book on me in the realm of Spiritual Formation is "Conformed to His Image" by Kenneth Boa (phenomenal book though it looks like a text book)
Others would include Bonhoeffer's "Cost of Discipleship" and Foster's "Celebration of Discipline"
Eric,
Do you deal with how the enemy wants to distort/destroy the image of God in humanity via personal destructive tendencies (cutting oneself, tats, piercings, and the like).
I am going to pick it up and read it anyway, but some of my friends kids are dealing w/this issue now.
btw the pics of the baby reading is priceless. My 3 year old girl woke up at 6:00 this morning got books off the shelf and went into the living room to begin the day off reading. My 7 year old girl was right behind her with a stack. My son got his GI Joe. Go figure.
Billy
Billy -- I do hit that some in the first chapter, that our enemy seeks to distort our understanding of who we are.
Thanks for the love on Eden's pics. She is awesome.
Ed -- Billy is the guy who drove us around at the LBC Evangelism conference and got us lost.
Billy owes me an hour of my life back (since he can't drive and follow directions!).
I am preaching on who Christ is and who we are in Christ right now at church. The book has been helpful.
I have come to believe that a failure to understand who we are in Christ is why so many Christians end up buying into new movements, emphases, etc. They are not secure in Christ.
Ed
I knew my memory was going, but didn't realize how bad. I must have just dreamed that I was taking Ed back to his hotel (where he had already checked in) but he couldn't remember where it was. It was definitely a bad dream.
I was praying the whole time, God is this what hell is like. Thank you for saving me, now please deliver us to the hotel!
Eric,
Very excited about your book. I found that guys in my small group who dealt constantly with habitual sin also had a self-perception of themselves as "just a sinner," "only human," and I figured it was a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I first saw the power of identity in Romans 7:17, 20, where Paul refuses to own his sinful impulses as an identity. Between the lines, I hear him saying "that is not who I am."
I wondered if you might share a story or two of how your people have been changed by fully understanding their identity in Christ.
Best,
Mark
Eric,
As a pastor, one of my most difficult areas of pastoral care is with our single mothers. They feel unloved, unappreciated, and worn out. What does your book have for them?
Thanks.
Les
Mark -- your right. We have lots of people in our churches who view themselves still as "sinners" though the NT never uses that word to describe a believer.
We recently recorded some of our people's stories on a site... www.storiesaboutyou.org in conjunction with a series we did. There are great stories on there of people realizing the freedom in Christ once discovering they are fully forgiven (the bride).
Last week, two public school teachers came to my house (friends with my wife) to discuss how to really live as an ambassador in their culture. This week they brought coffee and donuts for all the teachers on their hall. So I believe when people get a glimpse of representing Christ in their environment -- great things happen.
Les -- I agree with you. It is a tough spot in ministry. I believe the chapter on child (knowing His love is securely fixed on us and that He assumes responsibility for us) and bride (knowing He has pursued us) would be very affirming to those wrestling with discouragement.
Eric,
I am a 'big fan' of helping people understand their identity in Christ. I think that it is such an important part of our walk with Him.
However, my question is this...
Do you and/or how do you deal with the issue not only of helping people to understand their identity, but to live their identity? My biggest struggle in ministry at times has not been so much with getting people to know in their heads this sort of stuff, but how they live it out in greater ways in their lives. Thoughts?
Ed,
I am pretty new to your blog, and just wanted to let you know that I love it! I will definitely be adding it to my blogroll. Thanks, and keep up the great work!
Dan
Dan,
Obviously our identity should impact how we live. It must be more than just a way to make us feel good about ourselves. I believe understanding who we are impacts our motivation for obedience. Obedience becomes a response to our great God and His transforming work in me to make me this type of person. And not a list of things to check off to earn His love.
As a pastor -- I challenge people to live who God has made us and declared us to be.
Of course, we all wrestle with matching our deeds to our faith, but I find myself much more liberated to obey when I have really internalized (not just recognized) who I am.
Greatstuff! I will put Eric's book on my Christmas wish list. Though I was not able to get in on the questions I was thoroughly impressed with the questions and the responses.
Thank you Ed for taking the time to put this stuff on your site. If I had had these kind of resources 20 years ago...oh well, such is life!
Eric,
Thanks for your reply. I have ordered my copy of your book from Amazon. I think it is much needed.
Les
The Age of Grace is a Work Day.
The Bride of Christ is a Working Woman.