Amnesiacs, Not Worshipers

Identity and purpose are inseparable. Jason Bourne discovered this at the beginning of The Bourne Identity. He wakes up on a boat and can’t remember who he is. Thus, he is stripped of his raison d’être. He is a what without a why. He is a man with extraordinary skills, without a reason to use them. He does not know his identity, so he does not know his purpose.

Identity and purpose are inseparable. We can see this even with physical products. Steve Jobs never sold a glass slab without telling us its identity and purpose. For example, when introducing the iPhone in 2007, Steve Jobs gave his listeners its identity:

Today, we’re introducing three revolutionary products of this class. The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device…These are not three separate devices; this is one device, and we are calling it iPhone.

Jobs showed the iPhone’s identity: music player, phone, and internet device. And droves of consumers saw purpose in buying it. (In contrast, consumers didn’t initially seem to know what the Apple Watch’s identity was, so they didn’t see much purpose in buying it.)

Consumers will not buy a what without a why. Identity and purpose are inseparable.

But the children of Adam and Eve have forgotten their identity, so they have lost their purpose, too. Their Creator made them to be His, but they suppressed this in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). They were made to love God with all their hearts. They were made to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. But they forgot, since they did not want to know (Romans 1:21).

Worshipers, No Longer Amnesiacs

Only Christians know their identity and their purpose. They know who they are—rather, they know Whose they are: They are not their own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to God. Christ’s blood has seen to that (1 Corinthians 6:19).

So now what is their purpose? To glorify the great God Who saved them (1 Corinthians 6:20).

Only Christians have been roused from amnesia. Only Christians remember.

Everyone else is Bourne—often with remarkable skills, but without a reason to use them. Everyone else is the Apple Watch—pretty, but superfluous. Everyone else has been dropped into a video game without a story—you can entertain yourself and kill zombies, but what’s the point?

Let Us Remember

Even as Christians, we can forget. We forget our identity. We forget our purpose. We forget our first love.

We remember to tweet but forget to pray.

We remember our soap commercials but forget “How Great Thou Art.”

But that is not who we are in Christ. We were made to be passionate worshipers, and this is what He is making us.

Through Him we are being made into the image of God (Colossians 3:10). Through Him we can see the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:4). And through Him, even our weak, feeble-hearted worship is acceptable (1 Peter 2:5).

In Him we are no longer amnesiacs. May we remember.

Michael Chen has been attending Chinese Grace Bible Church for ten years. By day, he works at CalRecycle. By night, he serves on the CGBC Board, oversees TIGS (junior high ministry), and occasionally helps out with music and children’s ministry. He likes talking about books and movies, hosting songwriter’s nights, and giggling at Twitter jokes.