Identity Formation

Um, so let's do that.

Let's, let's begin by asking what do, what do we even mean, uh, by the term identity? Uh, people who, who write and think in this sort of field, uh, tend to distinguish between, um, a sense of self and identity.

Uh, so a sense of self is, um, who I understand myself to be, uh, gets expressed in, in lots of different phrases like self-concept, self-understanding, self-perception, um, who I understand myself to be.

Um, but, but then identity, um, at least, um, in the way that, uh, those who write in, in the psychological literature, uh, describe it, that concerns the way that I present myself to other people.

Um, and of course, the, the way that I present myself to other people, as we've just been hearing from Mike, is complicated.

Um, lots of elements speak into, um, my sense of identity and the way that I present myself to other people.

Um, not least that our identities change over time.

Mike's given us a flavor of that.

Um, at, at five, I was a redhead.

Hard to believe now, but true.

At twenty-five, I was a doctor.

At fifty-five, I was a vicar.

Uh, I am none of those things now.

Our identity changes, uh, over the course of time.

Uh, we have past identities that we move on from.

But, but then we also have future identities that we step into.They might be identities that we aspire to.

For Mike, it might be being a, a scratch golfer.

Um, that doesn't mean a bad golfer, that means somebody playing off zero handicap if you don't...

Are golfing terms.

Um, maybe that's what Mike aspires to or, or an avid gardener, uh, or a, a biblical counseling guru.

Who knows what Mike might have in mind for his future? But as well as future's identities we might aspire to, we might have future identities that we're terrified of, uh, like becoming an alcoholic like my father, developing dementia like my mother.

See, identity is a funny mixture of things, isn't it? Identity includes what we might call our personal realities, um, being male or female, being Black or white, being young or old, sporty or not sporty, uh, married or single.

Our identity is connected with our family of origin, uh, our nationality, family traits.

All of those sort of personal realities contribute to the, the person that I understand myself to be and the way that I present myself to other people.

And, and of course, none of those things disappear when I become a Christian.