Becoming Who They Are
Trend analysts like to point to the idea that our technology and our era are pushing kids to become their own brand. Identity formation has always been a big deal for kids—figuring out on an unconscious, unspoken level the idea of themselves they will hold on to. But now kids are being asked to describe their identity very specifically every time they fill out a profile for another social network.
Depending on the personality of the child, it can create a lot of pressure. You’ve got to pick the profile picture that will become the visual representation of your brand (until you change it again tomorrow). You’ve got to define yourself by what music, movies, and books you like—and even by those you don’t. You’re urged to be open about your religious affiliation, your school, and your sports.
Ideas of themselves that kids may have once kept hidden for a while or tried on and rejected they are now being asked to commit to sooner than later by the ever-present blinking cursor. Who are you now?
Even the circles of “friends” (Facebook) and “followers” (Twitter) you most associate with is a very conscious way of creating and refining your personal brand. For some students, the exercise becomes all consuming. Even those who make a joke out of the process are defining themselves, in a way, as being above pressure to conform to the trend (which might be a really healthy way for some kids to go).
In the PW daily devo for students this week, we’re working through 1 Peter 1:13-21. A big idea from that passage is that Peter encourages Christians to be who they are in Christ, to live up to the new profile He’s written for those who follow him, to willingly change the very definition they carry of themselves to conform to His.
Our hope is that a few of the questions below will generate a good discussion with your student about identity issues and what it means to live up to our new identity in Jesus.
Talking Points:
- How hard is it for you to fill out profiles about yourself for things like Facebook or other sites online?
- Is it hard for you to decide what picture to use or what to put down for your likes, dislikes, interests, etc.?
- Does it bother you to be asked to describe yourself so specifically or do you enjoy sharing yourself with people in this way?
- Are you ever tempted to be dishonest about what you really like—or what you’re really like—because you’re afraid of what someone might think about that?
- What is the point of being so open about who you really are with these sites—or anywhere, really?
- If you filled out a profile about yourself that only you would ever see, how much different would it be than one you would show to your friends, your parents, or God?
- Would a completely open profile about who you really are be different as a Christian than if you were an unbeliever?
- What would you say are the most important parts of your identity, in God’s eyes, as someone who has trusted in Jesus for your salvation?
- Would you define yourself to yourself as a child of God, as an ambassador of heaven, as someone who is holy, as a new creation, as being without blemish before God, as a prince or princess in the kingdom of God, as a priest, as a servant of Jesus, as being on a mission from God to use your influence for His glory?
- Do you know that the Bible defines every Christian as having the identity described in the last question?
- How different is that identity from the way you usually think of yourself?
- How different would our lives look if we were really trying to live like we are all of those things?
- What are things we could do as a family to choose to live up to the new version of ourselves we are in Christ? What are things we currently do that might make it harder to do that?
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