Your ethnicity may tell me something about you, your appearance, your background, perhaps parts of your story. However, it does not have to limit who you are. When, like me, you are a blend of different cultures it can be difficult to confine yourself to one set of cultural characteristics. Being shaped by multiple cultures naturally raises a deeper question: Where does one’s true sense of identity lie?

Many people can feel pressured to act in a certain way because of their ancestral or ethnic heritage. Yet as children of God and citizens of heaven, our first desire should always be to express our identity in Christ. This does not mean we cannot enjoy or participate in our cultural practices. Rather, it means allowing the light of Christ to shine through our God-given cultural heritage. However, we must bear in mind that we have not been called to mimic this world exactly.

While we can engage with our own culture and learn from others through theirs, as the apostle Paul did in the early church, this is ultimately for the purpose of building rapport and finding common ground to share the message of Jesus Christ. However, we must always do so through a ‘Jesus filter’, recognising that this may sometimes place us at odds with the surrounding culture. As my pastor once said, Jesus’ followers will ultimately find themselves “counter-cultural”. Therefore, there will be moments where we must ask: Does this cultural expectation draw me closer to Christ or pull me away from Him?

Importantly, while culture can be a useful bridge for connection and understanding, it should not dictate how we live our lives. Our primary aim is not cultural conformity, but to live in a way that pleases God. There is nothing wrong with celebrating the beautiful diversity God has given us. However, we must be careful not to make an earthly construction of culture the centre of our identity.

In her book Becoming, Michelle Obama describes a sense of “in-betweenness” within her African American identity. During a visit to Kenya to meet Barack Obama’s family, she was even assumed by some to be partly White American. The African American story is unique. Many African Americans have ancestors who were forcibly brought to America through slavery, stripped of their native names and separated from their homelands. As a result, many do not know their exact ethnic origins. After centuries in the United States, America became their home, yet the connection to a specific ancestral land was largely lost. Michelle captures this tension, writing, “It’s a curious thing to realise, the in-betweenness one feels being African American in Africa. It gave me a hard-to-explain feeling of sadness, a sense of being unrooted in both lands.”

In the Kingdom of God, this sense of in-betweenness fades. As someone shaped by several cultures, I can appreciate aspects of each, but I cannot call any one of them my complete “home.” That is why my identity as a citizen of the Kingdom makes me feel most grounded. It gives clarity where culture sometimes brings confusion. It is my identity in Christ that I find joy, stability and an anchor for when the storms of life hit.

Most importantly, kingdom identity unites us into one family, regardless of physical appearance or cultural background. It recognises that we are all equal, all made in the image of God, and that we are called to speak the language of love, shown by Jesus Christ, something the world desperately needs today.

When describing His true sense of family, Jesus redefines it in Matthew 12:50 (CEV), by saying to his disciples, “Anyone who obeys my Father in heaven is my brother or sister or mother.” Jesus did not say His family were the ones from His hometown of Nazareth, or those who looked like Him, or even those who spoke the same language. Instead, He said His family are those who do the Father’s will and are citizens of the Kingdom.

This shows us how our earthly ethnicities are part of the story God has given us, but our true citizenship is in heaven where the Lord Jesus Christ lives (Philippians 3:20). That heavenly identity now becomes the foundation for how we live here on earth.

References

Bible quotations are taken from the New Living Translation (NLT) and the Contemporary English Version (CEV).

Obama, M. (2018) Becoming. London: Viking.