Summary of Chapter 2: "From Image of God to Public Image"

In the past, people didn't seem to struggle with the question of identity in the way we do today. Other questions were at the forefront of their minds, and they derived a sense of self from a commonly held standard. Now, I don't for one second paint a sanitized version of the past. Christian cultures have often failed to see the image of God in other cultures and, sadly, sometimes committed abominable actions in the name of Christ; but on the whole, the idea of God-given identity was foundational to a person's sense of self. The belief that humans were created in the image of God was the center point of an understanding of self. This framework of identity, with its Judeo-Christian belief in God-given identity and a Greek belief in virtuous living, can be described as "the vertical self". The vertical self explains the way that identity is developed by being part of a greater order. At the top of this vertical order is God, and humans look upward to measure their behavior against a greater moral good.

Today, the way you see yourself and understand your identity is not unique. You feel the way you do because you are a product of a culture that has shaped you to process the world in a particular way. Let's talk a quick Sociology 101 tour of the influences that make you see yourself the way you do:

1. Weird science: The rise of the modern era was directly linked to the rise of science. No longer were our identities governed by the laws of the Kingdom of God, but rather by the laws of the jungle.
2. Losing my religion: The rise of science and the modern era meant that all religious belief was questioned. Western cultures shifted faith in God to faith in our own human potential.
3. "I'm kind of a big deal": Radical individualism has shaped our self-identity.
4. Making it: A person's function became more important than his or her character.
5. Cheesy love songs ... well, sort of: Songs, movies, and novels all speak of romantic love being the most important thing in life. We are told that when we fall in love, we will "find ourselves"

The secular individual can only look sideways - hence the contrasting term horizontal self. It looks to others for a sense of identity rather than to something larger than oneself, thus finding a sense of self in one's status within society. The horizontal self looks to the world for approval and acceptance. Identity is exchanged for imagery.

When it comes to our identities, it is as if we are now homeless. We desire to find a home, a place where we can be accepted and loved unconditionally for who we are, but the age of the horizontal self means that we must keep on the move, constantly trying to play by our culture's rules of identity and constant competition with those around us for attention and affection.

Source: Mark Sayers (2010), The Vertical Self, p.7-20

Chapter 1 of Mark Sayers' Book: "Modern Identity"

Pick Your Personality
In front of me I have catalogue for cell phones. The front cover of the catalog does not feature a phone or any image at all. There is nothing to show that this catalog is even selling phones. All there is on the cover is one simple word that sumps up our age: me. As I open the catalog, I discover that each page extols the virtues of the latest models of phones for the coming season. Each page features a model or models who in some way attempt to match the "personality" of the phone. Welcome to the world in which we are told we can be anyone we want to be, where identity is no longer based in a sense of self but rather in the imagery we choose at any particular moment. Cool, sexy, glamorous: these are the new social virtues.

How did we begin to lose our identities?
We are at a unique time in history. Our world has gone through intense political, economic, social, and technological change. If you lived one hundred years ago, you would have had a very different set of social expectations placed upon you. Your social success was directly connected to your character and community involvement. However, today we no longer look to social institutions and community to find our sense of self; rather, we seek to "be free", to "express ourselves", and to "be happy with ourselves". But how do we achieve these things? We have unprecedented personal freedom, but our freedom is accompanied by a haunting sense of being lost. To find a real sense of self, to discover who we really are, we first must work out how we got in the position we are in.

Source: Mark Sayers (2010), The Vertical Self, p.1-6

Preface and Introduction to Mark Sayers' book "The Vertical Self"

In the coming weeks, we will have a look at Mark Sayer's outstanding book and briefly digest the main points of each chapter. If you like the summary of this blog, please consider buying a copy of the book.


We need to Change the Conversation

Christian leaders are engaged in a conversation about what kind of church shape will be most effective in the soil of 21st century Western culture. All our attempts to reshape Church in the West will at best be sabotaged and at worst fail because there is a huge unnamed problem with people inside the church. Slowly, inch by inch, we have replaced the biblical command to be holy with the quest for status. One of the reasons the early church grew at such a phenomenal rate was that the lives of the early Christians spoke so strongly to their neighbours. There was something different about them, something that spoke of another reality, an alternative way of living, to the culture around them. I believe that we need a revolution in how we think about church. But I believe, perhaps more importantly, that we need a revolution of the self.

Introduction
It is so easy to feel discouraged today as a believer in our secular culture, to buy the line that no one really cares about the spiritual anymore. Yet I realized that deep down, each one of us, Christian or not, is searching for that name of the white rock in the book of Revelation. We all crave to find our true identities. Each one of us, at a profoundly deep level, no matter what we believe, is being drawn, cajoled, and beckoned by God to our true selves, to find ourselves as God sees us: redeemed and perfect. Yet at the same time, this desire in us is derailed and sabotaged by our culture, which offers imitations of our true identities - faux identities, pseudoselves, and images instead of the image of God. This book is about the quest to find our true selves. It is rooted in the belief that in God's future we exist totally redeemed, exactly as he wants us to be.

Source: Mark Sayers (2010), The Vertical Self, p.xvii-xxiv

Hard work and perseverance... but also enough balance :-)

As we talked about many times before, it is vital to set yourself goals in life and work hard to achieve them. Without any effort and perseverance, you will not live the live you desire and were created for. You need a clear direction in life and others that journey together with you and hold you accountable. It is hard to find such quality people that really care for you and at the same time not let you of the hook.

However, there is a downside to all of this that is usually not sufficiently mentioned in contemporary self-development literature. This downside is overcommitment. If you do not plan enough time for rest and fun, you will burn yourself out and also not live the life you desire. Just think of many extremely busy executives who achieved most their financial goals but often have broken families at home.

So, answer the following questions for yourself and then discuss them with at least one other person:

1. Have I set myself specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely goals?
2. Do I regularly catch-up with at least one other person to talk about each other's progress?
3. Am I really enjoying the journey? If not, why?
4. Is there enough time for relaxation and fun in my life?
5. Can I sustain my current pace and workload also in the long run? If not, which relatively unimportant tasks can I either delegate or stop doing?

What is the big picture of your life?

What things have to happen in your life, so that one day you will look back and say: "Yes, it was really worth it?"

Focus on the big stepping stones, rather than trying to do too much at once.

What are the big stepping stones in your life? What are some things you need to stop doing so you have more time and energy to work on the things, which truly matter?

Do something great with your life and die fully given. Contribute your gifts to what matters most.

When It's All Been Said and Done

I love this song by Robin Mark. "When It's All Been Said and Done" reminds us to focus on what truly matters in life.

What will really matter when you move towards the end of your life? You brought nothing into this life when you were born and most likely you will take nothing material with you. Do you live with an awareness of this?

How do your choices in life reflect the fact that most things are temporary?

Have you discovered anything or anyone who is non-temporary?

Why focus and prioritising is so important - some personal reflections

Many personal development courses emphasise how important it is to "give your dreams all you got" or "never give up". While this is in general good advice, it can become a problem if we overexert ourselves. As humans we all face constraints, particularly in terms of our available time and our health.

For most of us, there are probably more than a million things we really would love to achieve during our lives if we had unlimited time e.g. learn all languages spoken in the world, be an expert in twenty different fields of studies or really good at five different types of sports. Unfortunately, we do not have unlimited time.

We need to acknowledge that our time on this planet is limited. Take the approximate number of years you still expect to live multiply it by 365.25 and you have a rough estimate of how many days you still have left to make those things happen, which really matter.

We all need to make choices. Not to decide is also a decision. The same is true with trying to keep your options open for too long.

What do you want people to say at your funeral?

If you could only achieve 5 things with your life, what would they be?

What does your current way of living tell you about what your priorities are? Do you live purposefully or do you just drift along?

It is so important to regularly think about these things. Let us not waste our lives but use them to accomplish what matters most.

Some reflections on the Gospel of Mark

Mark appears to deliberately place summary passages about important aspects of Jesus’ ministry such as preaching, healing and teaching (Mk 1:14-15, 3:7-12, 6:6) before the sending out of the disciples (Mk 6:7-13).
Moreover, Jesus takes the initiative in each of the discipleship stories. He calls the disciples to become his followers (Mk 1:16-20) as well as the core of God’s new people (Mk 3:13-19) and then sends them on a mission.
For us today, this means that we need to be open to Jesus’ guidance not only in mission but also all other areas of our lives.
As true followers of Jesus we need to make honest attempts to overcome all ungodly obstacles while trusting that God is with us and provides what we require.

What is Freedom?

True freedom is not being able to do whatever we desire to do. Honestly, who would be really happy with that anyway? It might initially seem like a lot of fun, but does it really satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts?

Rather, true freedom appears to be the ability to choose those restrictions that best suit our design and thus fulfill us the most. It is the ability to do what is right regardless of our circumstances in life. If you are truly free, you are able to forgive when others hurt you. You are able to stretch out your hand in friendship regardless of how much wrong the other side has caused you. It is the ability to overcome evil by doing good.

How can we attain this true freedom?