I love the early
morning, spending time in communion with our Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, and
the Holy Spirit; meditating in the Word of God, praying for friends, family,
and others. I love listening to creation awake, the birds singing. I love
watching the first hint of sunshine reflecting off trees and flowers.
As I write this
I’m reminded of a morning in Daytona, Florida in February quite a few years ago.
I arose early that morning, as I normally do, and decided to walk around
Daytona International Speedway. In just a few hours the racetrack would roar to
life as the command, “Gentlemen start your engines,” was given, then, after some
warmup laps the green flag would wave and the Daytona 500 would begin –
NASCAR’s premier race. At the beginning of my walk all was quiet around the
outside of the track, but by the time I returned to my father-in-law’s RV where
we were staying, the racing community around the track was waking up and I
could hear stirrings inside the facility.
The capacity of
the speedway is listed at 101,500, and it seemed as if all those people were in
RVs and campers parked around the track, though I knew Daytona’s hotels were
also full of race fans, as were accommodations in surrounding towns and cities.
The thing about race fans in campers and RVs is that virtually each vehicle has
at least one flag flying, a flag representing the race car driver whom the occupants
of the RV identify with and want to win the race. Many vehicles have more than
one flag because often a husband identifies with one racer and a wife with
another. Some of these flags are modest; others are huge.
NASCAR fans not only
fly the flags of their favorite racers, they wear shirts and hats with the
racers’ car numbers and names – and they speak of them as if they know them
personally, generally using their first names, even though most fans have never
met those whose flags they fly, and if they have met them, it was only for a
brief moment – perhaps to obtain an autograph.
Whether it is a
fan of a race car driver, the fan of a singer or musician, or of an actor, or
of an athlete in another sport – when people strongly identify with someone
popular or famous they often derive a measure of their identity from that
person. People can become obsessed with details about a celebrity’s life,
thinking that they personally know the celebrity. The same can be true with
identifying with sports teams. It can be true with politicians. It can be true
with ideologies. It can be true with cultural practices. It can be true with
our view of history.
In one way or
another, much of what we identify with is myth and image, it is not real, it
does not match the reality of the person, the political movement, the history
or the culture or region or country – when we idolize others, when we idolize
images, we gloss over the fallenness of mankind, we ignore sin, and we look to
others and images as our saviors and redeemers and source of wholeness.
College sports
is a particular reminder of this for me; in Virginia many of my friends
identify with either the University of Virginia or Virginia Tech – and when
their team is winning all is right with the world. They wear hats and have
stickers on their cars indicating that they identify with the Cavaliers or
Hokies – this is part of the “identity culture” in Virginia. However, this
uncritical identification ignores the reality that much of what transpires in
these universities is hostile to the image of God, the Gospel, and the commonsense
moral and ethical health of their students. Parents and grandparents don’t
really want to know what is taught and practiced in the colleges they send
their children to and pay tuition to - they would rather subscribe to mythical
images. The same is true for our public schools – it is easier to root for the
high school football team than it is to critique what is being taught in classes
and to evaluate the (a)moral and (un)ethical practices inculcated in our
children.
Because of the
media tools at our disposal, the power of myth and image is so much stronger
today than it has ever been in history, it is what a friend once called
“electronic cocaine.” Our attention spans are shorter than previous generations
and our capacity for critical thinking is diminished more than they have
probably ever been.
When we have
culture clashes and disputes over the reading and interpretation of history,
much of it is about mythical identities rather than the truth – for the truth
puts us on our faces, for when we see the truth, as fragmented as our vision
may be, we have to acknowledge deep moral and ethical failure in humanity. We
are angry when others challenge our myths, we are afraid to see our myths for
what they are, and we are most afraid to question our mythical identities –
whether they are cultural, ethnic, racial, regional, national, political, or
having to do with religious tradition.
For sure we
should beware of seeking to unmask the mythical identities of others while
leaving our own untouched – for unless we know something of the pain of
confronting our own myths, it is unlikely that we can communicate with others
in such a way as to help them see their own.
Perhaps this is
one of many reasons why the message of the Bible gives us hope, for all have
sinned and fallen short of the glory of God – this means, in part, that none of
us is measuring up to God’s original intention for us. The Cross is the great
leveler of humanity, “there is none good, no not one.” That means me and it
means you, and perhaps more importantly in the context of mythical identity, it
means “us.” We are all infected with mythical identities. It is only when we
discover our true identity in Jesus Christ that we can begin to shed the
mythical identities that have encumbered us.
By God’s grace I
have encountered mythical identities in my own life, and that is one reason I
refuse to use words such as liberal, conservative, progressive; it is why I
don’t care for the words clergy and laity; it is why I much prefer Mere
Christianity to a franchised brand that would distinguish me from other Christ-followers;
it is why when people do coalesce around labels, or attack labels, that I try
to understand what they really mean…and have found that often they don’t know.
I have been
appalled at the mythical identities that I have worn without question.
Can you identify
mythical identities in your own life?
Galatians 2:20;
6:14
