The thought never crossed my mind that someone would want to impersonate me.
I never saw myself as an Elvis, a Tina Turner, or a member of ABBA – you know, one of those people who have imitations of them headlining shows on the Vegas strip.
That was until last week (minus the Vegas part).
I received a phone call from the bank saying that my account had been compromised. After a quick conversation and new debit card, I was sent on my way, thinking nothing of it.
Upon further discussion with friends, and a coincidental advertisement about identity theft precautions, I began to wonder whether or not a compromised bank account could mean something more.
I started to examine whether or not there was anything else suspicious in my life recently and realized I hadn’t received a piece of mail in more than two weeks!
Apparently, these two events are major warning signs that someone is trying to steal your identity.
How would someone even go about pretending to be me?
The ordeal had me thinking about identity and what makes me who I am.
According to a thief, I am a name, a social insurance number, a credit rating, and a bank account.
If you stop and take out a pen and paper, you could probably write over 100 “I am” statements. Start with who you are in relation to the people around you, add your occupation, your hobbies, your nationality etc.
Sure, these statements are true, but do they truly define who you are?
When Jesus was on earth, he used “I am” statements to allow the people around him to understand who he really was. He said things like: “I am the light of the world,” “I am the bread of life,” and “I am the good shepherd.”
Many of these statements were metaphors saying that Jesus was God in human form.
Christians like me believe we can understand who we are through understanding God and the belief that we are made in his image. Because of the things Jesus said when he was on earth, people who seriously follow him know more about their own identity.
The Bible records one of Jesus’ followers as saying, “God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating.”
Because of who Jesus is, people who believe in him and seriously follow him are rescued.
Another Bible quote says, “We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us.”
We have access to God.
People who follow Jesus develop a new identity through him. This identity, thankfully, cannot be imitated or stolen. It doesn’t depend on protecting our PIN or keeping track of mail.
It is an identity that defines Christians as children of God.
What kinds of things would you say comprise or help describe who you are? Are you satisfied with the things that form your identity?