The who am I in Christ question is important, deserving a complete, understandable answer for all who may ask. Sometimes on spiritual matters, which can seem abstract, it is better to compare it to a physical situation easier to understand and to compare it. In this case we will compare ourselves to an airplane and how it flies. We are the airplane, and our flight is our potential spiritual life path and possible destiny. The ‘potential’ and ‘possible’ parts are what we can do with our lives if we make the best choices. Does this sound high risk of failure, not finding the mark? It is not, with faith, it is more of not ‘making it happen’ with our right decisions using only our mind, it is more of ‘letting it happen’ by using our heart and our faith. That is the airplane part.
There are two sides of us, who we are in Christ, the first side is looking without, our likeness to everyone else, and the second part is looking within, our difference we have from everyone else. First, looking without, we develop the likeness part in how we interact with all others in community, in other words, learning how to be social, not a fake, but authentically social. Second, looking within, we learn how we are different from every other person on earth. For the first part of our lives, we learn from a family setting and in school the social skills needed to interact in a positive way with everyone else. For clarification, who we are in Christ simply means who we are as a person God created, both as a person like everyone else, and the person different with a unique gift, a contribution within us that we are to develop and share joyfully with all Humankind. Those are two separate but interacting parts which make us fully human.
We can call the traits we share as a person like everyone else the ‘what’ of we are, and we can call the traits we alone have that are our gifts to share with Humankind the ‘who’ of we are. Both sides are who we are in Christ. Both of those two sides complete our fulfillment as individuals. We do not need to learn specifically who we are, in some cases we may need to learn how to find it. God does not change who we are, he opens our eyes to what good he had put into us to manifest. What good we discover within us was there all along. Sometimes trauma and severe emotional need can turn off our sense of self enough we can lose connection with what and who we are, so we cannot fly.
As an individual it is okay to be as different from mainstream Humankind as needed because our differentness is where we find our Christ selves. This is where our contribution to humankind is, where our gift from God to Humankind is found. When we were born, we were gifted with something that we would love to do or be. Simultaneously that very thing, task, or setting was laid in our future life path for us to find. When we ran across it, we would know it instinctively. It may be something we alone would find, but more likely there will be a loving group of people with that same passion and perspective on life there to welcome us into their fold as well. This group is patiently waiting for you to join them, because once there, you will make this group complete.
In this context, we can replace the word Christ with the words unique and gifted self. If you find that, you have found Christ. I find in doing research on this that many churches tell you that you need to read the Bible, join their religious discipline, and let them tell you how you should find you. They further imply that you are permanently lost, broken and need their Bible and religious guidance to become complete. One religious site even said that finding yourself is not doing what you enjoy doing or having a passion for but is in doing what God commands you to do to serve others. Obvious in that advice is an attempt to separate you from your ‘seeing things through your own eyes’ to further blind you so they can see things for you. After that they will feel for you, think for you, and make your own choices for you as well. Most of mainstream Christianity demonstrate those cult dynamics profusely. You cannot look to an outside source even in religion to find what is located inside you to find. The church organization did not create you, God did. They have no right to tamper with what God alone created.
Okay, now we are getting to the airplane part, how we are like an airplane and our life path to our destiny is like our flight. When we have an emotional, maybe even a deep emotional or spiritual need, like wanting to find ourselves in Christ, we are searching with our intellect only. This is because our connection to our heart has been compromised. Our life path is now calling and life’s time for us to move on is happening. So, our minds are urged to redirect our focus on more personal spiritual things and seek answers. We as an airplane are taxying on the ground slowly on our landing gear. The urge to grow into the airplane that we are, is getting stronger. This is the ‘who we are in Christ’ question needing an answer. When we are slow on the ground, we are living in our intellect, often with confusion because we are trying to understand our way to completeness. That works for a while but understanding with intelligence, believe it or not, has limitations.
So, what is the next step in our spiritual development? Gently move from looking outward with your intellect searching for answers to define your life, even into religion, and transition into looking inward, trusting your way through life. Rely less on the landing gear on the ground. Start relying more on faith and looking inward at your gift, interest, or talent. Start trusting your way through life, for by trusting, your life will lift off on its wings. It is the wings of trust and faith in what and who you are that will lift you on your flight. At this point you will no longer need landing gear, living by wits, and understanding alone. Faith and trust in finding your passion are the engines. God put it there. Pride and passion in what you love to do are your fuel, and they never will run out.
You do not need any religion, even ours once you have found yourself. This spiritual transition is not an either-or transition that happens quickly. It is a gentle gradual growth transition that happens over time. The final element to make your growth complete is you do not need to be the pilot in the airplane of your life, God is the pilot. You are the passenger. You focus on what it is that makes you ‘You.’ It may be in becoming a pastor in a religion or living in Alaska or studying ancient ruins or even opening a hairdressing school. Whatever it is, Humankind needs you in it doing exactly that. Go ahead and let all of Humankind rejoice with you in doing it!
Just for the record, this is an emotional and spiritual encouragement ministry. We are selling nothing here and are not at the present time even set up to take donations, and probably never will. Your healed life are our reward enough, and we are very pleased with that. If you want to, please share your strength with others in your future so our nurturing can live on.