🎥 Video 7C: How to Guide Identity Conversations

Hi, I am Haley, a Christian Leaders Institute presenter.

A leader once asked a young man named Andre, “Who are you before God?”

Andre laughed nervously.

“I know the church answer,” he said. “I am made in God’s image. I am loved by Jesus. But I do not know how to live like that.”

That was an honest answer.

Christian leaders must guide identity conversations in a way that connects biblical truth with real life.

Identity is lived through story, body, community, calling, and worship.

First, listen to the story.

Ask, “What has shaped how you see yourself?” Family words, school experiences, church wounds, success, failure, rejection, and encouragement all shape identity stories.

Second, honor the body.

We are embodied souls. Our bodies are not accidents, costumes, prisons, or raw material for self-invention. God created human beings male and female. This created design includes the spirit and the body, Some try to reduce gender to choice of the spirit.

Third, notice community.

People often receive names from others. Some names bless. Some names wound. Christian community should help people receive identity in Christ, not perform for acceptance.

Fourth, discern calling.

Identity is not only “Who am I?” It is also, “Before God, how am I called to love, serve, repent, grow, and participate in his kingdom?”

Fifth, return to worship.

The deepest identity question is not merely psychological. It is spiritual. What do I trust? What do I love? What do I fear? What do I worship? What promise am I living by?

Roy Clouser helps leaders ask what is functioning as ultimate. Dooyeweerd helps leaders notice the many sides of identity: body, feeling, reason, language, relationships, justice, love, and faith.

But this must be clear: the aspects help us notice reality. They do not give us permission to rearrange creation according to feeling, language, or social pressure.

 Ministry Sciences observes that "experienced identity" can be shaped by narrative, attachment, habit, and community. The Bible reveals the deeper truth: identity is created by God, damaged by sin, restored through Christ, and formed by the Holy Spirit.

What helps?

Move gently from story to Scripture to one faithful next step.

What harms?

Turning identity conversations into either culture-war reaction or postmodern affirmation.

The takeaway is this:

Identity before God is received, restored, embodied, relational, vocational, and worship-shaped under God’s created design.

Last modified: Tuesday, June 2, 2026, 8:36 AM