HOW WE THINK OF OURSELVES

Scripture speaks of God’s people in the language of saints. We do not. Scripture speaks of Christians as a family. We do not. Why is there such a difference between the way the Biblical writers describe us and the way that we describe ourselves?

Business people who attend assertiveness classes are taught about the important power of positive thinking. They learn the danger of negativity and especially the depressing consequences of working in an environment in which their status is constantly undermined. If someone keeps talking you down, sooner or later you’ll feel yourself on the ground.

The problem is that this kind of negativity has invaded the church – and we have unwittingly endorsed it. But modern Christians now talk themselves down. Older writers followed the Biblical example and kept their descriptions of Christians high – for these people, Christians were ‘saints’, and with respect to one another, we were to be ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’. But, by and large, we’ve abandoned the terms. We’re prepared to think of ourselves as something less than ‘saints’. We’re prepared to treat one another as something less than brothers and sisters. We’ve forgotten the metaphors and abandoned the power of Biblical thinking.

The metaphors are vitally important, because how we describe ourselves ultimately impacts how we behave. Think about it – how we describe ourselves is vitally important to who we believe we are; how we describe ourselves is basic to what we think about ourselves; how we think about ourselves is basic to the way we act.

Isn’t that the reason we have forgotten the Biblical identities we possess? We are reluctant to call each other ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ because we’re not prepared to act as if we were each other’s brother or sister. We are reluctant to call ourselves ‘saints’ because we’d rather not live under the expectations that name involves.

But these terms are important. Bible writers in both testaments use the term ‘saints’ to emphasise that God’s people are his ‘holy ones’. The New Testament epistles constantly reiterate that these saints have been brought into a family relationship with their heavenly Father, and hence with one another.

Thomas Goodwin has something vital to say about our forgotten metaphors. We should keep on calling ourselves ‘saints’, he writes, ‘that the reality of the true religion be not lowered (as it is) by avoiding this title, which in these times is out of use; but it is [out of use] because true holiness is out of fashion’ (Works vol. I, page 11).

Let’s recover the metaphors. Let’s embrace our identity as ‘saints’. Let’s embrace one another as the brothers and sisters of the family of God.