“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am Yahweh your God. 3 ‘You shall not do according to what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do according to what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. 4 ‘You are to do My judgments and keep My statutes, to walk in them; I am Yahweh your God. 5 ‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does them, he shall live by them; I am Yahweh.” (Lev. 18:2 LSB) https://accordance.bible/link/read/LSB#Lev._18:2

Identity is a huge topic currently. Mostly it is framed around our gender but we also identify ourselves by our race, our country of origin, even our favorite sports team. It is is inherent to us to want to belong to some tribe around us. This desire for belonging reveals our brokenness. We were meant to belong to God and His family, to be His children living in community under His rule. Our brokenness, our inherent sin, causes us to seek community outside God and His church. Those born again by the Spirit of God who are now the true children of God are to identify themselves publicly by living according to the ways of God found in the Word of God while living in community with the other children of God. This is in part, the work of God He is doing among His people. When God lived among us as one of us in Jesus the Savior, He commanded we love one another indicating that by our love for one another we would identify ourselves as His disciples. We are not to love America, our University, our ethnicity, our sexuality, more than Jesus and His people, our brothers and sisters. We are to love God first and most, evidenced by our effort to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves placing ourselves in community with all those who likewise love God and His people. This will cause us to pursue different goals, spend resources differently, spend time differently, talk differently, raise families differently, think differently and participate in the culture differently from those who reject the One True God in Jesus the Savior. This rejection of the culture and its ways may cause us disdain from the culture but we are reminded to choose this day whom we will serve: man or God.