Kingdom Builders

Identity. So many people struggle with it. Am I a doctor, a housewife, a writer, a mother? Or is that just what I do, not who I am?

Obvious answer. Of course my identity is so much more, and so much more complicated, than just what I do with my time and to make a living. In our culture, when you meet someone at a dinner party, for instance, one of the opening questions will be ‘What do you do?’ 

As a stay-at-home mum of four, I used to dread that question. It always made me feel pointless, worthless, and my feelings of despair irritated my husband who always reassured me that what I was doing was worth so much more than bringing home a salary. 

Wouldn’t it be so much more interesting, though, if the opening question on meeting a stranger was ‘Who are you?’ – a question encompassing more than just a request for a name but a deeper answer?

I think it’s too frightening a question for most people to handle, because so many people do confuse what they do with who they are.

I’m working on an article on retirement, and reflecting on what a blow it can be for someone who has equated his identity with his profession, to suddenly lay down that profession. Many retirees go through a period of depression as they struggle to come to terms with the fact that they are no longer a ‘doctor’, ‘lawyer’, or ‘teacher’. 

From a Christian perspective, we are children of the King of Kings. That is just who we are. And what does that mean, in terms of what we do? We are Kingdom builders. From the moment we surrender to Jesus as our Lord and King, and forever more. Even when we in old age, when we can no longer ‘do’ much, our remit is to build the Kingdom. Through prayer. Through relationships. Through kindness.

So go on being filled with the Holy Spirit, and go on building the Kingdom. That’s who you are – a Kingdom-Builder.