You hear about it all the time these days. Someone, somewhere, somehow gets the personal information on an individual. And, then that information is deliberately used to assume that person’s identity. It’s nearly always done to make purchases on everything imaginable including prescription drugs and clothes…..and just about every other thing you can think of. It’s very hard for authorities to find and catch the perpetrators because it’s usually hard to determine how they obtained the information in the first place.
I got an email a couple of months ago from a credit card company which I had a card from. There were three charges in the previous week that they somehow identified as ‘suspicious’. After looking at the charges it was obvious that I had become the victim of identity theft. It was a good ‘heads up’ move by the credit card company. If they hadn’t noticed it I would’ve probably just paid my bill and went on without ever knowing it. The transactions amounted to a little over $300 dollars. $250, and some, at a Publix Supermarket in the Orlando area. The other two totaling about $60 were used at gas stations in that area, as well. It was nice to find out that the credit card company covered those bogus charges.
There’s an even more serious case of identity theft happening today, and it’s happening in the church. There’s an outright ‘identity crisis’ and it’s affecting the the overall effectiveness of the whole church in a negative way. Here’s the issue at stake; For the longest time we’ve heard that we’re to be ‘servants’ of the Lord. That’s somewhat true….but only from a ‘functional’ position…..but not at all from an ‘identity’ perspective.
The Bible is crystal clear; the Father has called us His own sons….not servants. Sons have greater responsibility than just a hired-hand. And, they should….because sons…….have an inheritance! And, the difference in mentality and motivation between servants and sons is vast.
So, maybe it’s not so much a case of ‘identity theft’ as it is ‘identity forfeiture’. But, at any rate, we need to step into our true identity as sons and daughters and change the world!
Check these out from a year ago:
The “Only Thing” That Really Works
Andy Taylor 