In your workplace, you may have the title of pastor, CEO, director, manager, or administrative staff. In your personal relationships, you may be a daughter, son, spouse, parent, friend, or neighbor. These are all roles that you have for a season.
Our roles in life can be transitory, but our identity in Christ is eternal. It is rooted in the truth of Jesus’ love and redemptive work for us and the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence in our lives.
It is common in our culture to make our role in life a primary focus. In casual conversation, when we meet someone for the first time, we often ask, “What do you do?” Usually, we are asking about their role or occupation, and how they spend their time during the week. But unconsciously, we often connect what someone does for their work with their identity.
When we make our role in life our primary focus, it can create unhealthy patterns in our work.
We all want to be faithful, fruitful, and effective in our work. But when we tie our value as a person to our performance at work, we can end up with unhealthy striving.
If we are successful at work, then that affirmation and influence can make us feel like it’s all up to us, and we feel the pressure to continue producing successful outcomes.
When we encounter criticism, difficult situations at work, or disappointing results, we can feel personally devalued. Or we might look to others to blame for our lack of success.
In either scenario, our personal value feels like it is a result of our performance, with no solid foundation to carry us through the ups and downs of life. Sometimes this unhealthy striving is not obvious, but creeps in subtly over time.
Even in Christian ministry, we can get our motivations tangled up and feel like our life is the ministry. This feeling leaves us with no respite or boundaries.
A strong tie between our role at work and our identity can also make life transitions especially hard. If our value comes from our work, then a layoff or retirement doesn’t just unmoor us from work, but threatens our value as a person. And even on a smaller scale, if work is essential to our personhood, then it’s hard to unplug for a short vacation or a longer sabbatical.
What would it look like if we rooted our work life on the foundation of our identity in Christ?
When our identity is firmly rooted in Christ, then we are free to work faithfully with the joy of using our gifts in purposeful ways. We are working from our identity and worth as children of God, not working for our value.
Life-Giving Work is one of the eight FLOURISH factors identified by Best Christian Workplaces’ research as a strong predictor of employee engagement. Work is inspirational when everyone can use their skills and spiritual gifts to accomplish meaningful goals. They can experience the joy and security that comes from being rooted in Christ and participating together with others who also experience this freedom.
As a leader, you can create a workplace culture that reinforces the foundation of identity in Christ for your own well-being and for those on your team. Use times of prayer or devotional experiences in the workplace as an opportunity to deepen the spiritual roots of your team.
The value of people and their identity can also be affirmed in practical situations such as conflict resolution. A healthy approach to conflict ensures that disagreements are about ideas and different ways to accomplish goals, not about the value of people on the team.
Another practical way to support people in a healthy understanding of their role and identity is to offer PTO and model the importance of taking time away from work for employees at every level. Consider making scheduled time off a requirement for some roles.
In the Old Testament, we see that Saul was so wrapped up in his role as king that he was unable to let go of that role. His position as king became his whole identity. He repeatedly resisted God’s anointing of David as the next king. (See 1 Samuel 16-31.)
In contrast, the Apostle Paul outlines all his credentials in Philippians 3, and yet asserts that his calling isn’t based on his roles, but through his faith in Christ.
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. (Philippians 3:4-9)
When we realize that our work is temporary and our identity in Christ is eternal, it reframes our foundation and frees us from performance pressure. No longer are we caught in a cycle of striving for approval. We can work humbly knowing that God equips us and sustains us, reflecting confidence in God’s power, not self-confidence.
Working from our identity in Christ roots us in truth. In our journey with God, it’s an ongoing process of living into this truth. We are invited daily to reorient ourselves to Christ and choose to follow His voice. This daily focus is especially important during seasons of transition, success, or failure. Rather than being derailed by circumstances, our roots can grow deeper into the reality of our life in Christ.
Along with daily turning to Jesus as our foundation, having a mentor can also help us refocus on our identity in Christ. A person we know and trust can remind us that God is always at work, and we can release our control to His sovereignty.
As we grow in understanding that our identity is in Christ, we are freed to use our gifting in our work and leave the results up to God.
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