Sergey Lebedev joined the staff of the English ministry of CCX Ukraine last year. Excellent English (in its British version) is not his only super skill. He writes short stories about students, their lives and problems. Sergey has agreed to write student stories monthly. Here’s his first submission:
“For all who did not sleep enough. For those, who had enough rest or just a little. For those, who have already celebrated theirs, I’ve been meditating on a work-worn thought for a few days already”.
This is how my anthology of the search for new meanings could have started. But I'm here to not give out any creative product, but myself. How to do it? Everything is simple: you need to know who you are and know yourself.
Identity is an interesting thing. It begins in the past, goes past the present and hides somewhere in - for some foggy, and for some light - the future. The whole process is not controlled by us.
And it іs strange. If you are a Christian, you already have an identity from God. What options have those who still do not trust Him? The only solution is to try to find one’s own identity, give self-determination without outside help or any landmarks.
I remember when in England at one of the youth meetings, a girl of 13 years old asked people to call her Bob, because she "does not want to be conformist and tries to overthrow the yoke of prejudices of society." By the way, this girl grew up in a Christian family.
Somewhere on the way people just lose the right landmarks. Somewhere at the crossroads, we can forget who we really are, and who calls us and how.
A philosopher named a set of all factors that identify us, the sociosphere. We do not define ourselves by a single factor. For example, we dare not use using our reason, like the teenage girl did, because our thoughts are always subjective. Or using just a biological factor. Or even a combination of factors, for example, a country, a society, a religion, a dad and a mom, etc. No. The Bible says that He knew us even in the womb and has a plan for our lives. A good plan. He calls us. This nominative function—giving us an identity and a name before Him – belongs to the One Who created us.
Remember when you turned to Him as a dad, a friend, a king, a doctor, a teacher, and a wise counselor. Remember who owns all objective truth. I am not sure that we have the right to self-name, self-determine, and self-identify ourselves beyond who we already are. The Apostle Paul writes that we can do this but will it be useful? Have you called God friend? Then trust completely. Have you recognized Him as Dad? Then acknowledge His authority. Have you chosen to have God as teacher? Then accept counsel from the Wise One.
Extremely simple.
And at the same time difficult.
P.S.: Sergey Lebedev, 29, has extensive experience in organization of Christian camps and tutoring experience. In 2016-2017, he worked at charitable institutions in Sheffield (UK). In CCX Ukraine Sergey is an CCX staff worker and works directly with students on university campuses in Kyiv.