Struggling With Definition

By: Josh Droke

I believe that struggling with security is essentially struggling with definition. Not struggling with how to define security, but rather with how our security defines us. We struggle with letting go of something, struggle with the thought of being without it, because it defines part of who we are.

Take TV, for instance. Television isn’t just about entertainment; it’s about being able to have relevant conversations with people the next day. Would people still talk to me if I didn’t know what was going on in the sitcom/drama/sports/news world? Or if I didn’t own a car, would that change how people look at me? If I wore the same clothes every day, would that change the way I look at myself? What if I didn’t have this job? What would I say when people ask what I do for a living? What would I do with the looks they would give me?

As a husband and father, a house and food are important in defining how good a caretaker and provider I am. It is vitally and intrinsically important to me to protect my family, and the quality of my house shows the world how good I am at providing shelter. I want my wife and daughter to be happy and healthy, and the quality of food I can supply goes a long way towards defining my ability to do that. The thought of being without a house, or without food, is more than just being cold or going hungry. It’s grappling with how I would live with my failures as a defender and protector.

Even more incomprehensible is the thought of living without my family. What if something were to happen to them? Husband and father are the most important roles in my life, right? How could I go on without them? What would give my life meaning?

In the end, I think that we cling tightest to the things that define us the most. We find our security in creating our own definition of ourselves, and hold on to that for all we’re worth. And yet Jesus invites us to be ready to leave it all behind. He called the disciples to drop everything that defined them – their businesses, their families, and their possessions – to come and let him change their definition of everything. And he invites you and me to allow him the opportunity to define each of us, a definition wrapped in grace, love, faith, and hope. If security is simply a battle for definition, let us all be defined through clinging tightly to Jesus.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23)