By 
Who Am I?
My daughter-in-law posted poignant thoughts on Facebook recently mentioning the blessing and curse of controlling one’s image. An Asbury University student told me she totally shut down all social media. The pressure to present the most perfect life created unbearable anxiety.
How does the mature Christian woman reflect on, and react to, a world dependent on what others think?
Where does she find satisfaction and peace?
From 1982 to 1993 the American audience faithfully followed the antics and angsts of Boston’s subterranean watering hole named Cheers. Their theme song is immediately recognizable, as it quickly moved into the cultural lexicon: “Where everybody knows your name...” Haven’t you heard social commentators reference “Cheers environments” as their goal?
Let’s refocus the Cheers theme in light of Scripture. Who knows our name from before birth? Not the proprietor of the local bar, or the administrator of an online chat room. Isaiah 43:1 (ESV) and Isaiah 49:1 (ESV) give us the answer: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” and “The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.”
- Remember the touching episode in the wilderness when Abraham allowed banishment and sure death for Hagar and Ishmael by the will of Sarah? What does God do? He calls Hagar by name.
- Think about sweet, obedient Samuel who heard his name called five times.
- One of my favorites is the emotional scene at the tomb when a devastated woman stands distraught only to hear her name, “Mary”, spoken by the risen Christ.
He knows our name! He calls us by name!
Where does gladness legitimately reside?
- Zephaniah 3:17 (ESV) gives us a triumphal answer: “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
- He gladdens us with His joy: for God had made them glad with great joy (Nehemiah 12:43, ESV).
We are not dependent for our “gladness” on others. A social thermometer is unnecessary in the presence of the Most Holy—no waiting to see which way the acceptance wind is blowing before entering in. We are in Christ and the Father has made us glad.
He is glad for us; He is glad we are His.
At Cheers, names were known but often thrown about derisively. Despite the optimism of the bar’s theme song, gladness soon soured when faced with the conflict of egos, insecurities, and life experiences.
Social media wars foment bruised spirits, lying, and character assassination.
Can the world produce desperately desired attachment?
No. Scripture instructs us to direct our attention, adoration, and worship to the great eternal King, not to the kings of this world. We seek belonging, community, and connection. Society’s passing alternatives simply bring shallow substitutes for what we find in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Perhaps we need to stop humming the Cheers theme song, curtail looking for the world’s adulation, and recognize we are already in that safe place—the space of everlasting peace. Only in our triune God can we find proper identity perception and glad reception.
Brenda Smith
Brenda A. Smith lives in the Piney Woods of East Texas. Her work as President of the Breakfast With Fred Leadership Institute creates opportunities for Christians to “stretch and bless the next generation of leaders…to the glory of God.” She is currently a Womenary board member and a Womenary student since 2012. Observing God’s life lessons in the everyday gives her a love for illustrations which bring His truths home. Her colorful seasons of life: marriage, mothering, divorce, business, caregiving for parents, and non-profit leadership. Music, reading, writing, and most of all – family(including 9 grandchildren) are sources of joy. Encouraging women to truly see His sovereign hand even in the darkest days and trusting in His goodness is her heartbeat. 
