THE NEED FOR A THEOLOGY AND ETHIC OF IDENTITY
"Peace, Be Still" by James He Qi.
Working as a religious leader in a secular, pluralistic setting has made me acutely aware of the need for a clear theology and ethic of identity due to the expectations placed on clergy. For me, to discuss identity – the aggregate of labels, lived experiences, and perspectives that make each of us who we uniquely are – as a matter of theology, ethics, and spirituality is commonplace. There exists an implicit connection between the questions of “Who am I?” and “How do I honor God?” Namely, because God created each of us in our uniqueness, God delights in our diversity and is honored when each person can live into the wholeness of who each of us is.
This connection between identity and spirituality is natural to me due to the conversations that the Episcopal Church facilitates around social justice and our Episcopal theology. Inherent to these conversations are discussions of identity: how to create inclusive congregations, how the national church can be anti-racist given our legacy of Whiteness and colonialism, and the role of dioceses in influencing legislation that has tangible impacts on marginalized populations. Each of these conversations are possible because of our belief that all of creation is dignified, made in the image of God, and worthy of respect.
Yet many people do not see this same connection between identity and faith. Secular society often asserts that matters of identity are political or sociological. The narrative promulgated in many Christian circles combines secular society’s assumptions with the belief that the only identity that matters is one’s identity as a child of God. To even unpack this, let alone discuss any other identity, is “worldly,” “not the role of the Church,” or even “idolatrous” and “heretical.” I encounter all these perspectives in my role as a chaplain in the United States Army. Because no two people in the Army share the same background, let alone the same theology, each soldier – including each chaplain – maintains a different opinion about what a chaplain should believe and what a chaplain should discuss.
I have been on the receiving end of both innocent questions about why I care about identity and pointed criticisms from other Christian leaders for suggesting any nuance about what it means to be, and to see others as, a child of God. Some of my clergy peers have explicitly told me that identity is not a religious issue and I should be ashamed for entertaining the conversation. I imagine that I am not the only person of faith who has encountered these same reactions when claiming that celebrating our world’s diversity is a matter of theology, ethics, and spirituality.
The question of who each of us is, however, is a theological question with ethical implications for how we navigate the world. Identity is a theological question exactly because of this Christian belief that God created a diverse world, and that each person is a child of God, fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image and likeness. This means that our unique identities are divinely inspired and deemed “good.” A robust theology of identity could be rooted in these beliefs.
To make this theological claim is to say that every part of us, including the parts yet to be discovered, are worthy of attention and celebration. We know that God, God’s self, rejoices in the diversity of creation. We know this because after every act of creation, God said that what was created was “good.” Diversity is seen in the creation of the day and the night, the water and the sky, the land and vegetation of all kinds, the stars and galaxies, all creatures big and small, and everything in between. God’s creativity had no end, and the created world in all its diversity was good.
This same goodness of a diverse creation extends to humanity. Like the rest of creation, God clearly created us in different manifestations. Each of us is unique with our own personality and identity. Therefore, God rejoices and delights in human diversity, too; and if God rejoices in the diversity that God created, so should we. To dismiss this aspect of our personhood is to dismiss God. Being a child of God can be at the center of our identity; but without nuance that allows us to acknowledge and celebrate the other aspects of identities, we dishonor God by disrespecting a core component of creation. When we deem discussions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, ability, and class as “irrelevant” to Christianity, we ignore the beauty of the diverse tapestry that is creation, we allow ourselves to wash our hands of injustice, and we fail to responsibly honor every person in a way that honors the Creator.
An ethic of identity flows from this theology of identity because how we value identity informs how we see the world. A theology of identity necessitates considering how we live in relation to ourselves, others, and the created world and how we nurture these relationships. A theology of identity rooted in the belief that we are all children of God made in God’s image and likeness dictates respecting a person’s truest expression of themselves and seeing the face of God in one another. It means celebrating one another for who each of us is, not just as a worldly matter, but also as a matter of spirituality. Finally, an ethic of identity is a matter of love. If our diversity is of God, then God loves our diversity. If God loves our diversity, then we must love our diversity, too. Part of love as action entails co-creating a world in which all persons can feel safe enough to express themselves and feel empowered to be their whole selves without fear.
Identity, or the knowledge and expression of who we are, is intrinsic to humanity. To claim that one’s identity is “a child of God” and then refuse to unpack what this means is a disservice to not only the individual, but also to God, because it does not honor the totality of who God created this person to be. Such generic statements only permit Christians to say, “I see you, but not for who you truly are. I see you only in the way that my theology and world view allow.” This way of seeing not only diminishes a person, but also God.
This has implications for the lived experiences, mental health, and spirituality of all God’s children. When we fail to see the uniqueness of each person as God-inspired and fail to see God in the diversity of human identities, we are at risk for whitewashing Christianity and reinforcing a normative way of being that deems anything outside of the “norm,” sin. This “sin” language, or othering of persons, stems from the reality that our country was built on a specific combination of identities as to who could hold political and social power. This combination included White,Christian, cisgendered, landholding, heterosexual men. While society and our laws have evolved, these identities still form the neutral norm that informs our culture unless otherwise stated.
The Church is not impervious to this influence, either. Rather, Whiteness, maleness, and straightness are the default in our churches unless the effort is explicitly made to celebrate diversity as a theological and ethical imperative. The absence of this recognition opens the door for institutionalized racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, and Christian triumphalism within the Church. We need not look further than LGBTQ+ Christianswho are denied Eucharist because of their “lifestyle,” women who are barred from preaching because of their gender, clergy of Color being forced to fit into White Church models, or overtly Christian rhetoric in pluralistic settings to see tangible harm caused by erasing identity from Christian dialogue.
At best, refusing to acknowledge the totality of one’s identity as a matter of theology, ethics, and spirituality will continue to turn people away from Christianity. At worst, this refusal can lead to deep spiritual harm which disturbs a person’s sense of self and inhibits them from realizing their inherent value, dignity, and worth bestowed unto them for who they are. This spiritual harm can lead to shame and unbelonging which, in turn, can have any number of literal and metaphorical life-ending consequences.
Conversely, for a clergyperson to acknowledge and honor identity can be life-giving. The sigh of relief when met with love after mentioning a same-gendered partner, relaxing into a chair when realizing that code-switching is not necessary, the tears when Eucharist is freely given, or the smile that emerges after discovering one’s own strength affirms the life-giving power of an affirming theology and ethic of identity. Just as God created the first humans with their own identity when God breathed life into the earth, so too can we breathe life into others when we honor the totality of who each person is.
Ultimately, identity is a theological and ethical category that begins with an understanding that we are all made in God’s image and likeness. One part of our identity is that we are all beloved children of God. However, the language of identity deserves nuance from Christians if we are to truly uphold these theological claims and if we are concerned about what it means to live in love with our God, our neighbors, and ourselves.
