Orland Evangelical Free Church | The Consequences of Amnesia

Suppose I wake up and forget my identity. That's disruptive.

I don't go to the office, study for sermons, counsel people, or preach anymore. A cute five-year-old boy keeps jumping on my lap and I think, "Where are his parents?" My wife kisses me and I wonder how I acquired such magnetism.

Sooner or later this will affect my relationships.

Suppose I forget where I come from. I drive off to get some coffee (that much of my previous life I remember). Where do I return when I'm fully caffeinated? The house at my address seems nice enough but the lawn's a little the worse for wear and there's too much of it. I'll get a motel room.

Forgetting where I come from makes me rootless.

If I forget my identity and my home, I probably can't reconstruct why I'm here. Is there somewhere in Orland I should spend time? Lots of places seem agreeable: the library, the lake, the Whistle Stop. But I don't know why one spot should be more important than another. A church, for instance.

Forgetting why I'm here makes me aimless.

And what about the future? If I forget who I am, where I come from, and why I'm here, how can I know where I'm going? I don't know what to work for or what standards to keep. I drive by the Swift House Ministry Center and think, "Look at those smiling people laboring hard at whatever they're doing. It must be satisfying."

Forgetting where I'm going makes my behavior fruitless.

Is your behavior disobedient to God's commands? You may have trouble overcoming anger and jealousy. Lying and sexual immorality may be constant failures. There may be a coldness in your worship, both public and private. Why does this behavior persist?

The reason is that we forget who we are, where we come from, why we're here, and where we're going. We lose a biblical worldview, so our decision-making is aimless.

God stamps us with unique identities as redeemed people, "created in Christ for good works" (Ephesians 2.10). But when our identity slips our mind we can no longer relate to people in a godly way. We forget about the forgiveness we've received, so we extend none. We lose sight of how Christ purchased us with his own life, making us his servants, so we act as if we're masters of everyone around us. We forget who we are and the good works stop.

The same is true of the other parts of the biblical worldview. We come from God's decree to give us life (Psalm 139.1-6, 13-16, 23-24). We're on earth to bear fruit to glorify God (John 15.5-8). We're going to eternal fellowship with God (Revelation 22.1-5). When we forget these things, our decision-making reverts to selfish priorities.

And our culture is designed to encourage selfishness. This society tells us we can determine our own identities. Science and psychology says we come from physical and social processes, not the decree of God. Our culture treats us as consumers, inviting us to please ourselves without any hint of where we're going.                                                                                            

When we listen to our culture instead of Christ, no wonder we behave like everyone else.

If you want to change disobedient behavior in your life, you have to change your decision-making. You have to set goals, priorities, and routines. There's only one way to do this: remember who you are, where you come from, why you're here, and where you're going.