You don’t have to be who you once were

I recently heard this phrase, but I can’t remember where, or who said it. I think it was in relation to something in the African American Community, but I’m not sure.

This phrase has caught my attention for a few reasons.

First, I love the phrase. It’s a freeing phrase. It frees people from having to recreate the past. It frees us from expectations and habits too. It frees us from our ourselves too — what we were.

Second, it’s a hopeful and hope filled phrase. It is oriented towards the future and what we are becoming, not what we were. It also allows us to be in the present and make some decisions about where we are going.

Third, it isn’t just for individuals. The phrase is true for people as well as churches, institutions, companies, governments, nations, etc. That’s a beautiful thing.

Fourth, it means others don’t get to label you. I’ve written about this in the past. If you can label someone, you can control them, the expectations around them, and what to think about them and what they think about themselves.

When I think about this phrase in relation to the church, it is such a great phrase. It is the counter to “We’ve always done it this way.” When we adopt and actually believe that the we don’t have to be who we were, it means we also honor the people that are the church today — the gathered Body of Christ — and what that community is called to, right now.