Who are you? And what are you doing here?

One of the first questions at the Exodus Conference that really struck me was asked by Alan Chambers in his opening address.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

This question really resonates with me on so many levels. In the past I have tried to answer that question by where I was. I'm in church - I must be a "christian", I'm helping the youth group - I'm a "youth leader", or I'm into a particular sport - THAT must be who I am. And in truth most people only knew me in the context of those roles. It gave me the "rules" I needed to know to act appropriately within that construct, but I was terrified that I would be discovered, that my secret would get out (he's one of THOSE!!!).

But without those rules to play by, the question becomes even more important.

"Who am I? And what am I doing here?"

I have allowed people and circumstances to say who I am (gay, pervert, failure, useless) but who has the power to truly name me? Who can discern my true nature and name that?

Only the One who created me.

So I need to ask Him, "Who do You say that I am?" When those old voices want to tell me who they think I am, I need to go back to God and ask Him to remind me again who He says I am. This may seem like a very basic idea for some, but for me this is something I really struggle with.

# days sober = 30