The old me looks a lot like the new me

When I was in college, I used to express myself by writing these mass emails. I think it was a lot like this blog, but back before I knew about them (does that make me old? It makes me sound old). I found them stashed on my hard drive and have been going through them, sprucing them up, and thought I would post them here. So what follows are my thoughts on labels, circa 2000.

T-shirts. At some point, they stopped being clothes, and they started being posters, signboards, and advertisements. Many try to 'express' their individuality through their t-shirts. Does wearing a band t-shirt make you a member of the band? Are those who wear the band shirt the only ones capable of understanding and appreciating the music and the lyrics? I think it is less about the clothing and more about our search for significance.

Significance can be found in many places, everyone wants to belong. From punks, to Abercrombie & Fitch, to cowboys, everybody looks for something that can define them. It does not even have to be clothes. Some people look for their school, profession, or significant other to define them. What is our identity wrapped up in? What DEFINES you as a person?

Recently, I have been caught up in my own search for significance. I have no clue what I want to be when I grow up. I have no idea what I want/should do with my life, I have recently been re-evaluating my ideals, principles, and standards. Is this how I want to live my life? Casually floating through existence? True, I have really awesome friends, I go to a great school, and I have a wonderful family. But is that all I am? Were my friends to leave, I drop out of school and my family die, would I cease to exist?

Where do I draw my significance from? What defines me as a person? It is not my sense of humor, for many people are funny. It is not my friends, for they are not mutually exclusive friendships, my friends are friends with other people. It is not my school, for my school belongs to 45,000 other people. What defines me? In my search, I have found that answer to be Jesus Christ. While I may not know who I am, I know who He is. I know what he stands for, and I have a direct line of communication with Him.

But if I account myself a Christian, then I should hear what He is saying and that I obey Him with all my heart. But what if I don’t? What if I choose not to do what I know is right? If I define myself as a Christian, but live contrary to His teachings, then what? What does that make me? It makes me nothing. I am simply wearing a label, or listening to a type of music. It ceases to affect my identity.

My point is this: if you define yourself as a Christian, then it is time to live up to it. It is time to stop pussyfooting around the issues, and to stand up for your beliefs. Only by following after Christ do we gain that sense of significance. I may not know what I am going to do with my life, but I know that God does, and that is good enough for me. By following Him, I am sure to find out.

So, that was me, almost 8 years ago.