I struggle with imposter syndrome. Like many men, I feel a need to prove my value and show the world that I am not a phony. So, I make professional proposals that take far longer to create than necessary. I dress up my emails to signal my class, and I wear dress shoes and collared shirts to meetings. I want to be valued and respected, much of which is tied to challenges I faced in my family of origin. Some days, however, this professional image is hard to maintain. My clothes won’t iron flat, I make silly email errors, and I say awkward sentences. Those are days that I feel like hiding.

Who Are You?

How would you respond if someone asked you who you are? I normally weave my vocation into my identity when someone asks me this question. My responses typically vary – I am a student, a graphic designer, a business owner, and so on. But, what if I was a person who “happens” to design for a living, or just “happens” to be in school? What would that say about me?

In his song Identity, Lecrae raps these truths:

I’m not the shoes I wear

I’m not the clothes I buy

I’m not the house I live in

I’m not the car I drive, no

I’m not the job I work

You can’t define my worth

By nothing on God’s green earth

My identity is found in Christ

Creatives struggle with identity because we work hard on our art. To us, a t-shirt design is more than just slapping on a logo. A social campaign means more than throwing together a few posts. A song means more than the three minutes it is played. We often feel that our art says something about our core identity, but we are more than the crafts we create.

Discover Your True Identity

Again I ask, who are you? If you say you are a painter, what happens when your hands don’t work anymore and you can’t climb a ladder? If you are a singer, what happens when your voice goes out on tour? If you are a designer, what happens when the design challenge is beyond your expertise?

Friend, please don’t weave your craft into your identity. Reach for someone higher – reach for Jesus. Our abilities and assets will fade, but Christ lives forever. You can’t be disappointed if you secure your identity in him! If you believe that Jesus is Lord and rose from his grave to defeat your sin (Romans 10:9-10) – and if you have made Jesus the CEO (Lord) of your life – you become a new person. With that decision, instead of simply a graphic designer, you now know that you are a prized creation worth dying for. Instead of a painter, you realize that you are the brushstrokes of a brilliant artist. Everything else is the response of your true identity.

You create masterpieces now to reflect the glory of a magnificent God. You don’t have to be anxious that a failed art piece means that you are a failure. You don’t have to be identified by the work you do – your identity can be in Christ. Obviously, I do not advocate for a legalistic perspective on framing your identity. Go ahead and call yourself by your job title if that feels natural. But never forget who you are beyond what you do.

Where do you stand in this conversation today? What if you could eliminate a significant portion of your anxiety by choosing to be identified by the work Christ did to save you? If you have never taken that step, I’d love to connect.