Helping Young People Find Their True Identity
Pre-pubescent and adolescent children face huge changes in their bodies but also their sense of identity. Peer pressure from friends as well as expectations from school, family and church can find them unsure of who they truly are. It is this jumble of emotions and confusion that Chris Morphew addresses in his latest book, Who Am I and Why Do I Matter? Claire Musters explores some of its themes with him here.
You write for young people, tackling the ‘big questions’– where has your passion for this age group come from?
This is the age group I interact with every single day in my day job as a Christian Studies teacher and school chaplain – and I’m constantly blown away by their fantastic questions! In the Big Questions series this latest book is my best attempt to provide answers to some of the most common questions I hear from my own students.
You focus on identity – why did you feel it was important to write about this now?
Figuring out who we really are has always been one of the great challenges of life – but in our current cultural moment, where so many of the basic building blocks of identity are being deconstructed and redefined, I think that challenge feels more complex than ever.
However, I’m convinced that Jesus has the same power He’s always had to cut through the confusion and provide us with a sense of who we are that is secure, solid and life-giving. I hope this book will help anyone, whether they’re following Jesus yet or not, to see how He is the one who can help us figure out who we truly are and where we fit in the world.
Our society urges us to find our sense of worth through consumerism, celebrity, our looks, achievements – how does your book show young people these aren’t the places to find their significance?
Many of these things do seem to deliver on the promise of a happier, more fulfilling life – at least in the short-term. The problem is they’re all so temporary and unreliable, which means that whatever you tie your identity to will become the emotional rollercoaster you end up riding for the rest of your life.
When we find our deepest identity in Jesus, we’re connecting ourselves to someone solid and dependable. We can move through life without fear because we’re finding our identity in a source of life that will last forever.
One chapter focuses on why being true to yourself, one of the big mantras of today, is problematic. Why did you feel it was so important to tackle that idea?
At face value, the idea of being true to yourself is massively appealing. Even as Christians, we can easily slip into the unspoken belief that Jesus’ role is to help us pursue whatever we have decided will make us happy.
But Jesus loves us far too much to settle for our short-term happiness. Instead, He’s committed to our long-term flourishing and to helping us discover and grow into our true identities as people who embody the love, joy, peace and freedom of Jesus Himself.
How does understanding who God says they are give young people the right perspective to understand where they fit into the world and what to do when they do mess up?
When we understand who God says we are, we begin to see ourselves clearly for the first time. We see that we’re more messed up than we like to think we are, but at the same time, that we’re more deeply loved than we ever imagined. And the more clearly we see the depths of God’s love for us, the freer we’ll be to confront the dark places in our hearts, confident that Jesus will meet us there with love and healing.
Our young people have grown up in a world that is constantly switched on – what effect do you think that is having on them, and what do you hope they will glean from what you say about rest?
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the first generation to grow up with smartphones and social media is also experiencing a mental health crisis.
Obviously, there are no easy answers here, but part of the solution for followers of Jesus has got to be taking some regular time to unplug – not just from our phones, but from all our work, all our activity, all the good things we’re doing that, if we’re not careful, can crowd out the voice of God in our hearts and minds.
I think there’s great power in taking some deliberate, regular time to stop, focus our attention on God, and let Him remind us of the truth about who we really are.
Chris Morphew is an author, teacher, and school chaplain living in Sydney, Australia. He has written over twenty novels for children and youth, including his six-book young adult series, ‘The Phoenix Files’
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