You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World

by Alan Noble

We are free to discover the meaning of our own life—but we’re also burdened to discover it.

We strive to independently define our identity, but we are always dependent upon others for the recognition of that identity.

At their best, local churches remind us that we are not our own but belong to God, and in so doing, they disrupt contemporary understandings of meaning and identity. It must be said, however, that far too many churches have adopted the contemporary anthropology. They assume that we are our own and provide us with options for meaning and identity like any other community.

Our rest is rarely restful. It is an active rest, a rest without silence or stillness, a rest marked by the overwhelming responsibility to make better use of your time.

Belonging necessitates limits. The question is to whom we belong. If we belong to ourselves, then we set our own limits—which means we have no limits except our own will. If we belong to God, then knowing and abiding by His limits enables us to live as we were created to live, as the humans He designed us to be.

Autonomy offered us freedom and gave us alienation.

We need to belong to someone who is perfectly able to desire our own good while desiring their own good, someone for whom there cannot be a conflict between our good and their good (John 3:16; Romans 8:28; 2 Peter 3:9). We need to belong to Christ.

A Christian anthropology asserts that all these things are true about human beings, but our longings are met in union with Christ when we accept our belonging to Him.

Your true identity is not a publicly projected image that requires regular maintenance, upgrades, and optimization.

If we are our own, we need to justify everything we do. We need to know that we are optimizing and competing and improving. But if we are not our own but belong to Christ, things can just be good. And that’s enough.

Modern life is weary, and we are all heavy laden. When we accept and embrace our belonging to Christ, that inhuman burden is no longer ours to bear.