We’ve all felt it. The fear that sets in when you see a purchase on your account you didn’t make. It’s the beginning of identity theft. All you have to do is order something online or get some gas and you’re at risk. Hackers wait in the wings, ready to swipe your information after every swipe of your card. And yet, hackers are not the greatest threat to your identity.

You are.

I’ll explain, but first, we need to talk about your hunger. Snickers released an ad campaign a few years back which featured people in various situations, all of them compromised by their hunger. To illustrate this, they swapped out the people with famous actors clearly out of context. My favorite was the commercial featuring Betty White playing football and talking smack: “That’s not what your girlfriend says.” Hilarious. Thank you for accepting that job, Betty.

All of those ads ended with the same tagline: “You’re not you when you’re hungry.” Snickers was referring to actual stomach hunger, but recently I wondered…is Snickers right? Am I quite literally a different person if I am not handling my hunger well? Let me introduce you to a man named Esau.

In the book of Genesis, we read about the history of God’s chosen people on earth, the nation of Israel. God chose to advance his promise of land and greatness to them through a family line: first Abraham, then his firstborn Issac, then Issac’s firstborn, Esau. Being the firstborn at this time and in this family not only means that you’re entitled to a double portion of your father’s inheritance, but it also means you’re the carrier of God’s promise to your people. It was referred to as the “birthright.” It’s lucrative and it’s prestigious. It’s essentially an identity straight from God. And Esau didn’t see it this way.

Esau’s twin brother Jacob was known as a deceiver from birth. He’s savvy and opportunistic. And he’s about to be given an opportunity. Esau devalued his identity from God, but Jacob did not. Jacob saw it for what it was, and wanted it for himself. Now, there’s all kinds of problems with that, but at the very least, he sees it for what it is: invaluable.

On this particular day, Esau comes back empty-handed from a hunt. And he’s a skilled hunter. He’s “famished,” – a great word meaning “extremely hungry and exhausted.” Jacob, who is making stew, takes the opportunity to offer some to Esau in exchange for the birthright. The BIRTHRIGHT. This is a no-brainer, right?

But Esau takes the offer. He gives up his identity from God in exchange for a bowl of soup. Scripture tells us the reason why:

“Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.” – Genesis 25:34 ESV

Despised is the key word. Essentially, this means two things:
1) Esau overestimated the size of his hunger
2) Esau underestimated value of his identity

Why did he devalue the most valuable thing in his life? Because the stage was set and his hunger was out of control. There was a famine in the land and he was hungry.

The same thing happens to us. Much like Esau, we’ve been given something invaluable: an identity in Christ. The Apostle Paul tells us as much in his letter to the Ephesian church:

“…even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ…” – Ephesians 1:4-5 NIV

Spiritually speaking, due to our sin, we were once orphans and enemies of God. Now, we are ADOPTED into his family through the death and resurrection of Jesus. A few verses later:

“In him (Christ) we have obtained an inheritance…” – Ephesians 1:11 ESV

What do we learn here? We learn that our true identities are inherited. And if they’re inherited, that means they come from the OUTSIDE in, and not the inside out. This is important because of something God teaches us through Paul’s words in chapter 4:

“…to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self…” – Ephesians 4:22-24 ESV

So our identity from God in Christ is something we either put on or take off. And if our old way of life is the “old self,” when we live out of THAT identity and not our new one…we’re imposters in our own bodies. Imposter identities will always leave us empty, anxious…and hungrier than we were in the first place. And what sets the stage for this most frequently? Hunger that is out of control. And hunger gets out of control when we don’t trust Jesus to fulfill us. The thing is, He can be trusted. He is crazy about you and doesn’t want you to fall into a confusion of identity.

Don’t confuse what is only meant to temporarily satisfy for something that can fulfill you.

Many things can satisfy. These are the things we’re hungry for: Companionship, financial security, acceptance, significance, fun, happiness, etc. The problem is, we fixate on these hungers. We over-estimate them and under-estimate our identities in Christ. And when we don’t understand that our TRUE identity is fulfilled by Jesus and Jesus alone, we will trade that away in exchange for having our hungers satisfied in our time and in our ways. 

Essentially, we’ll sell our birthright for a bowl of soup.

So yes, there are hackers and thieves set on stealing your identity in this world. But really, even more dangerous than that, is sometimes we just give it away.

How do we avoid doing that? How do we ensure that we put on the new self each day? I’ll talk about that in the next post. For now, ask yourself: What am I hungry for? And am I trusting Jesus with that hunger?

Because if you’re not, you’re running the risk of trading away who you really are in exchange for something you want right now. And my friend, that is always, always a bad deal. And Snickers will be proved right: you won’t be you when you’re hungry.

Steve