Who Do You Think You Are? Finding Your True Identity in Christ

by Mark Driscoll

Who are you? What defines you? What is your identity? How you answer those questions affects every aspect of your personal, public, and spiritual. So it’s vital to get the answer right. Pastor and best-selling author Mark Driscoll believes false identity is at the heart of many struggles — and that you can overcome them by having your true identity in Christ. In Who Do You Think You Are? , Driscoll explores the question, “What does it mean to be ‘in Christ’?” In the process, he dissects the false-identity epidemic and, more important, provides the only solution — Jesus.

Genres: Christian, Christian Living, Theology, Nonfiction, Christianity, Christian Non Fiction, Religion

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Mark A. Driscoll is the founder and teaching pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, as well as the co-founder of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network where he also served as President for a short period. Driscoll continues to serve on the board of Acts 29. He has contributed to the "Faith and Values" section of the Seattle Times and the "On Faith" section of the Washington Post.

Reviews

[Kevin Sorensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why do I always have mixed thoughts and feelings about Mark Driscoll? Perhaps because he enjoys being a lightning rod pastor. He is not afraid to confront the world or the traditions of the church. Driscoll can be very cutting edge––cutting to most mainstream Christians and edgy to young believers seeking to make a difference in their world.
When Driscoll writes topically, thematically (e.g., Real Marriage: the truth about sex, friendship and life together), I just pass on by. He has a tendency to speak to the grunge crowd of Seattle more than the rest of the world. This may be fine for that context, but it just won’t play in Peoria. However, I find that when he goes to the Bible and sticks with the text, he does fairly well. He’s orthodox in his beliefs (if not so much in practice). His exposition works well––he illumines the text and its meaning.
I think he’s done this with one of his latest books, Who Do You Think You Are? Entering the book of Ephesians is a wonderful place to go if you want to learn who you’ve become, who you are and who you’ll be forever. Driscoll does a more than adequate job of taking the text and relating it to our world today. Americans (and American Christians are no different, sadly), pay far too much attention to what their self-esteem is. As believers, we should be far more concerned with our Christ-esteem: do we esteem Him at all? If so, how much? How is that seen in our lives, our deeds, our words? Driscoll forces us to use Scripture to think on these things.
The writing in this book makes me wonder if Driscoll didn’t have assistance in simply taking a sermon series and putting it to book form. There seem to be some repetitive portions, which as a pastor/preacher I know are helpful in an extended preaching series. However, the book is, overall, very readable.
I commend this book to you…if you can set your preconceived thoughts of the author aside long enough to read it.

[Coyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Driscoll may not know it (or heck, maybe he does), but when he wrote a book about searching for personal identity he stepped directly into one of the fundamental philosophical questions of the 20th century: who am I? When philosophers pitch this question, “identity” is usually paired with some form of the word “authenticity.” The idea is that we should be searching for our identity not as society or culture has shaped it, but as it actually, authentically is when all external factors are stripped away. We should look deep down within ourselves to find out who we are most fundamentally by nature. Think this sounds easy? Not according to Heidegger, Marcuse, Camus, Sartre, or even the Christian response to these thinkers by Francis Schaeffer (to say nothing of the legion of other philosophers who have tackled this issue).
Mark Driscoll’s contribution to this discussion comes not from a philosophical perspective, but rather from an exegetical one. Who do you think you are? Is an exposition of the book of Ephesians that engages the question of personal identity. In the first chapter, he lays out the crisis of identity that the modern world seems to be going through. Because we don’t know who we are, we try to find our identity in “all the wrong places”, including in Items, Duties, Others, Longings, and Sufferings. (Equaling IDOLS—the requisite pastoral acronym, pgs 3-14.) In other words, at the end of the day we are fundamentally and authentically defining ourselves by our sin. When we do what the modern philosophers tell us to do and examine our own hearts and minds, what we find is that the person who should have been an image-bearer of the God who made him has become an image-bearer of anything and everything else.

Read the rest here: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/schaeffe...

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

For just a moment, suspend what you’ve been told about Mark Driscoll, and just pick up this book. If you go ahead and read it, you be delighted to find a practical commentary on the book of Ephesians, which focuses predominantly on the issue of Christian identity. Time and again, the point is made that, as Christians, we don’t have to find our identity in our sexuality (homosexual, prostitute, adulterer, porn addict), substances (alcoholic, addict, etc.), or other sins (angry person, narcissistic). We don’t have to label ourselves with these alternate identities, because who we really are is found in Christ. In Him, we are victorious, and saints, and filled with the Spirit, and we could just keep on going. This little work unpacks the implications of what it means to find our identity as saints rather than as sinners. If you open your heart, you will be encouraged and changed.

[Benjamin Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really appreciated this book. As a Christian, reading this book with a humble heart can help you to put your life into perspective, and to take advantage of the wealth of wisdom, truth, and help generously provided in the Bible. Along the way, Mark lovingly and thoroughly reminds us of all the blessings freely given to believers, if we will just be humble and audacious enough to ask. The testimonies woven throughout the book are incredibly humbling, bringing (at least this) one from brief tears of choking sympathy to tears of victorious joy. In Christ, we have more power, authority, freedom, strength and love than many of us know; and in Christ, we are simply enough.

[John Majors · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though not a big fan of his preaching, I've often found Driscoll's writing insightful. He has a way of summarizing key ideas succinctly and memorably. This book is sort of a summary of his sermon series on Ephesians. If you're looking for a book to work through a little at a time (like for a morning devotion), this is great. Ephesians is such a powerful book for understanding who we are in Christ. There are some great insights in this book, like: 1. Seven things forgiveness is, 2. seven things forgiveness is not, 3. Fourteen types of biblical affliction, 4. I.D.O.L.S (this is GREAT), 5. A chart on the difference between conviction and condemnation.

Lots of great content, combined with powerful life change stories, which makes for a great read that will help many believers walk in Christ in all areas of life.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A practical exposition of Ephesians, focused on our identity in Christ. Good work.

[Jeanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What does it mean to have your identity in Christ. As Christians do we consider what we have placed our identity in. Do we know and how can we know. Pastor Mark has an I am statement beginning with a question mark and each statement thereafter with a statement being in Christ. He shares personal testimonies of those who have battled their identity in Christ. It is a battle in every area of our lives. In relationships, what we do and ultimately who we are. While Satan tells us did God say, just as Jesus was tempted in his identity, we can by the word of God and know the I AM. Rightly knowing our identity affects our relationship with God and others. I think just like Job who lost everything knew who he was in Christ knew reality and clung to the truth which is who God is. A humbling study that causes you to think further

[Dr. David Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read several of Driscoll's books over the years. This new release is a decisive moment of depth, maturity, and pastoral wisdom. While I have greatly enjoyed and benefitted from Mark's other books, Who Do You Think You Are? will not only make a significant impact on the local church; it should silence the naysayers and perhaps build bridges with pastors who have been critical with Driscoll in the past. You know who you are!

Thanks to Mark Driscoll for writing a book that will unleash a new army of Christ-followers who walk in the power of the Spirit and minister to people for the glory of God.

www.baldreformer.wordpress.com

[Steve Dustcircle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This man seriously thinks lowly of women, children, foreigners and the like. Wow

[Jonathan Brooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

There aren't any real clues till you've read a few pages into Chapter 2 that this book is actually a systematic way at looking at our identity in Christ by walking through Paul's letter to the Ephesians. I found that to be a fortuitous coincidence, since I just so happened to be reading the book while traveling to and from visiting the city of Ephesus! But it was also a pleasant surprise because it took one of my favorite books and brought it to new light.

There were certain parts where Driscoll seemed to take a passage of the Ephesian scripture and turn it in a somewhat unexpected direction. I wouldn't go so far as saying that he misinterpreted the Scripture, just that he would occasionally make an unusual focus on something in a passage which seemed to have another focus.

Regardless, the writing was very good, bringing some hard-hitting truths (classic Driscoll) to the reader about an absolutely pivotal part of our lives: how we view and understand our identity. While it ended up being a different treatment of how we find our identity in Christ than I had been expecting, I was still pleased to read page after page of this perspective of our identity in Christ as seen in Ephesians.

[Madeleine Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book in 2017 and read it probably almost two years later. I then took it to my small fellowship group and we read almost half of it before the pandemic hit and we were forced apart.

This book is compelling and vibrant, full of stories and anecdotes to help the reader digest what is actually quite heavy theology. The thoughts presented in this book are so accessible and conversational that it felt almost as if I were having a conversation with the author as I read.

It wasn't entirely the right format for a small group, but we made it work, and it rewarded us for our effort. I must say, even though it was several years ago that I read it, I still refer back to things it taught me, and a significant amount of my personal understanding of identity was informed by this book. In addition to this, it also got me finally reading Ephesians, which I had sadly neglected up until that point.

This is an easy five stars, because even when I didn't agree with what was being said, it still challenged me and made me grow. Well written, informative and uncomfortable, just as Christian books should be!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a book about one topic, rather it is a collection of topics found throughout Ephesians, one for each chapter. In that way, Mark Driscoll can inspect a lot of topics, all from the "I am..." angle. That way, he can examine topics as wide as from the "Gifted" chapter about the gifts of the spirit to slavery in the "Rewarded" chapter - doing them at the same time personal. Almost all of the chapters could do well and better as their own book, so that's a thing I don't like too well about a topical mash-up of a book like this. In the book, Driscoll still manages to give a good overview of the Christian message through how it is presented in Ephesians, so it's not a bad book in any way. It is more, rather typical, Christian inspirational read that is well written from a proven good author.

[Rae V · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great resource when new to faith or looking to deepen your curiosity of identity through Christ.

Driscoll brings us through a variety of real life examples and questions to look at ourselves, our situations, and our own natural talents to discover what it means to be a child or God.

There is some repetition and lingering in each section as he takes us through the concepts, which is why I say this is great for newer faith. I know I am still learning, however I am long enough in my belief that personally this did not speak greatly to me. But, I see the value and the great intention behind this book! Especially if you are deeper in your faith then another, this would be a great book to go through together. One reflecting, one learning!


3⭐️ enjoyed it, might read again
Happy reading!♥️📚

[Steffi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this before. I re-read it again most years, almost like an identity in Christ reboot, although I tend to not read it cover to cover each time, now I have. I don't agree with everything Mark says, but I don't need to for the book to be helpful and to help me gain more insight into Ephesians and what God is saying through the book. I have also listened to his series on this that he did when still at Mars Hill. If he did less shouting, I would listen to his talks more, but the book is great. Highly recommend for every Christian who likes to read books on books of the bible, as well as those who haven't much. It's pretty accessible

[Martha Wilkerson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who are you? What defines you? What is your identity? How you answer those questions affects every aspect of your life. So, it's key to get the answer right.

This book is based on Ephesians and contains daily devotions, a small group study, women's ministry study, and a student ministry study. I thought that the small group study was the best written and most effective. I didn't feel that the women's miinistry study had enough content. But the small group material was helpful in researching a Bible study that I am currently leading.

[Kimberly Thornbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ugh, I know. I know. Mark Driscoll. But I’m reading a lot about identity in Christ, to understand the concept more clearly, more practically. His exegesis of Ephesians is not horrible and his examples are very real world. (Not silly problems that make me want to roll my eyes.)
Anyway, in an age where so much of our identify is in our career, cool friendships, glam travel, and how many followers and retweets we have, it’s mind blowing to remember that we are (probably) called to a quiet and content life rooted in this truth.

[Paige Norwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written as a guide for the authors 16 year old daughter, this book is applicable at any age. It parallels the book of Ephesians and is paramount is discovering who we are, who God is and what we are created to do.

[Danita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book !! Will use it in a class I teach , great resource for new believers!

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out great, lost interest towards the end. I liked Real Marriage a lot more.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some interesting points here, and I liked that he focused on looking through Ephesians throughout, but nothing really stuck out to me or changed my perspective.

[Christopher-James Neethling · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes you through Ephesians and deals primarily with your identity in Christ as a Christian.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating clarification: 3.5 stars

Fairly good exposition of Ephesians. A good reminder of our identity in Christ, although some bits were perhaps not as well structured or meaningful.

[Brian Bement · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

[Alicia Schulz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book, but it did not challenge me in any way.

[Pug · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome and moving book!
Wish I could memorize it.

[Pía López Copetti · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most like a compendium of brief interviews

[Abigail Denton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went into this book thinking it was a commentary. I have been reading the book of Ephesians and thought this book would be an asset to my studies. I would say it's more of a response to the book of Ephesians than a commentary. He wrote chapters based on the chapters in Ephesians, but it's not a verse by verse study through the book.

That being said, I enjoyed the book. He started each chapter with a story from a real person and a lesson they had learned that correlates to the theme of the chapter. I enjoyed reading through so many stories from real-life people. He also used a lot of references. Each chapter had several references to back up the statements he was making. Another thing I liked was how thorough he was in explaining some theological issues. He spent a lot of time going through different topics like the armor of God and different spiritual gifts. He did a good job explaining them each specifically and again, giving lots of references.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book. It's a quick and easy read, that was written for regular people like me. I'm glad I read it and I would read it again. I know there is a lot of controversy surrounding the author. This book, however, was done really well and I enjoyed his thoughts and learned from his perspective. It was different than I was expecting, but I would recommend it to a friend.

[Kevin Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finding our identity in Christ is the topic of the latest coming from Mark Driscoll. At times it seems folks like Driscoll work too hard trying mold theology into a cool, trendy concept for a younger generation. Yet, this book moves beyond that imposed stereotype and addresses an issue this generation (and all generations) struggle with.

How do you identify yourself? Some are quick to mention their occupation, their hobby or their personal achievements. Yet others are trapped by memories of life-altering accidents, horrible sin or depressing tragedies. However, the good news of the gospel is that we are in Christ. Our works, our sin, our failures, our success, our regrets, our victories are erased by the all-encompassing work of Christ. As Christians we identify with the Savior and rest in His work and plan. Christ is my life.

In this book Mark Driscoll reminds us that to be in Christ means I am a saint, blessed, appreciated, saved, reconciled, afflicted, heard, gifted, new, forgiven, adopted, loved, rewarded and victorious. If you are a Christian, this is who you are. You are not known by God through your works of self-righteousness or sins of depravity – you are known through His Son Jesus Christ. What a blessing!

“As Christians, we live from our identity, not for our identity. We are defined by who we are in Christ, not what we do or fail to do for Christ. Christ defines who we are by who he is and what he’s done for us, in us and through us.” (page 17)

Each chapter of this book seeks to answer the question of “Who Am I?” by walking through the book of Ephesians passage by passage. I think Driscoll does a fairly good job of expositing the text and highlighting helpful nuances. Each chapter also features opening illustrations of individuals struggling with their past failures and finally coming to see their new life in Christ.

I must say this book was an incredible blessing to me. It was just the encouragement I needed to start the year off. I am one who struggles with the idea of acceptance and confidence so much of the content of this book really hit home.

One chapter in particular that took me off guard was 5 – “I am Appreciated.” It just doesn’t seem right to think of myself as appreciated. Sometimes as Christians, we don’t know what to do with praise, compliments or appreciation from others. We rightfully attribute anything of value we are able to do to God’s grace and strength. Yet, it is not wrong to appreciate the work of God in the lives of others nor is it necessarily a bad thing to revel in the value you have through the grace and strength of God.

Driscoll explains, “While it may sound spiritual to say that everything that happens in solely by God and that we take no credit and deserve no appreciation for anything we do, it’s unbiblical and ungrateful. The reality is that we are God’s “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” The word workmanship used by Paul denotes that we are God’s work of art or poem. Just as we do with works of art made by artists in this world, we can take enjoyment in, praise, and appreciate the work of the art itself while giving ultimate credit to the artist who created it.” (page 56)

There are a few things I may wince at or shake my head at a few times in these pages… While at times Driscoll’s illustrations can be graphic for my taste, I need to remember life outside the four walls of the white, suburban, upper-middle class comfortable churches and Christian organizations I am associated with can be rough. Sometimes I need to be reminded of the real needs of real people. Driscoll’s charismatic, spiritual-gift views are not where I am at, but this book is still of great value despite of my differences with him in these areas.

So, I would encourage you to purchase this book and start to study just what it means to find your identity in Christ.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by the publisher for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

[Charles Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Driscoll is a straight-shooter, this is a collection of sermons from Ephesians, and it sounds/reads just like his sermons (minus the yelling). It's a birds-eye view of the book, getting superficially deep enough to prove his point, which is a very valid point: Who are you? Where does your identity rest? This is a useful book for studying our culture and its identity-crisis, it can also be a useful Bible study book if you want to overview Ephesians without digging in too deep.

[Theodore (Ted) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Who Do You Think You Are?, Mark Driscoll unpacks the multifaceted new identity we have in Christ as he provides a thirty thousand foot view of the book of Ephesians. In his introduction, Driscoll claims, "this world's fundamental problem is that we don't understand who we truly are—children of God made in his image—and instead define ourselves by any number of things other than Jesus" (2). In this way, he suggests our sinful behavior finds its source in our false identities which idolize self and the material things of this world.

Following this brief but important introduction, Driscoll—in subsequent chapters—unpacks various facets of what it means to be in Christ as found in the book of Ephesians (I am blessed, I am appreciated, I am saved, I am afflicted, I am forgiven, etc...).

Accessible Language

In a culture obsessed with finding itself, Driscoll's "self-help" language and accessible title gives this book the opportunity to find its way into the hands of those who might not typically read a more academic looking/sounding book. Pastor Mark opens up the book of Ephesians—and the truth of Christ—to a wide range of people. He manages to do so without patronizing less academic readers or failing to offer fresh insights to theologically inclined readers. This is to be commended.

Commitment to Scripture, Truth, and the Gospel

Perhaps the greatest strength of this book is that, even as Driscoll points readers to various identities, he demonstrates how they are all rooted in Christ's completed work. We are saints because of Christ (ch. 3). We are blessed because we are in Christ (ch. 4). We are appreciated, saved, reconciled and so on because of Christ (ch. 5–7 respectively). A reader might pick up this book, read the table of contents, and hope to find encouragements about who they are. What they'll find instead is THE encouragement of the gospel, where Christ is the source of our identity and blessing.

Episodic Chapters

While the theme of identity holds the book together on a macro scale, it does so somewhat loosely. Each chapter reads like another week's sermon, with little to no reference of previous illustrations, examples, or verses. In this way, the chapters are fairly episodic and disjunct. While the content is all valuable, there's no major metaphorical or illustrative thread that holds the myriad of stories and themes together. Given the nearly infinite scope of "identity," this is an understandable difficultly. In light of this, I'd suggest Who Do You Think You Are? be read devotionally, one chapter at a time, rather than as a single logical argument with an introduction, argument, defense, and conclusion.

Conclusion

While the book isn't at the top of my recommended reading list, there is still much to commend about it—the greatest of which being its high view of both Scripture and the work of Christ.

I received this book as part of Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze blog reviewer program.