“I’ve said it for a long time—golf is not how I identify myself.” Scottie Scheffler
“In those days, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6)
“A nation is born Stoic and dies Epicurean.” Will Durant
Scheffler’s comment unsettles the sports world because it confronts a deeply embedded assumption: we win to become someone—to build identity through success, prestige, and legacy. That is the cultural script. But this isn’t merely a reordering of priorities. It’s far more fundamental.
The question: “Who am I?” sits at the center of everything. Get it right, and life aligns—bringing clarity, stability, and flourishing not only to you but also to everyone your life touches. Get it wrong, and things begin to unravel, often with consequences that reach far beyond you.
Reality itself is ordered this way. Beneath what we can see lies an unseen structure—a design that governs our material, emotional, and spiritual lives. This order precedes us and is woven into creation, as revealed in the Book of Genesis.
Whether we recognize it or not, we are shaped by this structure. Think of it as the spiritual laws of reality—what some call metaphysical truth. The Book of Proverbs teaches that the key to living within this order is wisdom.
Wisdom is not merely knowledge but a way of being—treasure, protection, and life itself. It forms character, directs relationships, and begins with the fear of the Lord.
Christian identity is layered—almost architectural. It begins with the individual, extends to the family, then to the community, city, and nation, and ultimately finds its source and coherence in God.
Remove that top layer—God—and the structure cannot hold. Over time, even a liberal republic fragments: individual preferences become the ultimate authority, unity erodes, and shared meaning dissolves.
It is a return to the illogic of Judges—everyone doing what is right in his own eyes. Whatever order remains is no longer grounded in anything transcendent but is socially constructed—shaped by consensus, ideology, or the exercise of power.
The movement Jesus inaugurated in the first century is altogether different: an unseen kingdom under a living King—a true monarchy. It perfectly reflects the life of the triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—perfectly united in self-giving love.
This kingdom advances not through political power or top-down control, but from the inside out—through transformed hearts—and from the bottom up, as those lives shape the world like salt and leaven: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Scheffler’s words point to a life anchored in something greater than achievement. His identity isn’t built on performance but is grounded in an unseen reality—formed by the wisdom of God.
For the believer, identity is rooted in the life of the Trinity and sustained by a love that willingly sacrifices for broken people. In turn, we live by that same pattern—lives poured out for others.
Who are we? We are the body of Christ—a living, Spirit-filled people—formed by wisdom, sustained by grace, and called to live in alignment with God’s design now while we prepare for what is to come.
Prayer – Lord, I lack wisdom. Give it to me generously, without finding fault (James 1:5).