Identity and Influence

A Reflection on the Gospel for October 17th, 2021:
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Mark
10.42-45 (shorter)
(For the longer version, see the print edition of Living with Christ.)

So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
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​We live in a culture obsessed with identity; how I label myself, how I present myself. Do I check off the right boxes to get the algorithm working for me? We seek status, attention, our 5 minutes of fame. Global political systems continue to be trapped in identity politics — an extension of the games we play every day in social media. Social media is all about our personal brand. If you play the system well, you can achieve tremendous status, leveraging your influence for opportunities.


Society teaches us that our goal should be to increase our influence by honing our identity into something that will get the most views, likes, and shares. These words from Jesus are a much needed tonic for this moment in history. Our calling is not to become an influencer, but instead a servant. As a people whose work is inspired by the movement of the Spirit, we are called to cast off fears of how our actions will impact our “brand” or give us uncomfortable labels. When we are doing what the Holy Spirit has inspired us to do, we can’t be mincing our words or cowering from negative attention in our attempt to protect ourselves from the perception of others.


We are called to give everything to the Lord. We are called to be who He calls us to be in the world — and that is clearly one who seeks to serve and sacrifice for the love of others. Our identity ought not be determined by our following or social media metrics, but instead our entire identity should be about who Christ makes us.


We are born into this culture, this society, and this moment, defined by all of those external factors. How do we cast off the burden of this grind and struggle for influence, attention, status? Christ flips status on its head, reminding us that even God — the King of Kings and Lord of Lords — came to serve and to save, not to be served. His Life overflows into us, and like a tidal wave upends everything. The desire to be seen and heard is crushed like a serpent under foot (though it does still struggle), replaced by a desire to hear the unheard and see the unseen. Instead of scrambling to the top, we are moved to rush to the margins to find those the world has given the identity of “less than” or “other”. With our eyes opened, we see who our neighbour truly is and who we are called to be for them.


My perspective of myself is also changed. I am no longer a slave to the race for influence. I can step off that wide but joyless path, and Christ redirects my feet into the little way that leads to Him. On that path, I am who He makes me. I am a daughter of the King. I am the mother of the children entrusted to me. I am the wife of a man joyfully bound to me through the sacrament of marriage. I am a disciple missioned to till the fields, fields which have been tilled by many more before and will be tilled by still more after I am gone. My identity is in Christ who saved me. My joy is in His mission. My future is in His home.




Stephanie Potter

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