When I was in 7th grade, my mom signed me up for softball. We had just moved from Colorado to a small town in Michigan, where softball was a big deal. As in, most kids started Tee-ball by the time they were five years old. My only memory of ever swinging a bat was also when I was five… and trying to be funny had taken a great big, dramatic, 360-degree-swing that landed on my toddler brother who had been watching me from behind. Oops. At least I hit something…
After doling out a nice shiner on my sibling, my parents deemed a bat an unnecessary recreational device after that. Suffice it to say, I did not have any skills – natural or trained – for softball. And to my absolute horror once the season progressed, “pitcher” ended up being the worst answer to the coach’s question, “What position do you want to play?” My strategy had been to pick a position that didn’t have the high-stakes pressure of catching a ball. Let’sjust say, that did not go particularly well.
As you can imagine, I did not feel like I belonged on that team. When I think of that powder-pink team t-shirt, I recall what an imposter I felt like.
Have you ever felt like an imposter? Like you just didn’t belong because you didn’t live up to spoken or unspoken expectations? Maybe at your job or in your family or around certain friends? Maybe even at church. What do we do when we feel that dissonance?
I think our typical response to this “imposter syndrome” is one of three things. We either cover up, freeze up, or give up.
It’s often the reason I save makeup and fashion reels on social media. Or why I get shy in certain social groups. Or why I have quit activities that don’t come naturally to me. Complete transparency: Sometimes it’s also why I feel frustrated when someone else gets glory for something I did well.
But the root of imposter syndrome is not low self-worth. It’s low God-worth.
You see, we are all guilty of a type of imposter-ship that is not just a “syndrome,” but a desperate crisis.
It all started in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were created “in the image of God.” In other words, God made them to reflect his glory, just as a child reflects the image of their parents. Their loving Father gave them everything they could possibly need or want there in the Garden.
But when propositioned with a scam that they could rival God instead of just reflecting Him, they jumped at it. And instantly they knew rather than being more like God, they had become less like him; they had committed treason against the One whose image they bore. They were genuine imposters.
Their solution was to cover-up. With limp leaves, they attempted to camouflage into the foliage. But like a knowing father, their Father sought them out. And He asked them a question he already knew the answer to: Where are you?
It was an invitation to “come clean” – in more ways than one.
Was there a consequence for their rebellion? Of course. Sin is treason against the holy, glorious Creator and King of the universe, and like Adam and Eve, we too have committed this same rebellion and are genuine imposters. But, our Creator and King is also a gracious God who cleans up our mess.
The consequence was lives plagued by death. But the “clean up” was even greater. Jesus, the Son of God, exchanged our sin for his holiness when he died on the cross. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God.”
Word-nerds, do you know what essential word in this verse is the hinge on which our salvation rests?
You might be surprised to know, it’s the word “in.”
In? you say…
Yes, my friends. This miniscule preposition means that – through faith – what is true of Jesus is now true of us!
And can I tell you something else? This little word “in” represents a whole theological doctrine called “Union with Christ.” I don’t know if it’s ok to have favorite doctrines, but I’m just admitting it anyway… this one is my favorite!
“Union with Christ” means:
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22)
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
“Now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13)
“Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
If you skimmed over those verses, back up and read them out loud, because I can’t write anything better for you than words straight from God’s Word.
If you have admitted your guilt as an image-bearer of God who has sinned against God – and accepted Christ’s free exchange of his holiness for your guilt, then you, my friend, are no longer clothed as an imposter. You are clothed in Christ, who has made you a genuine and beloved member of God’s family, and nothing can change that glorious status!
What areas of your life do you feel threatened by fear of not belonging? Those impulses to cover-up, freeze-up, or give-up are unnecessary. Both before God and before people! We can pursue growth to glorify God as worthy instead of trying to prove our worth, because—as the Heidelberg Catechism puts it— we “belong—body and soul, in life and in death— to [our] faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”
