Identity

“Who are you?’

That’s a strange question for a judge to ask, but a man stood before Judge Michael Simon, and that was the issue.

The judge asked the attorney, Janet Hoffman, “Do you want me to refer to your client as Mr. Pearce, Mr. Do, or Mr. Casper?”

Roger Pearce was a 77-year-old man who retired to Oregon. But that was a lie.

After applying for a new Social Security number, the police arrested him for identity theft. They charged him under the anonymous name of “John Doe”.

Pearce admitted he was born Willie Casper. But at Rice University, he messed up his life. He dropped out of school and went through a series of marriages and divorces. He ended up committing petty theft and murky check schemes.

He wanted a new start. So, he purchased a birth certificate of a deceased child and applied for a new Social Security card under that name.

In our world, you cannot change your name to change your life. History, whether bad or good, follows you.

If you want a fresh start, it doesn’t start with a name change, but a Lord change.

Paul told the Corinthians:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV)

You bear the same name, but the old life gets erased. Forgiveness gives a fresh start and a different identity…child of God.

If you want a new identity, don’t do what Pearce did. Come to Christ, and the old becomes new.