SPIRITUAL IDENTITY AND SPIRIT-EMPOWERED LIFE:

DISCOVER YOUR IDENTITY IN GOD’S FAMILY, PURPOSE IN GOD’SCALL,

AND POWER IN GOD’S SPIRIT

By
James Neal III
February 26, 2018

A BOOK CRITIQUE

Submitted to Dr. Mathew

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Course

PRM 678 ADVANCED PASTORAL CARE, BLENDED A (Spring 2018, Mathew)

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY AND MINISTRY

ORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY

 BOOK CRITIQUE

Bibliographical Entry

Mathew, Thompson. Spiritual Identity and Spirit-Empowered Life. India: Goodnews Books,
2017.

Content Summary

Spiritual Identity and Spirit-Empowered Life is a book that has been written with the

intention of walking the believer through acknowledging the need for a spiritual identity,

understanding their identity and how we as believers are instructed to walk out our spiritual

identities as the church of Christ.

The author begins his audience’s journey in the same place we all begin our own, as a

child. In our physical world we all begin our journey in life as children and this becomes our first

identity, a child of our parents. Our families are the first people that we meet, and the first

relationships that we foster. Using these parallels, the author creates a space for his audience to

acknowledge their need for a spiritual identity. When we are born, we have a fundamental

understanding that without our family we would not be socially adept, and we would have more

needs left unmet than fulfilled. Highlighting the interdependency that God intended for us to live

with, Mathew uses Paul’s emphasis on God’s family as a cornerstone to any believer’s spiritual

identity. This leads into a greater understanding of our decision to follow Jesus with our lives.

Similar to the disciples that we read about in the Bible we are all led to the point where we can

make the decision to follow Him and join His kingdom.

After the formational stages of our lives and our identities it is vital that we learn what we

are called to do in the Earth for God’s Kingdom. Understanding that God’s call is not only given

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to those dedicated to His work but everyone who is called by His name is the train of thought

that the author gives for His audience to follow. On the contrary, God is so interested in seeing

all of His sons and daughters answer his call, whether that be in the sphere of ministry, business

medicine or film. God does not revoke His call based on where it is that your vocation has led

you, instead it is His whole heart’s desire that as a believer we would submit our lives to Him so

that we can be leaders in whichever sphere of influence we are given. The leadership of a

believer is a vital part of their identity as this functions as an aspect of our witness wherever we

go. The author submits that one of the reasons that we have been seeing less and less leaders is

because of the lack of sound leaders in the public eye. “We no longer have a Lincoln, Churchill,

Gandhi, or Martin Luther King Jr. The world desperately needs new leaders. The church also

needs capable and godly leaders.” (p. 109 Kindle)

In the final parts of the book, Mathew instructs the believer to live their identity without

turning back. For many once their identity is discovered we can easily find ourselves with one

foot in and one foot out. Becoming who you are can be an overwhelming process but the best

way to finish that journey is ceasing old behaviors and mindsets. The author calls upon the words

of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians when he asks them, do you not know that you are temples

of the Holy Spirt. (p. 154 Kindle) Paul is essentially reminding the Corinthians that they are no

longer their own and that their identities are not what they used to be anymore and therefore their

behaviors should respond accordingly. What the author is communicating is that identity directly

affects behavior and mentalities. The most important thing that we can understand about our

spiritual identity is that once we have received Christ into our hearts and believe that He has

rescued us from sin and death we have to understand that our nature as changed all together. This

is also what made the Temple/Taj Mahal analogy that the author used so powerful. When we

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change our behaviors if we do not understand that our nature is changed and therefore we are

blessed and made saints then we do ourselves a disservice and only clean up the outer parts of

our lives while our insides are full of dead things. The Taj Mahal is the same way beautiful on

the outside but dedicated to death.

Evaluation

“Thompson Mathew is a National and international church and conference speaker, has

worn many ministerial hats, from pastor and chaplain to seminary professor and college dean. He

is a board-certified member of the Association of Professional Chaplains and a clinical member

of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. His theological and academic background

spans multiple countries. He received his BS from Kerala University in India, MDiv and STM

from Yale University Divinity School, DMin from Oral Roberts University, and EdD from

Oklahoma State University.” (Editors notes) The author’s audience is anyone is a believer who is

struggling with their identity. The author having experience teaching on the university level does

mention the benefit that students will find in this book, but he also lists many others outside of

the field of education that he believes could benefit. I do not see any negative biases from the

author that could hinder the message of the book.

The authors intent in writing the book is to service those, “In churches ministries, and

marketplaces, living unfulfilled lives, engaging in unhealthy practices, falling down in their walk

with God on a regular basis, and failing to fulfill their potential. (p. xv Kindle) The author

believes that the root of this problem for those believers is them not knowing who they truly are.

I believe that the author does achieve his purpose as he thoroughly walks his audience through a

journey of acknowledgement, discovery and activation. Many authors can only lead their

audience through one of the 3 parts of this journey, however, Mathew displays a masterful

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understanding of the spiritual identity. The author then discusses various contradictory schools of

doctrine including, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim spirituality. This addresses how these

other schools of thought do not bode for the believer’s identity. The most controversial

alternative truth the author confronts is the postmodern thought of the current generation. This

generation’s praise of tolerance and relative theology has opened the way to indecisive identities

which the author hopes to remedy in the minds of His readers.

I believe that the most unique aspect of this book is the thoroughness by which the author

researches and displays the knowledge. I think what the author submits to this field of study that

is unique is that He does not simply address one area of grasping one’s identity but instead

reveals a comprehensive journey that is not so lofty that only theologians can understand it. With

the help of scripture and the power of God, the author guides any willing participant out of their

darkness and into a newness of self. This journey is not superficial, nor does it merely scratch the

surface of the subject, it goes in depth and personal.

Interrogation

I believe the author did the audience a tremendous justice when He pointed out that as

believers our identities are not based on our performances. As ministers of the Gospel in 2018, I

believe that we live in an age where it is normal to base your personal quality off of the last great

thing that you did. We live in a performance-based society and therefore the trap is set. I thank

God that He has sealed us in His love regardless of how well we perform. To display the strength

of our performance-based culture, if we ask many people how their relationship with God is, one

would hear them recall the last thing that He did for them. The tragedy of a society that limits

identity to performance is that even God is placed on that scale to be measured by His works in

our lives.

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 Chapter 10 You are a Prophet (p. 138) In my opinion was less helpful to the journey of

the book. While I enjoyed the chapter on its own, I personally had a hard time finding the

immediate connection with the rest of the text. The parts that were related seemed to be

reiterated knowledge from a few of the previous chapters. As I said it was great information, but

for the sake of an interrogation it seemed like an extra piece of sorts.

Theological Reflection

I believe that this book approaches the scripture reverently and does not simply look for

areas where scripture helps prove the author’s point. Many times, this is overlooked, however, a

reverent approach to scripture allows for the power of God’s word to permeate the author’s. This

gives the book the ability to help those who read it transform. This book illuminates God’s will

for His people to know who they are by truly learning who He is. It was always God’s desire that

we learn to be who we are by stewarding an intimate relationship with Him. Through reading

this book I personally reflected on the truth that since humanity was made in the image of the

living God, without reacquainting ourselves with the clearest understanding of that image we

will always be a foggy and broken reflection of who we should be. Jesus is the visible image of

the invisible God. This made the direct observance of Jesus’ life the perfect basis for

understanding spiritual identity.