Our True Identity

Sunday, 2nd November 2008

Yesterday, I blogged about the reunion gathering that the Sec 4, 1983 cohort of ACS had after 25 long years.

While about 100 of us turned up, there were another 400 or so who could not make it, either because they were oversees or had other commitments.

And of course, those of us who were present would talk about those who were absent (by the way, guys don't gossip about others, we get "updates").

Anyway, while getting "updates" about some of the more prominent individuals in our cohort, we discovered that one of them had now moved on to the next life. Another who was quite effeminate then, is now very well-built and visits the gym regularly.

But what troubled me was to hear about a couple of schoolmates who used to be very active in the Christian Fellowship but who had since renounced the faith.

I remember one of them to be extremely fervent for the LORD back then. He was in the class next to mine, and would come over occasionally to discourage me and others from listening to secular music because he said it was the devil's music. He was a member of Faith Methodist Church. It was thus really sad to hear that he no longer wants to have anything to do with Christianity, and has now migrated to the USA.

The other one was a worship leader in the CF and quite a good-looking guy. I heard that he was very popular with the CF girls from the MGS schools, which would have combined meetings with ACS every once in a while. It seems that he went to Australia to further his studies and got a girl pregnant.

But rather than dismissing these two persons as hypocrites, I was reminded that the Law condemns even the best of us, but Grace qualifies even the worst of us.

I am sure both of them truly and honestly wanted to live a holy and godly life as teenagers. But trying to keep the Law by self-effort eventually causes people to just give up totally, because God's standards are just way too high. If they are not told what the grace gospel is all about, they can never live the victorious life. My prayer is that the message of grace from the likes of Joseph Prince, Steve McVey and Peter Youngren will reach out to them and bring him back into the fold.

Having said all that, let's come back to the topic in today's blog entry.

I realise that no matter how bald or fat some of us have become, there is a certain air of confidence that ACS boys have about them (others would call it arrogance). Even from a tender age of 7 at Primary 1, we were taught the school anthem ("ACS Forever") and our motto ("The Best is Yet to Be"), and that is deeply ingrained in every single ACSian, so much so that this ACS-identity sticks with us through the rest of our lives.

This is very evident to others, and that is why I know of many guys who, even though from other schools, have chosen to put their sons in ACS. I have yet to come across an ACSian who chooses to put his son in a school other than ACS.

But a deeper spiritual parallel can be drawn from this. There should be a blessed assurance that we as New Covenant believers should have (which others with a Old Covenant mentality would probably consider to be arrogance as well).

When we are being taught week-in week-out by the Pastor about who we are in Christ and what His finished work has already accomplished for us, then this Christ-identity should likewise stick with us through the rest of our lives, and nothing that the devil throws against us should be able to have any effect on us. Amen?