A Chaplain's Biblical Approach to Restoring Identity in the Lives of Distressed Airmen and Inmates
Cordero, Manuel
Assemblies of God Theological Seminary
2020
209
D.Min.
Assemblies of God Theological Seminary
2020
A war wages for the identity of future Americans. Countless distressed individuals flood into institutions like the prison and the military seeking help. People have painstakingly constructed identity with faulty crafted images. Chaplains and the Church are not without blame in this epidemic and have given insufficient attention to identity creation and development. This project seeks to restore identity in the lives of airmen and inmates to the biblical model in addition to reestablishing it as the centerpiece of effective discipleship. As a prospective remedy, the project developed a biblical-theological blueprint for identity. Society and self-crafted images often contradict with God's biblical design for humanity. The imbalance in identity causes distress and leads people to divergent, distorted, and destructive identities. Additionally, the general literature review explored current views and theories on the development of identity, including issues related to birth family, genetic elements and environment, and societal influences. As a result, participants experienced a dramatic shift in perspective concerning faith and identity. This shift brought with it a renewed commitment to exploring self and God's plan for identity. Ministers of God must partner with people in restoring biblical identity. When believers develop sound biblical identities unmasking faulty definitions and designs of self, family, and society, imbalance and distress are alleviated.