Who Do You Think You Are?

My An Arkie's Faith column from the April 12, 2023, issue of The Polk County Pulse.

Over the past few years, one of the TV programs that I have enjoyed watching is "Who Do You Think You Are?" After a four-year hiatus, the documentary series returned last year. In each episode, a different celebrity searches to trace their family tree with the help of historians and experts, unlocking past mysteries and unbelievable real-life stories across the world and through time.

Some of my favorite episodes have featured stories where celebrities find out things about their ancestors that they never knew before. Jason Sudakis learned the details of his grandfather's death and that his grandfather abandoned his grandmother on their wedding day. Kelly Clarkson investigated the life of her three times great grandfather, who fought in the Civil War, was a prisoner of war, and later became a Senator. And Annie Lennox discovered the sad story of her great-great-grandmother who became an orphan at five after her mother, a widow, and a pauper, died. 

In an interview with Meredith Jacobs, executive producer Dan Bucatinsky said, "We've been doing this show for ten years now — we can't quite believe it — but there's a messaging in this show that I think happens that is sort of under the surface, which is that history matters, that we are all made up of both enormous and also tiny moves that occurred even 100, 200, 300 years ago with our ancestors. There has been a growing interest in genealogy."

Why are people interested in genealogy? They understand that their heritage is part of who they are today. I have been researching my family tree and traced the Lawry name back to Joseph Laurie, born in Scotland. So far, the most interesting ancestor I have found is my four times great grandfather, James Vowels.

According to a document I found, James Vowels was a soldier in the Army of the Revolution. He was born in Virginia in 1738. In 1776 he enlisted under Captain George Slaughter of the 8th Virginia Regiment. James fought in the Battles of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, Germantown on October 4, 1777, and several others. He wintered with his regiment at Valley Forge and served out the time of his enlistment faithfully.

When his enlistment ended, he returned to Virginia and married Anne Fields in April 1781. After the wedding, he again joined the Army and was at the siege of Yorktown. After the surrender of Cornwallis on October 19, 1781, he returned home to Culpepper County, Virginia, where he lived until his death on April 17, 1815.

My four times grandfather was a part of some of the most critical events in American history. He experienced the hardships of Valley Forge. He was part of the Army that forced English General Cornwallis to surrender and end the war. He helped America gain its independence. He was a true patriot. I'm proud to be a descendant of James Vowels.

As much fun as it was researching my genealogy, I finally reached a dead end and couldn't trace my Lawry family tree any farther. To continue, I would need to travel to Scotland, where the last records of Joseph Laurie were found. But I am still left with the question, where did I come from?

Who do you think you are? The answer determines how we live our lives. Our existence is meaningless if we feel we are here by an accident of forces. But if we are here because of God, our life has great worth, purpose, and a promised future beyond death.

In the Bible's account of human history, we read, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, " Genesis 1:1 (KJV), "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." Genesis 1:26 (KJV)

Who do you think you are? God says he loves you and made you in his image and likeness. Satan lies and tells you that you are just a cosmic accident.

Who do you think you are? You don't have to determine your identity because God has revealed it. God has told us that He created us. So many people are searching for their identity because they don't believe God created them.

Anytime we try to establish our identity and do not understand it biblically, it results in problems. New Age philosophy teaches that God is in us and that everything is universally connected through God. Pantheism is the belief that nature is identical to divinity and that, as a part of nature, each person is God. Who do you think you are? If you believe you are God, nothing can control your behavior.

Another identity that many people assume is that of a highly evolved animal. They believe we are just animals who have evolved with opposable thumbs and intelligent brains. Who do you think you are? If you feel you are only a highly developed animal, there is nothing to control your behavior.

The question should not be, who do you think you are, but who does God say you are? The Bible tells us in 1 John 3:1 (VOICE), "Consider the kind of extravagant love the Father has lavished on us—He calls us children of God! It's true; we are His beloved children." God says that we are his children!

All people are equally made in the image and likeness of God; Male and female, young and old, black and white, rich and poor. All have dignity, value, and worth. One of the greatest lies is that some people are more valuable than others. Because we are all God's children, you are not more valuable than anyone else, and you are not less valuable than anyone else.

That is why I don't believe in the survival of the fittest. I don't believe in Darwinian evolution, which says those who are strong survive, and those who are weak are worth less. Adolph Hitler based his plan for the Aryan race on his study of Darwin's theory. Christians shouldn't believe in racism, sexism, or class distinctions, because we all are made in the image and likeness of God.

Gentle Reader, who do you think you are? Your answer will profoundly affect your life, actions, and salvation. "We are God's creation. He created us to belong to Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:10 (NIRV)