The Search for Identity

00:00

When it comes to building up identity and self-esteem, I’m afraid Americans are very pragmatic—and our pragmatism gets to us. Our books and articles say if you want self-esteem, you should lose weight, change your friends, switch your career, and so on. But nobody asks why. They don’t like to think about the underlying theory.
It’s important to understand that there are certain reigning theories of identity formation. Unless you recognize them and analyze them, you’ll just pick them up like a virus.
Let’s divide our inquiry into two parts: 1) what the world says is the way to find out who you are and 2) what the Bible says is the way to find out who you are.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 10, 1993. Series: Modern Problems; Ancient Solutions. Scripture: Psalm 8.
Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Released on 10 May 2024

Share this page...

Coming up next

The Search for Values

13 May 2024

45:20

A Newsweek cover story said that after a 30-year spree, our entire society is waking up with a monstrous hangover, facing a values vacuum. It said that we realize unlimited personal freedom is not the way to build a society, but now we face the quest...

The Problem of Anxiety

15 May 2024

43:40

Of the articles and books I survey on worry or anxiety, they almost always say, “The things you’re worried about may never happen. So don’t think about them.” But in Psalm 27, David does the opposite: he visualizes the worst things that can happen. W...

The Problem of Guilt

17 May 2024

48:36

Guilt is a lot like an iceberg. You don’t see much above the surface, but if you really look, you’ll see it’s under everything. So how do you deal with a guilty conscience? In Psalm 51, David has been plunged—through the shock of recognizing the mag...

View all episodes

Request Messages Timeline Exceptions Views62 Route Queries26 Models15 Livewire1 Mails Gate Session

Settings Request history8.3.17245ms3MBGET podcasts/{podcast}/episodes/{episode}

status

200 OK

full_url

https://premier.amperative.site/podcasts/timothy-keller-sermons-podcast-by-gospel-in-life/episodes/t...

action_name

podcasts.episodes.show

controller_action

App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show

uri

GET podcasts/{podcast}/episodes/{episode}

scope_bindings

true

controller

App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show

file

app/Http/Controllers/PodcastEpisodesController.php:20-36

middleware

web

duration

244ms

peak_memory

4MB

response

text/html; charset=UTF-8

request_format

html

request_query

[]

request_request

[]

request_headers

  0 of 0   
array:15 [▼
  "host" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "premier.amperative.site"
  ]
  "connection" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "keep-alive"
  ]
  "pragma" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "no-cache"
  ]
  "cache-control" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "no-cache"
  ]
  "sec-ch-ua" => array:1 [▶
    0 => ""Chromium";v="130", "HeadlessChrome";v="130", "Not?A_Brand";v="99""
  ]
  "sec-ch-ua-mobile" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "?0"
  ]
  "sec-ch-ua-platform" => array:1 [▶
    0 => ""Windows""
  ]
  "upgrade-insecure-requests" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "1"
  ]
  "user-agent" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)"
  ]
  "accept" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,image/apng,*/*;q=0.8,application/signed-exchange;v=b3;q=0.7"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-site" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "none"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-mode" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "navigate"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-user" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "?1"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-dest" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "document"
  ]
  "accept-encoding" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "gzip, deflate, br, zstd"
  ]
]

request_cookies

[]

response_headers

  0 of 0   
array:3 [▼
  "content-type" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "text/html; charset=UTF-8"
  ]
  "cache-control" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "no-cache, private"
  ]
  "date" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "Mon, 23 Jun 2025 08:51:17 GMT"
  ]
]

session_attributes

  0 of 0   
array:1 [▼
  "_token" => "b5ddhGPEFPzI079ysQpIwn7nyk9WtZZwtEFnHCLV"
]

Booting (82.99ms)time
Application (162ms)time
Routing (4.34ms)
1 x Application (66.12%)
162ms
1 x Booting (33.84%)
82.99ms
1 x Routing (1.77%)
4.34ms

62 templates were rendered

1x templates.podcast-episodes.showshow.blade.php#?blade
1x livewire.section-podcast-playersection-podcast-player.blade.php#?blade
1x components.sections.header-playerheader-player.blade.php#?blade
1x components.sections.header-topheader-top.blade.php#?blade
35x components.iconicon.blade.php#?blade
1x components.player.tracktrack.blade.php#?blade
1x components.modals.modal-confirmationmodal-confirmation.blade.php#?blade
3x components.modals.generic-1generic-1.blade.php#?blade
1x components.sharethissharethis.blade.php#?blade
3x components.cards.episodeepisode.blade.php#?blade
1x components.modals.model-show-signupmodel-show-signup.blade.php#?blade
1x components.recommendations.index-bespokeindex-bespoke.blade.php#?blade
1x components.promotional-blockspromotional-blocks.blade.php#?blade
1x components.sections.footerfooter.blade.php#?blade
2x components.form.inputinput.blade.php#?blade
2x components.form.input-groupinput-group.blade.php#?blade
1x components.layouts.mastermaster.blade.php#?blade
1x components.faviconfavicon.blade.php#?blade
1x components.social-metasocial-meta.blade.php#?blade
1x components.modals.searchsearch.blade.php#?blade
1x components.toast-controllertoast-controller.blade.php#?blade
1x components.modals.model-show-thank-youmodel-show-thank-you.blade.php#?blade

uri: GET podcasts/{podcast}/episodes/{episode}
middleware: web
scope_bindings: true
controller: App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show
as: podcasts.episodes.show
file: app/Http/Controllers/PodcastEpisodesController.php:20-36

26 statements were executed (14 duplicates)Show only duplicates85.12ms

RedirectMiddleware.php#49premier1.07msselect * from `redirects` where `is_regex` = 1 and `redirects`.`deleted_at` is null

Bindings	0: 1
Backtrace	app/Http/Middleware/RedirectMiddleware.php:49 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:116 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:797 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:776

RedirectMiddleware.php#79premier630μs

select * from `redirects` where `is_regex` = 0 and `match` = '/podcasts/timothy-keller-sermons-podcast-by-gospel-in-life/episodes/the-search-for-identity' and `is_active` = 1 and `redirects`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: 0 1: /podcasts/timothy-keller-sermons-podcast-by-gospel-in-life/episodes/the-search-for-identity 2: 1
Backtrace	app/Http/Middleware/RedirectMiddleware.php:79 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:116 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:797 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:776

DatabaseSessionHandler.php#97premier1.09msselect * from `sessions` where `id` = 'M5JKGj9NnU3HhT2JMSkSaM1R6AM8CZqqYpzbIAjz' limit 1

Bindings	0: M5JKGj9NnU3HhT2JMSkSaM1R6AM8CZqqYpzbIAjz
Backtrace	vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/DatabaseSessionHandler.php:97 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Store.php:113 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Store.php:101 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Store.php:85 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Middleware/StartSession.php:147

ContentFamilyTrait.php#42premier1.14ms

select * from `podcasts` where `slug` = 'timothy-keller-sermons-podcast-by-gospel-in-life' and `is_active` = 1 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: timothy-keller-sermons-podcast-by-gospel-in-life 1: 1
Backtrace	app/Models/Traits/ContentFamilyTrait.php:42 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ImplicitRouteBinding.php:61 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:947 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Middleware/SubstituteBindings.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180

ContentFamilyTrait.php#59premier54.29ms

select * from `podcast_episodes` where `podcast_episodes`.`podcast_id` = 40 and `podcast_episodes`.`podcast_id` is not null and `slug` = 'the-search-for-identity' and `podcast_episodes`.`deleted_at` is null order by `published_at` desc limit 1

Bindings	0: 40 1: the-search-for-identity
Backtrace	app/Models/Traits/ContentFamilyTrait.php:59 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ImplicitRouteBinding.php:56 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:947 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Middleware/SubstituteBindings.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180

PromotionalBlockCacheMiddleware.php#24premier1.01ms

select * from `promotional_blocks` where (`display_from` is null or `display_from` < '2025-06-23 09:51:17') and (`display_to` is null or `display_to` > '2025-06-23 09:51:17')

Bindings	0: 2025-06-23 09:51:17 1: 2025-06-23 09:51:17
Backtrace	app/Http/Middleware/PromotionalBlockCacheMiddleware.php:24 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:397 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:408 app/Http/Middleware/PromotionalBlockCacheMiddleware.php:23 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180

PodcastEpisodesController.php#22premier440μsselect exists(select * from `brands` where `brands`.`id` is null and `brands`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`

Backtrace

app/Http/Controllers/PodcastEpisodesController.php:22
vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Controller.php:54
vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ControllerDispatcher.php:43
vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php:259
vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php:205

PodcastEpisode.php#195premier930μs

select exists(select * from `musicables` where `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 19103 and `musicables`.`musicable_id` is not null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode 1: 19103
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:195 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:104 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:43 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41

PodcastEpisode.php#102premier500μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 40 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: 40
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:102 app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:195 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:104 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:43 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36

Podcast.php#215premier790μs

select exists(select * from `music_genres` inner join `musicables` on `music_genres`.`id` = `musicables`.`music_genre_id` where `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 40 and `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\Podcast' and `music_genres`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: 40 1: App\Models\Podcast
Backtrace	app/Models/Podcast.php:215 app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:195 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:104 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:43 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36

SectionPodcastPlayer.php#108premier480μs

select * from `listenable_progress_items` where `listenable_progress_items`.`listenable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `listenable_progress_items`.`listenable_id` = 19103 and `listenable_progress_items`.`listenable_id` is not null and `user_id` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode 1: 19103
Backtrace	app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:108 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:43 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93

SectionPodcastPlayer.php#168premier8.3ms

select * from `podcast_episodes` where `podcast_id` = 40 and `published_at` < '2024-05-10 11:00:00' and `podcast_episodes`.`deleted_at` is null order by `published_at` desc limit 1

Bindings	0: 40 1: 2024-05-10 11:00:00
Backtrace	app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:168 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:45 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93

SectionPodcastPlayer.php#178premier8.13ms

select * from `podcast_episodes` where `podcast_id` = 40 and `published_at` > '2024-05-10 11:00:00' and `podcast_episodes`.`deleted_at` is null order by `published_at` asc limit 3

Bindings	0: 40 1: 2024-05-10 11:00:00
Backtrace	app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:178 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:46 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93

PodcastEpisode.php#195premier670μs

select exists(select * from `musicables` where `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 19103 and `musicables`.`musicable_id` is not null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode 1: 19103
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:195 view::livewire.section-podcast-player:4 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195

Podcast.php#215premier520μs

select exists(select * from `music_genres` inner join `musicables` on `music_genres`.`id` = `musicables`.`music_genre_id` where `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 40 and `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\Podcast' and `music_genres`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: 40 1: App\Models\Podcast
Backtrace	app/Models/Podcast.php:215 app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:195 view::livewire.section-podcast-player:4 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59

Setting.php#20premier450μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_donation_link
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195

Setting.php#20premier410μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_donation_link
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195

Setting.php#20premier380μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_donation_link
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195

PodcastEpisode.php#195premier480μs

select exists(select * from `musicables` where `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 19103 and `musicables`.`musicable_id` is not null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode 1: 19103
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:195 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:132 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93

Podcast.php#215premier500μs

select exists(select * from `music_genres` inner join `musicables` on `music_genres`.`id` = `musicables`.`music_genre_id` where `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 40 and `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\Podcast' and `music_genres`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`

Bindings	0: 40 1: App\Models\Podcast
Backtrace	app/Models/Podcast.php:215 app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:195 app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:132 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41

PodcastEpisode.php#102premier480μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 40 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: 40
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:102 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:26 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:66 view::livewire.section-podcast-player:168 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84

PodcastEpisode.php#102premier510μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 40 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: 40
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:102 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:26 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:66 view::livewire.section-podcast-player:168 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84

PodcastEpisode.php#102premier420μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 40 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1

Bindings	0: 40
Backtrace	app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:102 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:26 app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:66 view::livewire.section-podcast-player:168 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84

Setting.php#20premier610μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_login_modal_title' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_login_modal_title
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:69

Setting.php#20premier490μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_login_modal_subtitle' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_login_modal_subtitle
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:69

Setting.php#20premier400μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1

Bindings	0: web_donation_link
Backtrace	app/Models/Setting.php:20 app/Helpers/Settings.php:6 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110 vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58 vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:69

App\Models\Setting: 6Setting.php#?
App\Models\Podcast: 5Podcast.php#?
App\Models\PodcastEpisode: 4PodcastEpisode.php#?

section-podcast-player #g0IqEZEiu7NaXTukOEqP: array:5 [ "data" => array:10 [ "podcast" => App\Models\Podcast {#2055 #connection: "mysq...

_token: b5ddhGPEFPzI079ysQpIwn7nyk9WtZZwtEFnHCLV

AutoshowClear Show all

	Date ↕	Method	URL	Data
#1	2025-06-23 09:51:17	GET	/podcasts/timothy-keller-sermons-podcast-by-gospel-in-life/episodes/the-search-for-identity	62 26 15 1

The Search for Identity

Sorry, this content isn’t currently available in your region

Coming up next

The Search for Values

The Problem of Anxiety

The Problem of Guilt

Sign in to your Premier Account

Trending Audio

1 x Application (66.12%)	162ms
1 x Booting (33.84%)	82.99ms
1 x Routing (1.77%)	4.34ms