A couple of weeks ago we were walking the streets of Neos Kosmos, in Athens Greece with our good friend Erikos. As we crossed paths with the various hooligans and yobbos in the neighborhood, Erikos would joyfully greet them with the expression, “τὰ ἴδια!” This would lead to big smiles and huggie back-slapping embraces.

So we asked Erikos, “What does τὰ ἴδια mean?” And Erikos said, “It means the same” (e.g. ‘You old dog! You rascal! You rogue! …Up to your same old tricks, and your same old shenanigans!’).

In other words, τὰ ἴδια is an expression of deep dignity and steadfast love! τὰ ἴδια recognizes that while people can change in some significant ways (and repentance is extremely vital and vivacious), there is a profound, and deeply personal, redemptive realism in recognizing that people will – in many ways – be the same.

For instance, Buddy the Elf will always be elfie, and Bob Wiley will always be an eccentric manchild, and Mr. Fox will always want to steal from Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, and Sherlock Holmes will always be cunning and emotionally immature, and the apostle Paul will always say things that are harsh sounding and/or hard to understand, and the apostle Peter will always have a tendency to speak up when he ought to be quiet.

This expression (τὰ ἴδια) shows up in The Gospel of John (chapter 16) when Jesus says to His disciples, “Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own way (τὰ ἴδια), and will leave Me alone.” Jesus is NOT excommunicating, condemning, or canceling His disciples by saying this, and neither is Jesus endorsing or commending His disciples. Rather, Jesus is being redemptively realistic with His friends regarding the FACT that they will be τὰ ἴδια (in a Romans 7:19, 24 sort of way), and He will be τὰ ἴδια (in a Romans 7:25, 8:1 sort of way). But the apostle Peter insists that he WILL NOT be τὰ ἴδια! Peter swears that even if everyone else is τὰ ἴδια, he will transcend τὰ ἴδια! Simply put, to admit τὰ ἴδια is too vulnerable, so Peter struts around like cocky rooster faking and forcing “change,” instead of embracing the freedom of admitting that Jesus is correct in calling him τὰ ἴδια, and surrendering to the anti-merit/exceedingly merciful mystery agenda of God.

τὰ ἴδια is the testimony of Scripture. Every single character in Scripture is flawed and beset with weakness, and God is abundantly honest about this all throughout the Bible. Life to the fullest, and the deepest experiences of dignity are found NOT in faking or forcing change, but rather facing the fact that some things never change, and the most needful changes are the result of God’s unorthodox, unconventional, and unpredictable interventions and techniques. 

A great example of this is presented to us by Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 where he shares the following vulnerable story from his life… Paul says, “I am τὰ ἴδια when it comes to being conceited! So to keep me from becoming conceited God broke me. God gave me a thorn in the flesh/a messenger of Satan to harass me to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But God said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Paul’s life, and the overwhelming τὰ ἴδια testimony of God’s workmanship in the lives of people all throughout Scripture is like KINTSUGI. Kintsugi is a Japanese art form that repairs broken pottery by mending the fractured pieces with lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. The striking (and extremely counter-intuitive) thing about this art form is the fact that cracks and imperfections are highlighted rather than hidden, boldly proclaiming the idea that beauty is bolstered via brokenness, and the inescapable history of τὰ ἴδια somehow, mysteriously, enhances resilience and substantial attractiveness rather than detracting or diminishing strength and beauty.