Ever wanted to be someone else? Sure you have. So has Diana (Melissa McCarthy). Even though she has never met Sandy (Jason Bateman), Diana decides to be him. The desire to be another person is common when the object of envy is famous, successful or has great hair. But Sandy is an ordinary guy. Nothing extra. Still, Diana picks his identity to steal.

Identity Thief is a new comedy starring Arrested Development’s Bateman and Bridesmaid’s McCarthy. Out this month at cinemas, it’s asking you to laugh at a woman who pinches a man’s personal details – for her own gain. Having done well at the US box office, Identity Thief suggests there is an appetite for finding the funny side of persona pilfering. However, this premise – like so many other comedies – is hardly a joke to most of us, when it comes to reality.

Until recently, having your identity stolen sounded like a preposterous notion that only happened in spy novels. With technology providing our planet with the means to connect anyone and everyone, personal details have swiftly become accessible targets for illegal prosperity. Firewalls, passwords, filters and junk settings demonstrate how security conscious we can be about our individual information. But do bank accounts, credit card digits or PayPal purchases add up to us? Me? You? Is our identity contained within direct debits or other online transactions? Has it been stolen, if someone uses our name and finances? Most of us would answer: “No”. How we define ourselves goes beyond the things which represent us or are attached to us.

Identity is a varied formulation, unique to every person. Who we are comes down to a complex lifetime of experience, learning, thoughts, actions, opinions, characteristics and the like. Add them all up and we get a different result for each human being who has lived. We also can determine identity by what we do or are a part of – from our jobs, to the sporting clubs we support. But, hang on. These things change. Does that mean I am not me, if I quit my work or stop playing soccer? Can lasting value or meaning be derived from such malleable and evolving elements? Surely not, if they ebb and flow, yet we never stop being ourselves.

So, then, who are we? Those seeking an identity which can’t be stolen, changed, damaged or questioned should prick up their ears when assurance is offered. Consider what ancient thinker Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans. Rather than people anchoring identity in themselves, or anything they do, he explains that anyone identifying with Jesus steadfastly guarantees who they are. As chapters six to eight of Romans outline, those who believe in and follow Jesus can know who they are. Forever. Better yet, what this perpetual identity involves is security. Absolute security. The sort which lasts throughout this life, and into our eternal existence beyond death.

Don’t know who you are? Grasp identity in its only lasting source.