Getting Dressed Part II

Has this ever happened to you? You are talking with someone at a social event and they are griping and complaining about someone else - their mother-in-law, co-worker, "friend", or even pastor - and then that person walks by and the complainer quickly puts on a smile and a sweet voice to talk with the person they have just been grumbling about. Inside you feel a little sick as you observe their great acting skills and wonder if they have missed their calling. Maybe they should be in Hollywood. I hate it when that happens.... when someone "puts on" a facial expression or presents themselves in a way that I know is not consistent with their true attitudes. It always makes me wonder what they say about me behind my back. But it also gets me thinking about the Christian life and how we are to "act". In Colossians 3:14 we are commanded to "put on love". Does Paul mean that we are to pretend that we love others?? That Christian virtue is really just an act? You all know the answer to these questions: of course not! And yet, it does seem that there are times when we are commanded to behave and even think differently than what we are feeling in the moment. So here is my question - how do we be obedient to God's Word and the commands found within it and yet not fall into a fake or legalistic Christianity that is all about following the rules?

I think the answer is wrapped up in our spiritual clothes, in what we put on. Our spiritual clothes can be the true evidence of a genuine relationship with Christ or a costume to perform the act of "being the Christian" on the stage of life. I vote for the first option. So does Paul. So does God.

In Colossians 3:10 we are told that we "have put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator". This is something we have done when we came to Christ. Before we could "put on the new", we had to strip off the old. Verse 9 says, "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices". Embedded in this verse we find the real reason that Christians cannot act or pretend that they are more or different that they really are - that would be lying to others and lying is inconsistent with the new people we are in Christ. When we came to Christ, we took off the old clothes of prideful, sinful living and put on the new clothes that made us look like Jesus and yet, even though that has already happened, we still need to make sure that we are wearing the right clothes on a daily (even moment by moment) basis. Paul used past tense language in verse 9 and 10 but in verse 5 and 12, he uses present verb tenses which indicate that there is still something for us to do. I'd like to propose that the "something" is to get dressed.

In verse 5 we are told to "put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature". So if we find any evidence that we are wearing the old clothes, we readily strip them off (confession) and extinguish them (accepting the forgiveness for those sins that Jesus made possible on the cross). But we don't go through our days without something else on! Verse 12 tells us to "clothe yourselves with compassion , kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." The passage then beautifully describe the Christian's attitude and the community's interactions as people clothed in Christ-likeness. The new clothes are really the fruit of Christ living in us by the Holy Spirit. Note the similarity in the list of verse 12 with the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22. Clothing ourselves in the new life in Christ happens by faith. There are three steps: 1) Simply ask to be clothed in these virtues; 2) Trust that He answers our prayer (since it IS in accordance with His will) and 3) Step out in faith expecting God to give you the new clothes of compassion, humility, etc as He provides the opportunities to display these attributes through your life.

Tomorrow as you are getting dressed, remember to ask the Holy Spirit to dress you in His presence and His character. And anytime throughout the day when your clothes get soiled by the stain of sin, know that you can change them. Confess your sin; turn from it; receive the forgiveness given you in Christ; and put on the new clothes again by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit.