Found Truths | I Don’t Have a Thing to Wear!

article by Reverend RB Moore

Some time back I took my family on a summer weekend trip to Dallas, Texas. But unfortunately, I had absent-mindedly tossed some clothes into a suitcase. The next morning, we were on our way to Six Flags over Texas. My family was waiting for me in the hallway of our hotel. If memory serves, I walked out of the room dressed in Sunday morning dress shoes, dark socks up to my knees, khaki shorts, and a pullover shirt with a collar. Nothing seemed to match.

My teenage son said something like, “Daaaadd! You look like your dad, twenty years too soon. It’s so embarrassing.” My teenage daughter blurted out something akin to, “Listen here, Mister! You march yourself back into that room and don’t you dare come out until you look presentable!” I did as I was told. 

Fast-forward to the next Sunday morning that I was in the pulpit. I shared with the congregation that the previous weekend our family was in Dallas, and on Saturday we went to Six Flags. Immediately our instrumentalist began laughing hysterically. After the service was concluded I went up to her and asked, “What caused your giggle box to flip over during the worship service?” 

She answered, “My husband and I were driving back from Ft. Worth, Texas that same Saturday you were at Six Flags. As we drove past Six Flags, I noticed the temperature was about a hundred degrees. I asked my husband, ‘What kind of idiot would take his family to Six Flags on a day like this one?’ And now I have my answer!” She then burst out laughing again. 

I later wondered how loud she would have laughed if she had seen my first attempt to get dressed that day. You know, it’s important to be dressed for the occasion. Along this train of thought, the Apostle Paul uses the imagery of taking off inappropriate garments and putting on more presentable clothing in Colossians 3:8-14. For example, we are to peel off the ugly practice of lying. 

To illustrate, you may be familiar with the newspaper cartoon strip called Peanuts. To set the scene, the summer is over, and it was the first day to be back in school. In her first assignment, Lucy is told to write about her summer vacation. Lucy writes in her assigned paper: Vacations are nice, but it’s good to get back to school. There is nothing more satisfying and challenging than education, and I look forward to a year of expanding knowledge. In the last frame of the cartoon Lucy looks at the reader and remarks, “After a while you learn what sells.” Yet to paraphrase the Apostle Paul, peel off what sells. Do not lie to one another. Do not clothe yourself with deceit.

Yet on the other hand, we may also say in a spiritual sense, let’s dress ourselves with the attitude of love. The Apostle Paul writes in Colossians 3:14, “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” 

Speaking of love and harmony, The U. S. News and World Report magazine once published an article about Marathon Marriages. The article reported that researchers had discovered one of the key reasons why many married couples stay happily married for over 5 decades. In marathon marriages, on average, positive comments outweigh negative comments by a ratio of 5 to 1! 

Yes, it may be natural to complain sometimes. But in many marathon marriages, the couple maximizes their compliments and minimizes their complaints! This means, we often grow healthy relationships in our homes when our positive remarks far outnumber our negative remarks. This leads me to believe the same stands true with our relationships in a house of worship, or a school, or a place of work, or a civic organization. When we overwhelmingly express ourselves positively, rather than negatively, we increase the possibility of growing long lasting and loving relationships. 

Therefore, let us take off any behavior that does not match the life of a believer. Instead, as followers of the Spirit of Christ, let us be presentable as we put on the gift of love.