What Not To Wear
You may recognize the phrase “What Not to Wear” as the name
of a popular cable TV show which finds seemingly ugly ducklings with frumpy
dressing habits and transforms them into chic swans. It happens to be one of my
wife’s favorite indulgences. The premise is simple: take one ‘lucky’ candidate
(selected, by the way, by close friends and/or family members), put ‘em through
fashion boot camp, give them a $5,000 credit card, and turn them loose on a
shopping spree, and voila! —they are transformed into a more acceptable, less
embarrassing part of mainstream society.
One of the criticisms leveled at this “helpful” show is that
it spends the first 10 minutes dismantling the self esteem of its chosen
“project” before attempting to reconstruct her. They mock their clothes, shoes,
hairstyle, etc., even while trying to affirm the inner or essential beauty of
these fashion failures. To be fair, they do spend much of the rest of the show
trying to build up their client, focusing their attention on the root cause of the person’s
less-than-appealing “presentation.” But by connecting one’s wardrobe, hairdo
and makeup to their personal worth or value (even the approval of their friends
and family), the viewer is left with the conclusion that it really is important
to know what not to wear.
So does what we wear really matter all that much in the
grand scheme of things? One ancient proverb states: “A pretty face and fine
clothes do not make character.” On
the other hand, a very quotable ancient Latin proverb contends: “clothes make
the man.” The great humorist Mark Twain later modified that statement a bit,
writing: “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on
society.”
Sadly, this is not how God intended it to be. He made His
creation to live unashamed, wearing nothing at all but their ‘birthday suit’.
Still, ever since our first parents lost their innocence through the fall, we
have been trying to find just the right clothes to cover our bodies. I say
right clothes, because what Adam quickly learned was that clothes may make the
man, but not just any clothes will do. He discovered all too soon what not to
wear—namely, leaves—even big fig ones. They have a habit of drying up,
shriveling up and eventually giving up any secrets they initially might hide.
(The prophet Isaiah, writing to God’s prideful people, observed that “we all
shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” Isaiah
64:6b) It wasn’t until God himself fashioned skins for our first family that
mankind began to understand that not all clothes are created equal. Those first
‘outfits’ were anything but cheap either, having been acquired at the price of
some poor animal’s life, by the shedding of blood.
But those first skins were but a foretaste of a much more
miraculous makeover that God had in store for us. He knew in advance that our
wardrobe required something more permanent than garments labeled wash and wear. Out sin and shame demanded something more holistic than mere window dressing. The prophet Isaiah
discovered this hundreds of years before the birth of Christ when he wrote:
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful
in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered
me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with
ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
{Isaiah 61:10 - NKJV}
This passage, as one guest preacher recently referred to it, is a legal statement for the Christian, for those who throw themselves completely
on the mercy of Jesus for their salvation. The garment of salvation is put on
us by God himself, not something we design, that we sew, or put on ourselves.
So it is with the robe of righteousness. We are declared righteous because God
has punished all our sin when Jesus became sin for us. It, too, is custom
designed, purchased, and put on us by our loving Heavenly Father when we trust
Christ. We are declared saved...righteous.
But out God-given wardrobe doesn't just have legal implications. We also wrestle with the practical side of this life every day, every
moment. And for that, we are also provided a wonderful wardrobe, which we
ourselves get to choose. It’s like having that $5,000 credit card to buy that
which we could never afford or supply ourselves. Ponder this makeover:
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved,
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance
against someone.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues
put on love,
which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
{Colossians
3:12-14}
Are you and I compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and
patient by nature? No, but through the Spirit we can put on these divine
qualities. Can you and I produce agape (unconditional) love on our own? We
don’t have to. Put it on.
So, I guess knowing what not to wear is
actually pretty important. For instance, don’t wear leaves (self-made attempts
to hide your sin and shame). Don’t wear your own self-determined value system
(all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment—Isaiah 64:6a-ESV). But
from this point on, determine to enjoy the garment bought for you with the very
blood of Christ (yours legally) and the clothes made possible for you through
the work of the Holy Spirit (yours practically). It may not get you on a cable
TV show, but you can sleep well at night knowing God’s got you covered.
tad
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