We have had the opportunity to travel more this year—partly due to work—than in recent years. And one thing I tend to notice is what people wear, especially when it differs from what I typically see in Denver.
First, I notice the travel apparel. When I was a kid in the 1960s, people dressed up to travel. This represented respect for yourself, for your fellow travelers, and for the airline. Over time, the norms have gradually gone downhill. Today, people have gotten so casual that I sometimes see people wearing what look like pajama pants or bedroom slippers on a plane! Times certainly have changed!
Next, I notice what the locals wear in various locations. Jeans and T-shirts are the universal norm in America, as are the jerseys or caps representing one’s local professional sports teams. But in Las Vegas, I saw enough scantily dressed women in public to last me a lifetime. In Washington D.C., people dressed more formally, due to government job standards, and I saw more patriotic apparel. In Nashville, it was all about cowboy boots. One woman in the airport bathroom wore a pair covered in rhinestones from just below her knees down to the boots’ soles! Those living in places with these various styles think nothing of them. The norm has been set and accepted. Only outsiders notice a distinction.
In case you didn’t know, believers have also been assigned a unique dress code. Unfortunately, it has not yet been widely accepted or practiced. While some Christian denominations argue about women wearing head coverings or what “modesty” means—or if it’s even required—we should all agree on one standard. It’s a universal, simple, timeless, one-size-fits-all garment. And it’s free! Yet it’s the hardest outfit to put on.
In Colossians 3:12 Paul instructs us, So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. God isn’t nearly as concerned with how we dress outwardly as what we “wear” inwardly. In fact, when choosing whom to anoint as Israel’s first king, the prophet Samuel heard God instruct, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, . . . for God does not see as man sees, since man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (I Samuel 16:7).
Like the emperor with his “new” clothes, we too often parade about, judging others by their outfits but unaware that we forgot to get dressed spiritually. Jesus wrote to the church in Laodicea, Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have no need of anything,” and you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked,I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to apply to your eyes so that you may see (Revelation 3:17).
The world takes notice of this nakedness. Therefore, let’s make sure our hearts are properly adorned each day. It’s a beautiful way to dress.
