In the Fall of last year, I think in October, some friends hosted a party and the theme of that party was the Lord of the Rings, from those famous books of J.R.R. Tolkien. It was fun and many of us nerded-out when it came to costumes. My wife created a pretty awesome outfit for me. I dressed as Radagast the Brown, the eccentric wizard who loved animals and the forest and was probably a wee bit mental. The costume totally nailed it. I had a long beard, long hair with a birds nest in it. I looked just like him.
But I am not Radagast. I am Mike. I was merely dressing up – like many of us enjoy doing – as someone who I am not. I wasn’t being real that night. I was doing the opposite of being real. Later I took that costume off and put my clothing back on and that is when I was being real. Being real means wearing our own clothes.
In Colossians 3:8-14, Paul urged Christians to wear our own clothes. So out with our old, musty, worn out, out-of-fashion duds – like anger and malice and lying and slander. And no more dress-up costumes; we don’t need to pretend that we are something we are not.
Instead, we should wear the clothing of our new self, created in the likeness of God (see also Ephesians 4:17-24). We should put on garments of compassion and kindness and humility and forgiveness. And we can’t forget the belt which brings the whole outfit together: love.
That is what being real looks like. My fellow Christians, be real. And by that I mean wear YOUR clothing today. The beautiful garments that Jesus bought for you with his blood.
Life on Sojourn 