You know, being in style, keeping up with today’s fashion has become a major issue in American society. Many people’s lives are dictated by their desire to keep up with the newest fashion. You can channel surf on TV and find multiple shows that are dedicated to showing people how to get in style. You’ve got all sorts of makeover shows and even a show with a fashion judge who determines with a jury whether a specific individual needs to have a fashion check up. Numerous magazines are published to show us what kind of clothes we need to be shopping for. Just this week the lady that cut my hair talked me into letting her make my sideburns shorter because long ones are no longer in. Personally, I liked my long sideburns. But keeping up with the fashion is a consuming desire for many people. And to be honest with you, I don’t think there is anything wrong with wanting to look good. I like to think I know how to dress half way in style. A speaker once said something to us preacher boys when I was in college that has always stuck with me. He said, “Don’t be the first one into a new style, but don’t be the last one either.” I think it’s important for us to try to look the best we can. But the world will try to get us wrapped up in making sure that we are keeping up with the newest fashion.
The church world also has its idea of proper fashion. We tend to lean towards the conservative, more modest way of dress. We believe there are biblical principles of modesty. Granted, the lines are different with everyone. But overall, the church does have its idea of the right fashion of dress.
But, this morning, I believe that God gives us an even higher standard of fashion that we need to consider. He gives us a list of things that we need to put on through the apostle Paul’s writing to the Colassian church. But it’s not the kind of fashion that you think He’d be talking to us about. You see, while God is concerned about the way we dress our physical bodies, I believe He’s more concerned about the way we dress our spiritual bodies. So if you would, turn to Colossians with me and let’s read the words that we can find in the third chapter, verses 8-14.
Col. 3:8-14… But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
In this passage Paul gives us a list of things that we need to “put on,” things we need to dress our spiritual bodies with. I want us to look at this list together this morning.
I. Compassion
The first thing that God wants us to put on is what Paul calls “bowels of mercy.” I think a better way to say it would be to put on compassion. God’s people are to be a compassionate people. I read an article recently that talked about reasons why the doctrine of original sin, that man is born a sinner, is wrong. And among the reasons why it was supposedly false was that it caused the church to have pity and compassion on the sinner instead of placing guilt on them. Well I don’t believe there is anything wrong with that at all. Yes, there is guilt that the sinner bears, but that is brought about when the Holy Spirit puts conviction on their hearts. We, as Christians are to have compassion for the sinner. After all, wasn’t our Lord compassionate for them? Listen to these verses in Matthew.
9:36… When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them,
14:14… Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them,
15:32… Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude,
20:34… Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes:
Jesus had compassion on the sinner. Where would we be without the compassion and the mercy of God? We certainly wouldn’t be here. But God did have compassion on us, so we in turn need to be compassionate towards others.
A young man tells the story of when he was a freshman in high school. He was walking home from school one day when he saw a kid from his class named Kyle carrying an armload of books. The thought that went through his mind was, “Boy, this guy must really be a nerd to be bringing all of his books home on a Friday.” After all, he had some big plans to play some football and go to a party. As he continued to walk he watched as a bunch of guys ran towards Kyle and knocked all the books out of his arms and pushed him in the dirt. His glasses went flying about ten feet away from him. The young man who told this story said he could just see the terrible sadness in Kyle’s eyes, so he went over and helped him find his glasses and get to his feet. “Those guys are real jerks. They really should get lives.” Kyle got a big smile on his face and said, “Thanks.” The two guys walked the rest of the way home talking. They ended up hanging out that entire weekend. Over the next four years the two became best friends. Kyle went from being the nerd that everyone teased to the smart, good looking guy that everybody loved. He was valedictorian of their class and when graduation day came it was time for him to give his speech. This is what he said. “Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach… but mostly your friends.” As he continued he told a story about the day that he had met his best friend. He had planned on killing himself over the weekend. He told of how he had cleaned out his locker so that his mom wouldn’t have to when he was gone. He told the crowd how a group of guys had plowed into him, but then he met his friend. His friend had kept him from the unspeakable. Not by trying to counsel him. Not by telling him how awful suicide was. But simply by having compassion on him. You never know how much your compassion can do for someone.
One translation of the word compassion is “a deep feeling of interest.” Really being concerned with the welfare of others. That goes totally against the grain today, doesn’t it? The attitude of today is to think about my desires, my wants, and then, maybe if I’ve got any energy left I’ll try to look out for others, or we don’t even get that far. But we need to get out of the rut of self-centeredness and start having a genuine interest in the needs of others. We need to stop being selfish and start being compassionate. Put on compassion.
II. Kindness
The second piece of “clothing” we are to put on as Christians is kindness. Even in times when we don’t think someone deserves kindness, and those times will come, we need to be kind. This goes hand in hand with compassion. If we are really compassionate for someone, if we really take a genuine interest in them, we will be kind to them. Do you know how inviting the atmosphere of our churches would be if we would have a kindness about us? Everyone appreciates kind people. But in contrast, everyone is turned off by sour and unkind people.
There was a kid named Ron who had long hair when it really stood for “rebel.” He was a wild child who was into heavy metal, booze, and drugs. He had tried church but had been turned off by the zeal of some and the quick judging of others. One summer he was hired to work at a lumber yard where he was partnered with a skinny, Christian teen named Joe. They became friends who talked a lot and laughed a lot. One night Joe had Ron over to his nice home to have dinner with his family. A couple weeks later, Ron invited Joe over to his run down home in a poor neighborhood where they listened to some of his favorite music. As the summer ended and Joe prepared to go to school again, Ron looked at Joe and said with tears in his eyes, “A lot of people have tried to tell me about Jesus, but Joe, you’re the first person who has shown Him to me.”
You can’t show Jesus to people while having an unkind spirit. It just doesn’t fly. But kindness can win the hardest hearts, it can win the most rebellious of sinners over to the Lord.
But kindness isn’t something that needs to only be directed towards the sinner. We must show kindness to those who are in the body of Christ as well. You should be kind to your pastor, to those who have been Christians for many years, to those who have only been saved for a little while, to those who struggle, to those who don’t seem to, to the district superintendent, to the Sunday school teacher, to your wife, to your husband, to your kids, to your parents.
Someone once said that “no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” Someone else said, “I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” We only have this one life to live. Let us live it in kindness to others. We must put on kindness.
III. Humility
Thirdly, we must put on humility. What is it that Jesus said? Matt. 23:12… Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. And James writes about it. James. 4:6… God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Verse 10… Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. The Lord hates pride. He cannot bless a proud person. But on the other hand, the humble He will bless.
Samuel Logan Brengle was one of the great preachers and writers to be part of the Salvation Army. But at the start of his career there he had a great lesson to learn. He had graduated from what is now DePaul University with a Bachelor’s degree in oratory. He had accumulated reward after reward in that field and was quite accomplished it in. After college he went on to Boston Theological Seminary with hopes to write his name high in the church circles. But there came a point in which all of that changed. He felt the Holy Spirit leading him into entire sanctification, and when he made that surrender he found that his preaching was no long to make a name for himself, but it was to glorify God. His entire attitude changed. But all of this was about to be put to the test. At the age of 27 he found himself sitting in front of General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, being interviewed for a chance to be part in the work. It took a while to convince General Booth to give him a chance, but he was finally given opportunity to prove himself. He wasn’t sent to preach before masses of people. He wasn’t even sent to preach before a small crowd. His first duty was to blacken the boots of other members of the Salvation Army. He found himself in a dark little cellar surrounded by 18 pairs of muddy shoes ready to be shined. He thought of the man who buried his talents and wondered whether he was doing the same by cleaning boots rather than preaching. But then he saw a picture: a picture of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, taking the form of a servant. Brengle was humbled as he prayed, “Lord, you washed their feet; I will blacken their boots.” What a humble spirit. What a usable spirit.
2 Chron. 7:14… If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. It’s the humble that God can bless. God can’t work with the proud. And, by the way, how can you be proud when you remember what God has saved you from? In and of ourselves there is nothing to be proud of. We do have something to be proud of in the God we serve. But when you really think about it, in and of ourselves we are nothing. Everything that we have is a gift from God. Every talent we have is a gift from God. Every breath we take is a gift from God. How can we not be humbled when we think of that? And when we truly humble ourselves and practice that humility we will find that God can do more with us than we ever imagined. Paul says to put on humility.
IV. Gentleness
Next, is gentleness. Paul says to put on meekness. Jesus said that the meek are blessed, and they’re going to inherit the earth. God wants His people to be a gentle, meek people. Even when everything around us seems to be going wrong, we need to be gentle.
Did you know there were only two people in Scripture that were referred to as gentle? I’m sure there were more, but only Moses and Jesus were actually called gentle. But look at their circumstances. Moses was the leader of a people that constantly complained. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being around whiners. Just ask my wife. If we are close to a child or anyone who whines, whines, and whines some more, I get really, really frustrated. Being that child’s parent would really try my gentleness. But Moses was gentle, even while leading a bunch of whiners. And look at Jesus. He was our perfect example of gentleness. Imagine being in His shoes. He preached to fickle crowds who were more interested in the miracles that He could do than they were in serving Him. He was opposed by religious leaders who plotted His demise during His whole ministry. These were the guys who were supposed to know from reading the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah, and all they were concerned about was everyone’s perception of them as “holy” men. And He was surrounded by disciples that argued about who was the greatest. All these things would make any normal person go crazy, but through it all Jesus remained gentle. It doesn’t matter what circumstance you’re in, God wants you to be gentle.
Now, often times we mistake meekness and gentleness for weakness. We think that by being meek we are joining an institution called DOORMATS. That stands for Dependent Organization of Really Meek and Timid Souls- if there are no objections. We think being meek means having “The meek shall inherit the earth- if that’s ok with everybody” as a motto. But just by looking at the examples of Moses and Jesus we can see that it takes great strength to be gentle.
Meekness is not weakness. A.W. Tozer wrote that “the meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God’s estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God declared him to be, but he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels. In himself, nothing; in God, everything. That is his motto.” Being meek is not being weak, but it is being honest and humble about ourselves, and gentle and patient with the people that we come in contact with.
V. Patience
Speaking of patience, that is the next thing that Paul tells us to put on. And it goes hand in hand with gentleness. Matter of fact, all of these things that we’re talking about are connected to each other.
Now, I have to be honest. I mentioned just a minute ago that it’s hard for me to have patience with whiners. Patience is one of those virtues that I really have to work at. The saying that “patience is a virtue, possess it if you can. Found seldom in a woman, never in a man” applies very well in my home. Cora is patient most of the time, but it’s hard for me to stay patient. I’m not someone who likes to wait long for something. When it comes to driving, I don’t like to wait. I often try to find the route that I can make a right turn on if I come to a red light and not have to stop. If I see a yellow light, often times it doesn’t mean slow down to me, it means speed up and get through there before it turns red. I’m not a terribly patient person.
But more importantly than being patient with red lights, I believe God wants us to be patient with people. Many times it’s easy for us to start giving up on people if it takes too long for them to come to Christ. Or we become doubtful of their love for God if it takes them a while for them to overcome some things.
Many times we are easily angry with people who hurt us. But we forget how many times we failed and how many times we hurt God. We forget how patient He was and is with us. We forget how long He waited for us to get over our selfishness and give our hearts to Him. Why don’t you make it a point to try to remember how patient God has been with you when you’re tempted to lose your patience with someone else?
I think another thing we should remember about patience is that it is often the key to overcoming trials. If you are a patient Christian you will make it through the hard times with graciousness, with gentleness. You’ll understand that God is working out His plan in your life through those times. You’ll remember what Job said when he was going through trials larger than any of us have ever faced. He lost everything. He lost his flocks. He lost his herds. He lost his children. He lost his health. His wife couldn’t figure out why he didn’t just curse God and die. But he was patient. Yes, it hurt. No, he didn’t understand why all these things were happening to him. But he knew that when he came through all of this, he was going to come through as gold. He was going to be a better person because of his patience during trials. God wants His people to put on patience.
VI. Love
Lastly this morning, we are to put on love. Paul says above all else put on charity. This, I believe, is what all the other things that we’ve talked about today hinge on. If we don’t love, we won’t have compassion. If we don’t love, we won’t be kind. If we don’t love, we won’t be humble. If we don’t love, we won’t be gentle. If we don’t love, we won’t be patient. We must put on love.
Ted was a slow student. He was sloppy, expressionless, and unattractive. His teacher, Miss Thompson, even enjoyed placing all the red x’s beside his wrong answers. He came from a poor home situation. His mother had died when he was in the third grade and his father showed no interest in him. Well Christmas rolled around and the children piled all of their gifts on Ms. Thompson’s desk. Ted’s was wrapped in brown paper and held together loosely by old tape. The children snickered when she opened it and a broken bracelet fell out with a half empty bottle of cheap perfume. But she splashed some perfume on and put the bracelet around her wrist. At the end of the day when the children left, Ted stepped to Ms. Thompson’s desk and said, “You smell just like me mother. And the bracelet looks pretty on you. I’m glad you like my presents.” That day a huge change was made in Ms. Thompson’s life. She asked God to help her to really love Ted. Surprisingly, he began showing great improvement in school, catching up and even passing some of the other students. Time came and went and Ms. Thompson didn’t hear from Ted for a long time. Then, one day, she received a note that said, “I wanted you to be the first to know. I will be graduating second in my class. Love, Ted.” Four years later, “They just told me I will be graduating first in my class. I wanted you to be the first to know. The university has not been easy, but I liked it. Love, Ted.” Four years later, “As of today, I am Theodore Stallard, M.D. I wanted you to be the first to know. I’m getting married next month, the 27th to be exact. I want you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive. You are the only family I have now; Dad died last year.” What a difference love can make. Where would Ted have ended up if that one teacher hadn’t shown him the love that he so desperately needed.
Listen to what Paul says. I Cor. 13:1-3… Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
We must love. H. B. London Jr. said, “Christianity is not a religion of beliefs- it is a lifestyle of love.” Someone else once said that “love is the identifying mark of Christianity. In a world of hate, envy, and anger, love sticks out like a healthy thumb. When anyone walks away from an encounter with us, that person should remember our love.” The Bible tells us that we will be known by our love. Love is the basis for every bit of our Christian walk. If we truly love Jesus then we will follow Him and obey Him. If we truly love our neighbor then we will do what’s right by them, we’ll have compassion on them, we’ll be patient with them, we’ll be kind to them. Put on love.
The question I want to ask you this morning is this… Are you dressing right? No, I’m not talking about the clothes you put on your physical body. But do you line up with God’s fashion for your spiritual body? Have you put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, love? Are you dressing right? Let’s keep up with the fashion that God has laid down for us. When we do, God will truly be able to bless us.
