What Not to Wear”
Colossians 3:1-17
Big Idea: When Christ is at your core your “spiritual clothes” will be right.
(props.= 2 racks of clothes, one of old clothes and one with new clothes)
Introduction:
Most of us know how important it is to make a good first impression. We’ve all dressed up for a first date or a special occasion. We know the clothes we wear tell a lot about ourselves to those around us. We’ve heard, “Clothes make the man” and “dress for success”. But are there other things, besides our physical appearance, that speak any louder about who we are on the inside?
How many of the guys have said to your wives, “Honey, does this look all right?” I have to confess, though I’m better than I used to be, I still have to ask Rene that question at least 3-4 times every week. If you want to know a secret, Rene’ still suggests that I change what I’ve picked out at least twice a week. I guess I’m just “fashion challenged” or something. While it’s not always true, ladies do you agree, that most of us guys have that same deficiency or don’t seem to really care about what they wear. We can get ready for almost any occasion in 15 minutes or less, whether we look right or not. On the other hand, most of you women must have some kind of “fashion gene” or something. You know what to wear for every event and you take as long as necessary to look just right.
Having said all that, even the best of the ‘fashion experts’ don’t get it right 100% time. And I’m sure many of us could share a “fashion failure” of our own.
How many of us have seen or heard about the TLC series that’s been on for seven seasons called, “What Not to Wear”? In this show the two ‘make-over clothing experts’ work with someone who has been dressing totally incorrectly for their age, body type and occupation for years. But by the end of the show, they not only have changed what the person looks like on the outside, they’ve helped change how the person feels about themselves on the inside.
Now in case you’re wondering if today’s message is about fashion or the clothes on our bodies, the answer is an emphatic, NO!! Today, I want us understand that as “Christ Followers” we all have our own “spiritual fashion failures” at times. In our Scripture text, God gave the Apostle Paul a wonderful format for how and why we are to dress a certain way spiritually. If we remember and follow what God says in these verses we’ll never get it wrong. Let me remind us that today’s Big Idea is “When Christ is at your core your “spiritual clothes” will be right.”
Opening Prayer:
Paul begins by saying…
It’s all about recognizing who you are! (v1-4)
In the show… the experts always begin by asking the person why they dress the way they do. And quickly you see that they dress this way because of how feel and think about themselves.
Paul begins by saying that as a Follower of Christ, our identity is no longer in what we’ve done in our past or in our present. And while we, as His Followers, have responsibility for our actions and choices we make, our new identity is so much greater than those mistakes or accomplishments.
God wants us to know that from His perspective, though we may not fully embrace it…
A. Your identity is in Christ. (v.1,3)
At the moment of your salvation your old identity died. (see 2:20 “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world… And see Gal. 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”)
1. Your desires change. (v.1)
“Seek” can be understood as “Keep on seeking”. It really has to do with our feelings and heart.
2. Your thinking changes. (v.2)
“Set you mind” can be understood as simply “Keep on thinking”. This one refers to the head.
3. Your future changes. (v.4)
“… your life is hidden…your life appears…in glory”
This is how God sees us as His children! He sees us “in Christ”.
But maybe you’re here today, and have never accepted Christ as you Savior. You’ve never confessed your sin and asked Him to forgive you. Please don’t miss out on all that God has for you, and all that is so much better.
Maybe you’re here today, and you have received Christ’s forgiveness, but you’re still struggling in your daily walk with Him. You’re still trying to hang on to your old ways and just can’t seem to know how to fully conquer your old sinful habits. You struggle finding the joy that the Bible talks about.
Maybe you just need to be reminded of a few things.
No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, this message is for us all!
In the remaining verses of our text, Paul gives us at least fifteen commands. However, not one of them can fully be carried out in our own strength or determination. It’s only when we trust Christ, as our expert, and allow His power to work through us that we can be what He wants us to be.
Get rid of the old possessions! (v5, 8, 9a)
In the show…the experts go through the person’s closet and literally throw their old clothes in the trash can.
Paul does the same thing and has two categories of things we are to “get rid of. And though they are very thorough, neither are meant to be exhaustive or complete.
A. Things that are to be “put to death” 5 things absolutely not to wear (v.5)
This term has the idea of starving it to death. In other words, stop feeding these things!
A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time. When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, the one that I feed the most.
This list of sins are related to our personal sensual desires, Paul calls them our “earthly” desires. They are in a progressive order from actions to the motives or from the outside – in.
1. “sexual immorality” – from the word we get pornography, ex. adultery, sexual lust, sexual perversion
2. “impurity” – from the word we get catheter , any action that is not clean
3. “passion” – any wrong desires that are acted upon (physically) see Romans 1:26
4. “evil desire” – sexual lusts (mentally)
5. “covetousness” – wanting what someone else has and willing to do anything to get it, to always want more, This is the 10th commandment. And there is a reason it is in that order, Paul says, “…which is idolatry.” This sin is the evil root that all the previous sins spring from and maybe all sins.
B. Things that are to be “put away” (v.8,9a)
This term is has the idea of taking off old clothes. (and keeping them off)
This time Paul makes a list of sins that are more social in nature and he reverses the pattern by beginning with the motive and working toward the action or from the inside – out.
1. “anger” – is the deep, smoldering, resentful bitterness that is rooted in the heart (see Eph. 4:31)
2. “wrath” – refers to the sudden outbursts of anger, ‘quick tempered’
3. “malice” – is the vicious nature which is determined in doing harm to others, here it is with our words
4. “slander” - from the word we get blasphemy, refers to harm that comes from evil speech
5. “obscene talk” – refers to obscene or derogatory, could be translated ‘foul mouthed abuse’
6. “lying” – this could be translated ‘stop lying to yourselves’
(see Gal.5:19-23 “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.”)
How can we have success in our Christian life and the victory over sin? First, recognize who we are in Christ. Second, by starving wrongful passions. And third, by throwing away inappropriate language.
Why get rid of these things? (v6, 7, 9b-11)
In the show… the experts are sometimes mean and cynical to the person as they throw the old clothes in the trash.
Paul is not this way at all, but he does give us…
A. Five straight-forward reasons
1. (v.6) “God’s wrath” – We all need to be reminded that God’s judgment is real and can be depended on. Though this is a good motivator, our fear of His wrath for some reason is quickly forgotten.
2. (v.7) “you too once walked” This was your former way of life – but that has all changed now.
3. (v.9b) “you have put off the old self” – Lit. having put off , you made a choice to do this in the past.
4. (v.10) “you have put on the new self” - in the greatest since, salvation is more about addition than subtraction. It’s about adding something that is so much better than removing what is old.
5. (v.11) “Here there is not…” - we’re all in this adventure together.
a. “Greek / Jew” – no racial barriers
b. “Circumcised / uncircumcised” – no religious barriers
c. “Barbarian / Scythian” – no educational barriers (B. is taken from an onomotopoetic word to describe people who spoke an inarticulate & stammering language. S. this group of people controlled trade N of the Black Sea and were known to the Greeks as ruthless warriors with a reputation for savagery)
d. “Slave / free” – no social barriers (more will be said about this next week)
Alright, now that we all know “What Not to Wear”…
Here’s what you should be wearing! (v12-17)
In the show… the experts work very hard to help the person understand what clothes they should be wearing and why.
They even give them a credit card and send them out on a shopping spree.
In our text, Paul turns his attention to the new clothes we are to wear, and this is his turning point.
But first he wants to give us…
A. Three reminders of our identity
1. “God’s chosen ones” – We are specially selected by God Himself, we are highly valued by Him
2. “holy” – We are set apart by Him and for Him.
3. “beloved” – We are objects of God’s special love.
Next Paul describes…
B. Some new pieces to our new wardrobe
1. “compassionate hearts” – pity, mercy, sympathy
2. “kindness” – grace that pervades the whole person, mellowing all that is harsh
3. “humility” – humbleness of heart
4. “meekness” – willing to suffer injury instead of inflicting it
5. “patience” – longsuffering, a state of emotional calm in the face of provocation or misfortune and without complaint or irritation
6. “bearing with one another” – to hold out in spite of …,
7. “forgiving one another” – lit. “forgiving yourselves”, to be gracious
How? Like Christ has forgiven you
8. “loving one another” – like a belt this most important piece holds all the others together and without this piece, all the others are impossible.
C. How you look dressed in this new wardrobe
1. “the peace of Christ will rule in your heart” – both ‘peace with God’ & ‘peace of God’ and it will act as an umpire over your heart.
2. “being thankful” – this is ‘gratitude for what He has done’
3. “Christ’s Word will richly live inside us” – God’s Word will ‘be at home’ within us. This is the same as “being filled with the Holy Spirit”
4. “teaching ourselves & others” – the positive aspect of understanding and knowing
5. “admonishing ourselves & others” – the negative aspect of correcting and rebuking
6. “Praise & worship” – because of the grace we have received, these two will be present everyday of our life, not just at church
7. “giving thanks” – this is ‘gratitude directed to God’
8. “whatever you do”- freedom in life that has Christ at its core
(see Gal. 5:22-24 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
Conclusion:
At the end of every episode… everyone sees the transformation that has taken place. But more importantly, we see how the new outfits help the person feel better about themselves and how their outlook of life has now changed.
So, we’ve learned what the Scripture say but,…
How do these new “spiritual clothes” “fit” in the real world?
I’m so glad you asked that question… Let me give you two examples.
Right now our elementary kids are learning about two brothers for the book of Genesis, they were as different as two brothers could be. The one brother tricked and cheated his older brother out of something that was very valuable. The older brother was so mad he vowed to get even one day by killing his younger brother. Years later, the day came when the two brothers met again. Both decided they would “put on new clothes” and they ended up hugging and loving each other.
Several years ago, a young man was quickly promoted to an important position in the company he was working for. In this company he was to share the training responsibility for his entire region with one other person. This other person had been with the company for many years and had crafted his way into his position by less than honorable means. As the two began working together, the young man discovered his training partner was undermining and ridiculing him on regular bases behind his back. Now the young man was a Christian and had a choice to make. What would he do, would he fight evil with evil? Would he do what he felt like doing and take the guy “out back”? In other words, would he wear the clothes others expected, the clothes that made his flesh feel good, or would he wear something else?
I chose to put on the “new clothes” by faith. When I began doing this, I didn’t know how it was going to turn out. But by God’s grace and everyone’s surprise, we ended up friends that worked well together for several more years.
Please make sure you hear me correctly, I’m not saying if you choose to wear these “new clothes” you have to be a “spineless jelly fish”. I’m saying that when we put on these things by faith, all that we do will bring honor to Christ.
Most of us have people in our lives who know and love us and want what’s best for us both physically and spiritually. However, we sometimes just can’t get beyond wearing what we’re comfortable in even though some of our clothes should be thrown away.
What “spiritual clothes” have you been wearing?
• Sometimes we come to the service and think, “I just can’t feel God”, or “I just don’t feel like worshipping today.”
What’ have you been wearing all week?
• Maybe you feel defeated in you walk with Christ.
What have you been wearing all week?
• Maybe you wished that relationship that is broken could be mended.
What have you been wearing all week?
In the same way, as Followers of Christ, sometimes we all need to be reminded “What Not to Wear.”
Let’s “put on” what Paul tells us to wear so we can live the Victorious Christian Life He has for us.
Are you ready for a new “wardrobe”?
Remember: When Christ is at your core your “spiritual clothes” will be right.
