First published in October, 2003…

 

I bought my first white hat sometime during my senior year of high school, and except for about six months in the early eighties (when is was considered ‘high fashion’) I have worn one ever since. Indeed, by the time that I had first married and moved to Jacksonville I had began to convert my entire wardrobe to correspond with it, and today, except for work uniforms, I own and wear nothing else.

 

Meanwhile, my friend Henry had picked up a genuine Australian bush hat sometime in high school and generally wore it out when dressed for society. I recall one warm day at Pere Marquette when he, our friend Susie and I were hiking the trails and battling bugs… Henry and I wound up taking off our t-shirts and hanging them under out hats, foreign-legion style… I’m sure that the three of us made quite a sight for any who chanced to see us!

 

          One fall, after my wife and I had lived in Jacksonville for a time, Henry came up for a weekend visit, and he and I went for an evening walk around the grounds of MacMurray College to compare notes on how our lives had been going. It was the last of October, and though Jack-O-Lanterns and such could be seen in various dorm room windows, as well as the houses around the outer edge, the chill in the air caused the campus to be pretty well empty, .

 

          As we were walking north past the (then) new student union building, a girl came through the doors, shouting back inside to somebody as she left. As she turned to walk towards us, Henry and I both thought it was Susie! Now, neither one of us had seen her in at least two years, and the coincidence of running into her here seemed staggering. We both stared at her with totally dumbfounded looks on our faces as we waited for her to recognize us and say something.

 

It wasn’t her! She stared at each of us staring at her (the best word here to describe what she was probably thinking was ‘terrified’, but she showed no signs of it) and finally said, as she walked by, “I’m sorry fellows… the costume party for tonight was cancelled!”

 

          After she passed us and we came to realize what had just happened, we both lost it, hysterically. Realizing how stupid we must have looked as we stared was only part of it… “We’re not wearing a costume,” we said to each other. “We always look like this!”

 

 

          I made a conscious, deliberate choice, all of those years ago, to dress in western-style clothing because of what it represents to me… the ideal of the ‘gentleman cowboy’, who stood for everything that was ever considered good, true, honest and noble. And it is very true that when I started dressing this way, I was very much alone, in this area, in doing so. Still, that was the image that I wanted to project to the world, and still do, even if in today’s world not everyone sees me in the same light that I see myself. I know what I’m standing for! The same exact idea applies to the image we Christians present to the world.

 

In the third chapter of Colossians, Paul is addressing what the well-dressed Christian should be wearing. He says, first, that we are to, “Put to death… whatever belongs to …our earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed.” And then he tells us that, “…as God’s chosen people”, we should, “clothe …ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

 

Wouldn’t it be great if being a Christian were as simple as changing our outfit? But think about it… how many outfits do you have in your closet or dresser? Does putting on that ‘nautical’ dress make you a sailor? Do that straw hat and blue-jeans mean you’re a farmer? Does wearing that ball-gown make you a great dancer? Or, do wearing gym shorts and shoes make you a track or basketball star? Of course not! No more than dressing up in ‘Sunday’ clothes and attending service makes you a Christian! True Christianity is ‘worn’ on the inside and shines through to the outside!

 

So, what do your friends see when they look at you? What image do you present to the world? Are you trying to be ‘hip’, or ‘cool’, or ‘groovy’, or whatever else they call wanting to be ‘accepted’? Are they seeing a reflection of themselves and the world… or do they see Christ? Can they tell what you stand for by looking at you… and your life? Or are you too embarrassed to let it show?

 

In Mark 8:38, Jesus says, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” If you are a Christian… if you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He died on the cross for our sins… then there is only one other question that remains… does anybody but you know it? For if the world does not see Christ-in-you, then Christ is not in you! It really is just that simple.

 

Does the world know that you are a Christian???