As long ago as ancient
Clothes make the man.
To which Mark Twain added the somewhat cynical observation:
Naked people have little or no influence on society.
How we clothe ourselves is important, and very much affects how people respond to us. When I applied for my first mortgage, I worked in a government office building across the street from my bank’s regional headquarters and main branch. I usually went to the bank dressed for work—a three-piece suit more often than not—and they usually received me in a polite and respectful manner. The final mortgage documents needed some attention on one of the last days before we took possession of our house, when I was off work packing boxes and cleaning up our old place. I dashed down to the bank in dirty jeans and a plaid shirt. Maybe it was just a busy day, or maybe the receptionist had a headache, but I certainly didn’t feel as welcome there as I usually did. I was annoyed that they were treating me less respectfully, when the only difference was my attire.
A small thing—or is it? It taught me that how we present ourselves to others does make a difference. And this is true not just with respect to our physical clothing, but also in our personal conduct. Writing to a young church, Paul told the people there to “clothe” themselves…
with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
Paul is talking about making a conscious decision about how we deal with other people—how we present ourselves to the world. These are the essential personal traits that build up community, whether in family, church, or nation.
We hear this exhortation today on our country’s birthday. Paul challenged the new Christians in
“What’s to improve?” some might ask. “Isn’t this already a pretty good country?”
Well, yes it is, and I for one thank God that I am a citizen of
Nonetheless, this is not a perfect country, but a work still in progress. The justice and righteousness of which Isaiah and the Psalmist both dreamed is not universal in this land, as we have very recently been reminded by our aboriginal peoples.
The real measure of any society is found in how it treats those with the least ability to contribute to it. This is not something I have made up, but is rooted in the prophetic tradition of the Hebrew Scriptures, when Isaiah, Micah, and Amos castigated the wealthy and powerful for how they dealt with the widows and orphans, and all the “little people” of the land.
A society founded on Christian principles—a people “clothed in Christ” if you will—is not so much one that legalistically enforces a particular standard of behaviour, as one that treats all people…
with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
This kind of society does not happen by accident, but by the grace of God working in people of faith, people who have decided to “put on Christ.” To leave the betterment of society to chance is to stand naked before people, with nothing to offer and no hope for the future. Mark Twain was closer to the truth than he may have realized.
In a word, a Christian society should be founded on LOVE—the love based in the mutual respect for each other as children of God. The respect with which we treat others should not depend on the quality of their clothes, or their education, or the colour of their skin, or where they were born, or what they can do for us. Our love for God’s children should be as unconditional as God’s love is for us.
This is my commandment,
that you love one another as I have loved you.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us clothe ourselves in Christ and in his love. Let us present to the world a people who know that they are blessed to be a blessing. This is a great country. It can be greater—and the difference begins here today, with us.