Why Christian Apparel Is More Than Just Clothing
Why Christian Apparel Is More Than Just Clothing
A ReBirth Living Blog
Written By: Christopher @ ReBirth Living
On a subconscious level, we first identify others by their appearance. It might be ideal to see people for their character but that’s just not what we first see. The clear and most excellent exception would be when the Holy Spirit precedes us, allowing people to see us through what God shows them…
So, why would we ever choose to present something less than who we are or what we believe in how we present ourselves to others?
Would you go outside with a shirt clearly and boldly printed with “It’s the middle of the road for me”, or “singing hymns on Sunday but struggling to care on Monday”? Probably not. Though I’m sure someone would create a market for it if it would sell.
The point is to speak life and truth over yourself and others to not only stave off the lies that mediocrity declares of the faithful, but to inspire many by the first impression they’ll ever get of you - your appearance.
It’s fair to argue that the rest of your appearance matters too, but I want you to picture a homeless man with disheveled hair, a weary pain in his walk, and a barely controllable lurch in his stance that screams of years of a lack of care and unspeakable hardships. Can you see him in your mind? Now put a bright red shirt on him that says, “God loves me!” What changes in your mind and heart in seeing that contrast? Do questions stir in you about the difference in the appearance and circumstances of that man versus the declaration on his chest? For most, it absolutely would. That’s the point…
Some might see him and ask, “How could a just God allow so much suffering?” Others might ask, “I wonder who gave him that shirt?” I would have a different question in seeing such: “Why, with everything happening with this man, didn’t we take that shirt off?” It could be that no other options existed to keep that rhetorical homeless man warm at night, but a far more impactful truth is that man became a billboard for Christ; an illustration that while favor might not look fair, God still preserves the rich, poor, and in-between. While I could wear my feelings, my situations, even icons of other people’s belief, if I choose to wear MY faith, I’m confessing to people who could be in very desperate circumstances (even myself) that I’ve been given light to rebuke darkness.
Boldly confess who God made you to be, because in it rests the truth of His love for you. Wear. Your. Faith! Literally and figuratively.