The door of opportunity opened wide as the raspy voice of Rod Stewart proclaimed the dying notes of “You Wear it Well”……something that in all my years of high school I had failed to do with the ghastly multi-shaded green uniform.
Now I was free from the many layers of serviceable polyester as I walked out of the main doors and prepared for the long walk to the bus that would take me home and to a uniform free life…little did I know then that I would spend the majority of my working life in theatre scrubs…talk about unflattering!!
I was constantly in awe of the girls who could and still can, throw on any old thing and still look like a runway model, but for a five foot two, yet to fully develop skinny lass, sporting home permed hair, it was just too much.
I’ve never really mastered the art of making clothes look stunning on me, much-preferring jeans and accompanying casual tops; comfort over style they used to call it, and fortunately for the past few years it's become more popular.
The school uniform was, despite the lack of style, reasonably comfortable and extremely serviceable. It was of course intended to be a great leveller, within uniformity was equality…or so they thought. It was also intended to show the outside world where you were being educated, where you belonged, although I think the real reason was so that anyone you annoyed on your way home knew where to send the letter of complaint!!
Along with most school leavers, I was relieved when I could dispense with my uniform but all that really meant was that I was changing it for another uniform, the world's uniform, complete with the world’s viewpoint.
However, when I became a Christian, my viewpoint needed to change as I realised that when we become Christians it doesn’t all end there; that’s just the start, there’s this little thing called discipleship and the similarities between that and school uniform and how we choose to wear that uniform are remarkable.
Let’s assume that if you are reading this that you are indeed a Christian, that you now have a desire to live the way of someone who has recognised the sacrifice of Christ and you have been converted. For you verses 17-19 of Ephesians 4 say this –
“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity”
What Paul is saying is that those who have come to know Christ are saved from the darkness others live under and just as they know more than others, so then they are also obliged to lead better lives than others.
If this is you, you now have a life that is full of meaning, full of joy and hope and you should be eager to learn the way of Christ, the way to live. But if you are asking how do I do this, how do I live a better life, how do I live Christ's way, then Ephesians 4:20-24 is your obligation to put on the school uniform….if you’re going to enter this classroom then you need to change your worldly clothes and put on the new clothes, the school uniform…put off your old self and put on the new self.
Further on in v25 Paul concludes (therefore) that the old self is indeed falsehood and we are to put that off and speak truth and we can also look further to Colossians 3:8-9 and see that this can also include anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene talk, not only that but we are to put these things off together with their practices; that everything that’s associated with them; the emotions, attitudes and actions that having this old mind-set will generate and feed.
Okay so we’re putting that old self off but what are we putting on, what is this new self? Colossians 3 goes on to say in v12 that it's compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.
So the new self is the person who has a new bunch of attitudes, emotions and practices that Jesus has called us to put on in his class. We must take off the old worldly clothes and put on the new school uniform. If we want to graduate from this class, we must get our uniform on straight, we must put on the new self.
If you have been called into this school you can’t just walk through the gates, through the door and sit in the back row, looking up now and then when you hear something that tickles your ears, you have to enrol with all your heart, you wear the uniform correctly – all of it. You don’t hitch up your skirt so you look just like you did before, you might shine your shoes and tuck in your blouse but when the Master comes in to teach, you refuse to listen, you refuse to give up all the old habits you were told to put off…. it’s as if you have been called to the hope of heaven but then refused to dress for it.
Now we know what to do, but how do we do it?
Paul does not leave us hanging there, he goes on to say in v23 we are to be renewed in the spirit of our mind, so thats it! that’s the connection between this transformation of an old mindset to a mindset with new thoughts, attitudes and actions; to be renewed in the spirit of our mind.
But this is not just a new to-do list, it’s not just a swapping of wicked actions for moral ones, its so much more than an outward, self-driven change. It is the victorious power and transformation of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ, this is a Holy Spirit-powered change from the inside out.
But we also need a change from the outside in, we need to be aware of the things that are of God, the truth of who God is, of His promises for us, we must read the Bible, listen to the words of great spiritual men, not self-help gurus who can so easily lure us away from the greatest source of help we can ever find in Christ.
This is a class like no other, in this class, God creates the new person and as we fill our minds with the love of Christ and the fullness of God our minds will be renewed and freed from the deception of the world and as we determine to act in a way that conforms to the commands of God, as we follow the teachings of Jesus, that Holy spirit power is offered and actioned in us so that the grace of God will work powerfully in our lives.
It might be another school uniform but not one I need to titivate to make me look better, this time it fits perfectly because God continues to change and empowered me to wear it well.... for His glory and not my own.
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