Sermon Tone Analysis
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God’s Dress Code
I grew up with there being such a distinction and legalist attitude of what a “Christian” should wear to church and if these things were not adhered to then there was major judgment.
So much so I have family and friends to this day that will not attend church.
I understand that there needs to be modesty and to honor God in all aspects of our life.
With the moral failure/pollution in our society today and extreme sexuality common in much of the fashion industry, Christian men and women who want to please the Lord often have to go against the tide.
But in the same breath we are often quick to judge and hurt and then we take away from the Holy spirit’s job to convict and teach the right manner.
We need to remember we are all working on ourselves and a purpose of the church is to exhort and edify one another.
May our conversations with one another always have this in mind.
In this important chapter the apostle Paul exhorted Christians in the church in Colossae to be what they are in Christ.
God had done a work in them and because of this they were challenged to:
After all their new and permanent source of joy and peace would be found only where Christ is (v.
1).
As members of the family of God we need to put to death old sinful inclinations and rid ourselves of the evil habits we used to practice.
(v.
5).
Please note here there is vivid imagery of “take off” and “put on” this is in keeping with the idea of being dressed spiritually according yo God’s plan for our lives.
As Christians we can be dressed like something we are not while we decline to “put on” the beautiful wardrobe the Lord has provided for us.
We need to put on:
Compassion
Kindness
Humility
Gentleness
Patience
Compassion
God’s idea of spiritual fashion begins with compassion.
Compassion is defined in the Bible as “a deep feeling of interest” which stands in contrast to the cold, insensitive and self-preoccupied attitudes of society in general.
When self interest is not involved, most people could care less about others.
When we take on the attitude of Christ Compassion is reflected.
Jesus looked beyond the outward appearance, beyond the surface.
Jesus saw into their hearts and felt compassion for their feeble, confused state.
Many of us feel that discerning the faults of others is a sign of our spirituality.
That is not true.
The real mark of Christ-likeness is to be stirred in our hearts by what others are going through.
It is easy to give up on people when we see them continuing down the wrong road., but what id Christ had responded that way toward us?
Remember, we all came from the cesspool of sin!
I love what Jesus does, rather than looking at our horrible condition, Jesus showed great compassion and gave His life for us.
How ungrateful of us to wear the clothes of insensitivity and self-righteousness when the only reason we are in the family of God is very compassionate and merciful!
Kindness
Kindness brings warmth and softness to our spiritual appearance.
This brings an inviting atomsphere to the church.
Who doesn’t appreciate kind people who do and say kind things and really mean it?
Kindness brings a twist of sweetness of social balance, blessing and encouragement wherever it goes, and it was a magnetic quality of Jesus while He roamed the earth.
Jesus was kind and considerate to everyone He met.
D. L. Moody said “The hardest thing for God to do was to make a man kind”.
I am not sharing this to be negative tonight but I want us to think about that for a minute.
Many of us memorize scriptures, understand doctrine, but we ruin our witness because we are unkind in conversations and dealings with other folks.
We have an edge for whatever reason that makes us and our faith unattractive to the very people who need to be drawn to the Lord.
Remember King Rehoboam?
In a crucial moment in Israel’s history the elders gave King Rehoboam some advice:
But the new king was too arrogant and full of himself to listen to such counsel .
The result?
A civil war divided the twelve tribes of Israel for centuries and left to intermittent fighting that cost countless lives.
What a terrible price to pay for unkindness!
How different would our lives and church be if we followed the apostle Paul’s advice:
There is no excuse for us to be unkind or bitter because another person has behaved toward us in an unkind fashion.
Is that the way God responded when we blow off His voice and rejected his offer of salvation?
It was indeed God’s kindness that drew us toward him.
We must never forget that and He still uses kindness to draw people to himself.
Love is kind
Humility
The well-dressed Christian still has more to put on in order to follow the Lord’s example.
Clothe yourself with humility.
This humble mindset gives us a low opinion of ourselves and only the Holy Spirit can provide us with such a rare garment.
It is so easy to be proud because of what we feel are superior talents, possessions, or achievements.
Pride is so subtle that even when someone is dirt poor and have great limitations, one can still be very full of themselves.
When we live with a proud attitude we are susceptible to tension or disappointment that accompany it.
Every little remark or negative comparison is like a painful pinprick to our inflated egos.
When we put on pride, it takes a lot of energy to be always defending and reestablishing our superior position in the minds of those we meet.
Real humility begins when we think and feel about ourselves according to the truth.
Just the simple truth about God, ourselves and life is all we need.
Spending time alone with the Lord confessing our limitations, past failures and sins and the fragile nature of life itself, this helps us get well on our way towards having a new spirit of humility in our daily lives.
When we live in a falsehood and fantasy about ourselves, then we put back on the clothes that are out of date and ugly, the things we once wore in our former life before we came to know Christ.
Humility is probably the rarest article of spiritual clothing found among the people of God.
Pride however, is plentiful and grows at an amazing rate.
Pride is like a junkyard dog that can feed on anything - including the blessings of God!
So let us put off the heavy prickly garments of pride and put on Christ
Gentleness
The next spiritual garment, it is not featured in Vogue or GQ magazine, but heaven still puts great value on it.
Gentleness = submission that prevails through the trials of life, especially in relationship to God’s dealings with us.
Gentleness is the opposite of harshness that comes from a frustrated heart full of turmoil.
Things don’t always work out as we hoped, and sometimes the bottom falls out of our best plans.
Life certainly has its disappointments and that is where gentleness comes in.
God’s grace can help us to accept these disappointments large and small so that we can move on in an attitude of gentleness, showing trust and meekness.
When we don’t put on gentleness we dishonor Christ by venting our irritation as if God isn’t aware of our situation and has permitted our world to spin out of control.
Jesus is the example of gentleness for us to follow.
Remember how He preached while the religious leaders on the edge of the crowd plotted his demise?
The fickle masses slowly understood the truth he taught and his inner circle disciples argued who among them was the greatest?
Unjust attitudes and accusations dogged his every step and yet He remained gentle and serene through it all.
How different it often is with us.
Just let one of us buy a new car that turns out to have some defects, and we are ready to loose it!
Think of all the people who go through each day in silent anger because things haven’t worked out for them, and they think life has been “unfair”.
But God can deliver us from these old, carnal ways and help us to gently accept things as we remember that”
Patience
Patience is like a perfectly matched mate to gentleness and involves being long-suffering with others.
Events of life can change us and people can get on our nerves
When family, friends or even acquaintances let us down, we need to run quickly to God’s wardrobe and put on some divine patience.
Why “divine” patience?
Because in ourselves we all too easily become resentful toward those who accidentally or purposely injure us.
Church hear me in this we need to remember how patient God has been with us over and over again!
We need to remember that even among fellow Christians there will sometimes be problems and hurts.
That is exactly why Paul wrote:
Our first reaction is to say “Hey, how could they do that?
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