LOOK LIKE YOU CARE

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ (Galatians 3:27).

In a recent family discussion about what pastoral attire should look like, my son said, "They should at least look like they care."  I whole-heartedly agree, but it still begs the question, What does looking like you care look like?

There isn't a pastoral uniform described in the New Testament.  The 21st century evangelical American pastoral uniform is blue jeans and a shirt with the tails hanging out.  Does that communicate that the pastor cares more than if he had on a suit and tie?  Almost all basketball coaches and television news people wear suits, ties and nice dresses. Does that make them look like they care?

Like it or not, there is a degree of competence and leadership, or lack of it, that is communicated by our dress, it reflects what we feel about our message and our mission.  No one stays home from a basketball game because the coach is wearing a suit and no one will stay home from church because the pastor is wearing one either.

Having said that, how we dress does not communicate that we care if we are not willing to get our clothes dirty.  Several years ago, I went with our youth and family minister to a home where the clothes dryer was not working.  The people who lived there were in poverty and were dirty.  In that situation, our youth pastor was willing to get down on his knees in the middle of a dirty mess and work on that dryer.  He did it because he cared.  I was moved by his willingness to do that.

When it comes down to where the rubber meets the road, looking like we care means that we look like Jesus.  We are clothed with him--he is our uniform.  What is it that people see when they look at us?  Do they see Jesus or just our attire?

Our Father's Blessings,
Tom