Dress Up
As kids, after the double feature on Saturday afternoon, it wasn’t uncommon to re-enact the best of the action scenes from the movies we had just seen. Whether a WWII battle, a Western-style shoot-out, sword fight, boxing match, or jumping on our bikes to recreate a chariot race, my friends and I temporarily took on the roles of the big-screen heroes and villains.
Kids are good at pretending. We expect them to “play-act” and use their imagination to become someone or something else, fantasizing as they live out imaginary stories. It develops their minds and creativity and is considered a healthy part of growing up. But as we mature, the pretending is set aside, giving way to pressure to “be real” and “be yourself.”
We’re usually seen as dishonest when we pretend as adults unless we’re acting in a play or another production. Unless you’re an actor, you’re a phony, a fake. Someone might accuse you of “putting on,” like you were one thing when you were actually another. But is it ever healthy to act one way when we are another?
The concept came to mind in the phrase from Colossians 3, that in Christ, you, “…have put on the new self” (Colossians 3:10). Here the term “put on” carries the idea of clothing or dressing oneself. But think of it as covering yourself with something that’s not you. You’re not feeling it, but you “put on” or pretend to be kind. You “put on” like you are patient, even though you feel anything but patient. In verse 14, Paul says, “Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” He doesn’t say that you must feel it, but you must put it on.
Mastering these qualities in our lives is far more than simply faking them. It starts with setting aside the old self, with its old attributes. Then, to put on new selves requires learning to depend on God for strength, regardless of the circumstances. It may begin by “putting on,” but the actual change is forged in the realities of real life.
There’s a difference between putting on the new self—along with its earmark qualities—and, for example, pretending to be Zorro (my childhood identity) after watching the movie. We should transform into the new self as we consistently put on each of the new-self qualities. It’s no fantasy. Transforming into the new self as we put on each of the new-self qualities is called sanctification. It is a lifelong process for the believer, and it is real, even though you obediently behave in ways you don’t feel, for Christ’s sake.
Someone might mistake that for hypocrisy. “You’re acting one way but feeling another!” Does that mean you should only show someone the love of Christ if you feel it? Be compassionate, kind, or gentle only if you’re in the mood? The world might say, “At least you’re being honest! You’re being real!” But, no, by putting on godly qualities and practicing them when you don’t feel them, you are forming holy habits. Practice makes perfect, not that you’ll be perfect this side of heaven. But you are imitating the perfection that belongs alone to Christ.
Each day, you dress up, and you have a choice. You can wear the world’s apparel or clothe yourself with the garments prescribed by Christ in His Word. The world is a stage, and you have the choice of which role you will play with God’s help. The natural self—the old self—is unacceptable. What are you wearing today?
“…you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
─Ephesians 4:23-24