What a Leader Wears

I can be a dumb traveler sometimes. 

I once spoke at a conference called “Innovation 3” in Dallas, Texas. Being from the Pacific Northwest, there have been times when I have forgotten to pack for where I was going and have packed for where I live. Such was the case with Dallas. While I was there, Dallas just happened to have the biggest ice storm they had seen in years. All of that is to say that I wasn’t prepared.

The great theologian, Forrest Gump, said it best, “Stupid is as stupid does.”  Traveling rule #1: The climate or environment always dictates what we “ought” to wear, and if we can dial that in before we travel, we can not only travel with less stuff but more importantly, the right stuff.

Maybe this works for a leader as well. I think the climate of heaven can dictate what we ought to be wearing.  "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven..." Colossians 3:1

If we set our sights on Heaven it will begin to reframe how we think, which little by little will change how we behave and in time, will change the clothes we wear.  The more we understand the climate of our destination, the better prepared we are to dress appropriately.

Paul was writing to a church that was dividing, unsatisfied, seeing temporal and physical things, and they had clothing drift. Imagine that? They began forgetting spiritual stuff. Paul gives them insight to the heavenly climate; “…You must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience….” Colossians 3:12b

I wonder how relationships would be if we dressed like that? How would the dynamic of teams change if we had higher levels of mercy and humility and lower levels of pride and indifference? Maybe we are dressing more for where we are, and less for where we want to go?

As leaders, we first have to change the grid of what matters most (priorities), then we have to lead by GOING FIRST.

Interestingly, before Paul tells us what to wear, he tells us why we ought to wear it.

"Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with..." Colossians 3:12a

The key word here is "MUST". It’s not about optional clothing. Why? Because we were chosen before the world was created to represent in flesh what God looks like. We are salt and light. We are ambassadors of Christ. We are the people of God, followers of Christ, and LEADERS FOR CHRIST. We, collectively, are the face of the church.

When we wear what Jesus wore, we look like Jesus looked, and people see what they saw in His life. Often as leaders we dress more for ourselves than the people we are called to serve.  We have to go first!

Set your sights on Heaven; put on things of Heaven, the same clothes Jesus wore, the clothes he lived for and died in.

After Paul talks about what to wear, he goes on to put forgiveness in a separate category.  "You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others." Colossians 3:13

Are you making allowances for people in your life who have failed or offended you? People mess up but we don’t make allowances. Instead we make judgments: staff that have betrayed us, people that “we” have sacrificed for leave us, couples who we have prayed with get divorced anyway. Life happens, fast and furious, and church leadership is messy but we don’t forgive; we get hurt, angry and stay isolated.

How can we as leaders ask people to do what we’re not doing? How can we dare not live the message that we preach? Who are you not forgiving? What is causing bitterness in your life? When will it be enough? How long will you carry it?

AT THE CROSS YOU LOST YOUR EXCUSE TO NOT FORGIVE.

Our need to forgive is intrinsically and eternally tied to the fact that God forgave us. He forgave all our crap, all our bad decisions, all of the thoughts that only He knows about, and all of the ways we will blow it in the future. So when we feel someone has wronged us, we should consider it gone. Be done with it. Cancel the debt and let it go. Forgiving for us is unnatural for sure and is a journey, not an event, but it is not optional.

There is one more thing we need to “wear."  “And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony." Colossians 3:14

Out of everything we wear, the most important piece of clothing is LOVE. The order of Paul’s words is interesting and penetratingly convicting. He says to think about Heaven, be merciful, forgive and then love. I guess love could be called the coat we wear that represents what matters most.

I never owned a letterman's jacket in high school but I love seeing students wear them. The letters, pins, colors and logos are all about displaying on the outside what matters so much to them on the inside. It’s a symbol of their achievements, passions and convictions. A letterman's jacket says a lot without having to say much.

At a recent service, I was standing in the back of the auditorium and had the privilege of meeting a young girl who had a lot of letters, patches and pins on her letterman’s jacket. She was a scholar/athlete. Her daddy stood next to her and was so proud of his daughter – of the work she had done and what she had chosen to make her life about. It was a moment I will never forget. He bragged, she smiled and listened, and so did I.

As they walked away, I had a picture of how it is with our Heavenly Daddy. When we do the hard thing like choose love, patience and forgiveness, He is right there standing next to us, proud of His son or daughter, because we are displaying to others what matters most for His eternal Kingdom.

I think the bottom line for me is this: If the church that God has allowed me to lead stopped meeting, would anyone notice or even care? Am I really representing Heaven? Is the church I lead loving its city? Do people authentically care?

What we wear matters more than we think!