12The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.13Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
This passage gives us some material upon which to reflect as we seek to allow the identify of Christ to flow into our outward actions. We are told to "cast off" works of darkness - in other words, to not act in a manner that is inconsistent with the image of God. And, we're told to put on the armor of light - Ephesians 6 talks about the full armor of God, a protective coating that will enable us to withstand the attacks of the enemy. And in verse 14, we are told to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. We choose to wear what He has provided, so that when people see us, they encounter Jesus. We put Him on as we appropriate His resources and follow in His principles.
In Ephesians chapter 4, we find a passage devoted to our spiritual attire - what we are to put on so that honor God...and what we cast aside. We are told, beginning in verse 22 to...
22...put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,23and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,24and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
On an average weekend, Atlanta might be considered a fun and exciting destination. On Labor Day Weekend again this year, there was an abundance of things to do. Not only did you have the Alabama-Virginia Tech game which packed over 70,000 into the Georgia Dome, but you had a Braves home game, Georgia Tech's opener, a NASCAR race weekend, and...if you went into the heart of downtown, you may have seen thousands of people dressed up as their favorite science fiction, fantasy, or comic book characters. Because, the ATL is also the host of a large sci-fi convention on Labor Day Weekend called, Dragon*Con - 55,000 people or more packed into downtown hotels and traversing down city streets.
It's a fascinating phenomenon, and I even donned a bowtie and fez to walk around semi- resembling The Doctor from Doctor Who on Friday night as we dropped our son off to spend the weekend with my brother-in-law and his family. We even stayed over for the parade down Peachtree on Saturday morning, where you could see anything from Star Wars and Star Trek characters to superheroes, video game characters, and even your favorite people from Middle Earth.
According to USA Today, a team from East Tennessee State University attended this weekend to study the phenomenon - there's a term, "cosplay", that refers to identifying with donning a costume, perhaps identifying with a favorite character.
Assistant Professors Andrew Dunn and Andrew Herrmann planned to conduct interviews during the convention to find out more about this distinctive hobby. Their mission, according to Dunn, is to find out "what it is about cosplayers and why they identify with these characters."
For Erin White, a senior from the Savannah College of Art and Design's Atlanta campus, cosplay adds a "deeper level of dedication" to her chosen fandom.
"There's a sense of community here that you don't find elsewhere," Dunn says.
I agree - where else can you walk up to a total stranger and ask to take their picture because you think his or her costume is cool?
I began to think a bit about people's choice of costume - there are hordes of people who like or identify with a certain character and spend tons of time and money crafting a costume that is designed to resemble that particular person or being. At Dragon*Con, choice of costume is important - who will you go as? And, people will put on the attire that in some form represents their character of choice.
As a Christian, if we identify with Christ, then we will want to, spiritually speaking, "put on" something that accurately represents Him. I do believe in wearing physical attire that is consistent with the occasion of worship, but I believe that the Ephesians 4 passage refers to an attitude, a way of carrying ourselves, that transcends physical adornment. The way we behave flows from our identification with Christ and reflects Him. We are called to not participate in outward elements that contradict the instructions of Scripture - and we perform that by putting off or setting aside the actions and attitudes that do not please God. We "put on" Christ by allowing the principles of God to govern our behavior and to release the power of God from our hearts, through our minds, and to our actions, so that we are well-dressed Christians, spiritually speaking, wearing His name and His nature.
No comments:
Post a Comment