‘Clothes Make the Man!’ Well, Yes and No

The adage tells us, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” That’s true. A poorly designed cover doesn’t necessarily mean the contents of the book aren’t worthwhile. Likewise, even the most captivating cover doesn’t guarantee the pages inside are worth turning. But in today’s visually oriented world, a book’s cover can be a major factor in a potential reader’s decision about whether to pick up the book and consider what’s inside. 

 

I remember when USA Today debuted in the early 1980s, with its emphasis on strong photos and colorful graphics. It set newspaper page designers scrambling. The only way newspapers could successfully compete with TV and computer imagery was to create pages that were visually compelling as well as content-rich.

 

What it boils down to is our human tendency to make snap judgments based on outward appearance. We do this with cars, houses, appliances, magazines, and just about anything else– especially people. 

It might not be fair – or accurate – to formulate initial conclusions about folks based on their external appearances, but we do it all the time. If someone were to walk up to us with ketchup stains or chocolate smeared on his or her outfit, we’d probably conclude this was not a fastidious dresser. Their clothes might taste good, but it wouldn’t appear they dress in good taste.

 

Remember the TV detective of years ago, “Columbo”? He used outward appearance misconceptions to his advantage. He’d show up in a rumbled trench coat, stumbling and muttering along like he couldn’t find his way out of a three-foot tunnel. Yet by the end of the show, he would have deftly solved the mystery to the amazement of all.

 

When I was entering the business world, I encountered the book, Dress for Success. Its simple thesis was that to make a favorable impression, we should take pains to wear appropriate attire. I was reminded of this recently when a friend, a clothier, wrote, “Be careful what you wear, because it tells the world what you think of yourself.”

 

This is hardly a new concept. In William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” Polonius tells his son Laertes to dress well because, “apparel oft proclaims the man.” In that day, clothing would reveal an individual’s rank and status in society. American writer and humorist Mark Twain had his own take on this observation. He said, “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” 

 

But long before Twain, or even Shakespeare, this annoying tendency to judge people based on the first impressions they make was well-established. When the prophet Samuel was directed to go to Jesse and identify from among his sons the successor to Israel’s King Saul, the prophet thought several of the young men fit the bill – based on their physical traits. But God saw things differently.

 

Speaking about one of the sons, He told Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

 

Since God hadn’t chosen any of the sons Jesse presented, the perplexed prophet asked, “Are these all the boys?” To which Jesse replied, “The youngest is still left, but behold, he is tending the sheep” (1 Samuel 16:11). This “youngest” was David, then a humble shepherd boy. He might have been voted “least likely to become a king” in Shepherd Today magazine. Nevertheless, Samuel insisted that Jesse send for David to join them.

 

When David arrived, Samuel saw that he was “glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features” (1 Samuel 16:12). Certainly not bad on the eyes, but this wasn’t what God wanted. Upon deciding Saul was unfit to serve as king over Israel, the Lord had declared He was seeking “a man after His own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14).

 

Speaking to religious leaders in Pisidian Antioch, the apostle Paul confirmed this. “After removing Saul, [God] made David their king. He testified concerning him, ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will do everything I want him to do’” (Acts 13:22). 

 

What does this say to us today? It’s not saying that the way we appear outwardly is insignificant. However, what the Lord is seeking most of all is men and women, boys and girls, whose hearts are aligned with His own, who desire to serve Him, obey His commands, and carry out His will.

 

In effect, this is a double-edged sword for us. We’re not to be quick to judge others based on what we observe outwardly. We should ask God to enable us to discern what’s happening on the inside – their heart and motivations. 

At the same time, as “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20), we shouldn’t let our own outward appearances become stumbling blocks for others by causing negative first impressions. As people of “the Book,” we want to ensure that our “covers” don’t turn folks away from checking out what’s inside.  

Decision-Making and the Will of God

Have you ever thought about how many decisions we make during a lifetime? Or even over the course of a single day?

 

Probably not, because we’re too busy making decisions to bother tabulating how many we’ve made. But as a speaker recently reminded me, from the time we reach high school, life becomes an endless parade of one decision after another.

 

When we’re kids, the ‘decisions’ we make are more like impulses: Which toy to play with. Whether to eat the food Mom puts in front of us. Whether to read a book or play a video game on our tablet. Whether to clean up our room as we’re told. At that stage of life, we don’t really calculate the significance or consequences of what we do. It’s simply a matter of ‘I want to’ or ‘I don’t want to.’

Decisions – and the decision-making process – take on much more gravity when we reach the high school level. In high school we start to discover and confirm our interests. We decide whether to try out for sports – and which ones. Or we can opt for things like band, which I did. Being in our school marching, concert and dance bands were the highlights of my time at ole Franklin High.

 

As a freshman, being on the college-prep track, I had to choose things like which foreign language to study and which elective subjects to take. I chose Latin and Spanish, which turned out to be very beneficial for my writing career – even though I didn’t realize it then. I also took a year of personal typing, another serendipitous decision that would prove extremely useful.

 

From high school, our decisions become more numerous and complex. Should I go to college? And if so, which one? What should I major in? If I don’t go to college, which line of work should I pursue? We make decisions about where to live, whether to accept a job offer, which car to buy, whether we’re on the right career path, whether we should get married (and to whom), whether we should have children (and when)?

 

Before we know it, we’ve made thousands of decisions, some with very little thought but others we agonized over, realizing they could have long-term ramifications.

 

How are we to master this lifelong process of decision-making? I’m reminded of the young man who asked his mentor, “How do you make good decisions?” The mentor answered, “Through experience.” “How do I gain experience?” the protégé asked. His mentor smiled and replied, “By making bad decisions.”

 

No one wants to make bad decisions, but inevitably we will. Our hope is that the consequences of bad decisions aren’t too serious and can be remedied.

 

There are many perspectives on how to make decisions. For instance, the late New York Yankees catcher and ‘sage’ Yogi Berra suggested to someone, “If you find a fork in the road, take it.” Poet Robert Frost, in “The Road Not Taken,” one of his best-known poems, wrote about “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

 

Those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ wrestle with decision-making from a different angle. We ask, “What is God’s will?” reasoning that if God is omniscient – all-knowing – then it would be a good idea to know what He expects of us. The problem is, His will isn’t always clear, especially in regard to specific options we’re considering.

 

For instance, nowhere in the Scriptures does it say, “Go to XYZ College,” or “Work for Such-and-Such Company.” The Bible doesn’t tell us which car to drive. Nor does it specify the name of the person we should marry.

 

However, the Word of God does provide us with sound principles to follow for making crucial decisions. If I’m wondering, “What flavor ice cream cone should I buy?” I’m pretty sure God would say, “Makes no difference to Me. You choose.” But if we’re weighing whether to attend a party where we know there will be an abundance of alcohol and raucous behavior, even a cursory look at the Scriptures makes clear what His will is. We’re told in 1 Thessalonians 4:37, “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified…. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.”

 

In some cases, God’s will couldn’t be more obvious. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, for example, we’re told, “in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” In other words, whether we find ourselves in desirable or undesirable circumstances, we’re to be thankful for them, trusting God is working through them for our ultimate good.

 

The apostle Peter admonished, “It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil” (1 Peter 3:17). We will encounter suffering in this life. There’s no question about that. But we should make certain when suffering comes, we haven’t brought it on ourselves. That’s God’s will.

 

If we want to learn how to make good decisions – and avoid making bad ones – there’s no better source for counsel than God’s Word. Whether it’s learning from the bad decisions made by central figures of the Old Testament; drawing insight from wisdom books like Psalms and Proverbs; or studying and seeking to apply the teachings of Jesus, we can find more than enough help for navigating the complex and often confusing world of decision-making.

As Proverbs 1:7 instructs, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Good decision-making starts with knowing God, trusting Him, and obeying what He says. 

Finding Ourselves Stuck in God’s Waiting Room

Ever walk up to a cashier who says, “Sorry for your wait”? The first time I heard that I hesitated, wondering if she was referring to what the scales told me that morning. Then I realized she wasn’t saying “weight.” 

 

But many times we do wish people would sincerely apologize and say, “Sorry for your wait.” We’re an impatient people and hate being kept waiting, especially when driving. If we’re at a red light and the person in front of us doesn’t move the instant it turns green, we reach for our car horn to “wake them up.” 

 

When road construction narrows a highway by a lane or two, we see “special” people speed along the berm to get a few cars further ahead. Why wait when you can cut in line, right? And when someone decides to take his or her good old time in the fast lane, we’re inclined to think or say uncomplimentary things about their ancestry.

But our widespread lack of patience isn’t limited to our time on the roadways. Who hasn’t started fidgeting while waiting in the doctor’s office, checking the time every couple of minutes, nervously tapping our toes, or imagining new symptoms we didn’t have when we arrived? Physicians may have patients, but their patients quickly grow impatient.

 

Self-checkout lines at grocery and department stores have become popular because we don’t have to wait behind people at the regular checkout line who dilly-dally, ignoring the conga line of shoppers behind them. Recognizing our proneness to impatience, Amazon has capitalized by offering same-day delivery in some areas. ‘I want it. And I want it now!’

 

Our aversion to waiting becomes evident when we’re ready to leave for a special event but our companion’s still in the midst of final preparations. We grow impatient for someone to answer whom we’ve called on speed-dial. Patience may be a virtue, but our collective lack of it as a society serves as further evidence that we’re not a virtuous nation. 

 

So, it’s not particularly comforting for many folks to discover that waiting – and exercising patience – are important recurring themes in the Bible. They’re among God’s most effective strategies for fostering our spiritual growth.

 

You don’t want to know how many times the word “wait” appears in the Scriptures. The term “be still” is used more than a dozen times. And the words “patient,” “patience” and “patiently” combined are found more than 40 times. So, they must be significant for the Lord and His purposes.

 

In my favorite of the Psalms, we’re instructed, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7), and then for emphasis we’re told, “Wait for the Lord and keep His way” (Psalm 37:34). Verse 10 implies waiting when it declares, “A little while, and the wicked will be no more….” It doesn’t stipulate how long a “little while” will be. In the eyes of many of us, we’re still waiting for that.

 

What’s the purpose for all this waiting, this ‘being still’? Psalm 46:10 gives us a partial answer: “Be still and know that I am the Lord.” As we’re waiting, knowing we’re helpless – and maybe even feeling hopeless – to do anything about our circumstances, God is taking His time so that when the solution comes, there will be no question that it’s His doing.

 

Often periods of waiting have to do with suffering. Whether physical, mental, emotional or all of the above, we desire for our suffering to end. At such times, waiting and being patient are just the things we don’t want to do. But even in times of great adversity, God’s delays have a purpose.

 

Romans 5:3-5 states, “…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” This informs us that suffering and waiting can be key ingredients for shaping our character and ultimately, our faith.

 

James 1:2-4 expands on that: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” 

 

Reading that, I’m reminded of Hebrews 11:1 which affirms, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Couple that with 2 Corinthians 5:7, which asserts, “We walk by faith, not by sight,” we realize that God’s “waiting room” is an important part of His process for building and strengthening our faith.

 

If the Lord gave us whatever we asked for, whenever we wanted it, that wouldn’t require much if any faith, would it? But He isn’t our servant. He’s our loving, all-knowing Father who promises to answer all of our prayers and requests according to His perfect will.

 

Sometimes we have a need that must be met immediately, and God graciously meets it. As Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Other times, however, our ‘urgent’ needs are merely reflections of our impatience and reluctance to wait on the Lord’s perfect timing – never early, never late, but always right on time.

 

If you find yourself in God’s waiting room right now, keep trusting. The Lord certainly has something far greater in mind than to provide the answer to your prayers right now. In fact, He might even be preparing an answer that you couldn't have hoped for or imagined. I’ve experienced that many times in my life, even though admittedly, I’m still not good at waiting.

The Environment: Skip the Complex, Focus on the Simple

These days there’s a lot of wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth. Over what? We can think of many things. But near the top of the list is the environment.

 

We hear a lot in the media about “global warming.” Wait…that’s so last decade. Now it’s called “climate change,” because whether it gets too cold or too hot, whether it rains too much or not enough, we can still blame it on climate change. When I was growing up, we called it “weather.” 

 

During the late 1960s and early ‘70s, newspapers, magazines and science journals were running feature articles about “global cooling” and “the coming ice age.” Living in the Midwest then, my family and I experienced weeks of extreme cold and blizzards, which seemed to support those predictions. There were also reports of an impending natural gas shortage, fanning fears there wouldn’t be enough fuel to heat homes during that frigid period. Thankfully, the prognosticators were wrong. 

 

As for today’s festering and fomenting environmental debates, some might claim “settled science.” However, one certainty about science is that it’s never settled. Consider the scientists who were convinced the earth is flat; that the sun revolved around the moon; that blood-letting leeches could cure diseases; and that “there is a world market for maybe five computers.” In case you don’t know, computer scientist Thomas Watson, president of IBM in 1943, made the latter prediction. 

 

Global environment problems are far too complex, too hard for most of us to understand, much less solve. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be concerned about the world God created. In fact, the Lord stipulated from the beginning that humans were to serve as stewards over all He had made.

 

In Genesis 1:27-28 God declared what some theologians call “the cultural mandate”: After creating man and woman “in His own image…God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creative that moves on the ground.’”

 

This assignment, Bible scholars tell us, was to serve as “keepers of the garden.” Not just the garden of Eden, from which Adam and Eve would be evicted following their sinful disobedience, but all of God’s glorious creation. He was delegating to them dominion over the earth. And to us.

 

The problem is, we haven’t done particularly well with that. Just drive the highway and observe the litter collecting along the roadsides. The oceans are teeming not only with fish and other aquatic life but also with plastic bottles and various kinds of refuse. We could cite numerous other examples of what we might call “dominion malfeasance.”

 

We can do better. We should do better. Even though the task seems overwhelming. The earth might be a microscopic speck on a map of the universe, but it’s still big to us. What impact can one person possibly have? Maybe that’s one reason it seems easier to cede the responsibility to the government and the scientists. Unfortunately, mixing politics with science is never good – as we’ve seen so clearly in recent years.

 

What can we do? Getting serious about not littering would be a good start. But I’m thinking of another option that takes very little effort. And it can quickly become a good habit. What I’m referring to is a simple practice relatively few people engage in: Recycling.

 

Frankly, I’m amazed that with its fingers in so many of our pies, governments don’t put forth a stronger effort to persuade people to recycle things like paper, plastic, metal and aluminum cans, and plastic bags.

 

My wife and I have been doing this for several years, and we’ve cut about in half the amount of stuff we take to the curb in our garbage can. The plastic bottles and bags, paper of all sorts (including junk mail), soda and food cans we used to throw in the trash we now take every week or two to our local recycling center. 

 

This might not sound very spiritual, but it’s one way of being obedient as stewards of what God has made and entrusted to our care. When Jesus told His parable of the talents, in which three servants were entrusted to different amounts of money to handle while their master was away, that might not have sounded very spiritual either. But He was teaching an important principle. 

 

Those who were deemed “good and faithful servants” had been “faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things” (Matthew 25:14-30). On the other hand, the “wicked, lazy servant” received no reward. He was cast out.

We don’t have to be “tree-huggers” or “save the planet” fanatics to recognize our role, as small as it may be, in the stewardship of this wonderful world God has given to us. It might seem like a small thing, but this honors our Lord. We might not have any direct effect on changing weather patterns, but we can keep some plastic bottles from being swept out to sea. 

Why Are Our Words No Longer Our Bond?

Something terrible has happened in our society. While it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when it began, there apparently was a moment when the masses decided one time-honored human virtue was no longer needed. I’m referring to…Integrity.

 

It’s not just in the world of politics, where elected officials and candidates routinely say what they think their audiences want to hear, then proceed to do whatever they planned to do anyway, regardless of what they’ve promised. No, there’s been a drastic decline of integrity virtually everywhere in society.

 

There was once the day when if someone said, “My word is my bond,” they actually meant it. When someone made a commitment, we could trust them to live up to it. Deals were struck and solidified with handshakes. Contracts were drawn up and signed, but firm handshakes alone constituted a binding agreement.

 

That was then. This is now, however. We see it in marriages. The traditional vows that included the phrase, “till death do us part,” apparently have been rewritten to “till divorce do us part.” In fact, many weddings have discarded time-honored vows altogether in favor of warmer, fuzzier, but less dogmatic terms of endearment. 

 

In the employment world, people now change jobs almost as often as they change clothes. The notion of spending an entire career with a single company and receiving a gold watch upon retirement has gone the way of the dodo and dinosaurs. Causes are complex. Companies increasingly demonstrated low commitment to their employees, and in response workers decided a day’s notice before leaving was excessive, much less two weeks or more. And maybe the cost of gold watches got too high.

 

We’re seeing this issue with integrity – or the lack of same – reflected perfectly in what’s become known ominously as “The Transfer Portal.” Used to be most athletes made commitments to a college or university and remained there for 3-4 years. Some athletes did transfer, but decisions weren’t taken lightly or made in haste. 

 

Now athletes vow allegiance to Alma Mater and then just a few weeks later, decide Alma Pater looks or smells a little better. Something like that. There are even athletes who play for three or four different schools during their careers. ‘I love you – until I don’t love you anymore.’ Of course, college coaches are notorious for making bold promises to recruits and then, after the ink on letters of intent has dried, they also leave for presumably greener pastures.

 

Problems with integrity are hardly new or the product of the 21^st century. An episode in my own history illustrates this. I don’t remember how old I was, maybe 10. I’d been visiting my grandfather in another city and had befriended a little boy who lived nearby. One day he invited me to his birthday party, and I eagerly agreed to come. 

 

Then a better offer came along. My birthday was approaching too, and a friend of my grandfather said she would take me to a bookstore in town and buy me a book as a gift. Bookaholic that I was even then, it seemed an offer I couldn’t refuse. It didn’t take long to decide a book in the hand was worth more than a party hat and a piece of cake. So, without telling little Billy, I skipped his party and went book shopping.

 

My self-centered decision still haunts me from time to time. ‘Billy, if you’re reading this, sorry I didn’t attend your birthday party.’

 

This might seem like a minor infraction, a tiny lapse of integrity attributable to my adolescence. Perhaps, but we can’t cultivate “a little bit of integrity” any more than a woman can be a little bit pregnant. You either are or you aren’t. Over the years since, I’ve strived to do better.

 

Integrity’s a prominent theme in the Scriptures. In fact, Numbers 23:19 declares, “God is not a man, that He should lie. Nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

 

As believers in Christ, if we are to “follow in His steps” as 1 Peter 2:21 exhorts, we should put a very high premium on integrity. Jesus Himself instructed His followers, “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil origin” (Matthew 5:37).

 

A common excuse for not keeping our word is we made a decision hastily; after due consideration, we realized it was unwise. Proverbs 20:25 offers the solution: “It’s a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider his vows.” We’re to carefully weigh our options beforehand, then stick with whatever decisions we make.

 

If we fail to maintain high standards of integrity, our witness as believers and reputations as people of truth are at stake: “The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out” (Proverbs 10:9). “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity” (Proverbs 11:3).

 

Having high regard for integrity was an area of emphasis  for the Israelites: “When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said” (Numbers 30:2). Centuries later, King Solomon reiterated, “When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow” (Ecclesiastes 5:4).

 

Living in a world of compromise and broken promises, a commitment to integrity may seem archaic, even impossible. Actually, it’s fairly simple: “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment” (James 5:12). Just as even a small light can dispel darkness, we can stand out by upholding integrity when no one else seems willing to do so.