Would YOU wear these?

My expression must have been the perfect stereotype of a person who has been completely shocked.

That’s because I was.

I was in fifth grade at the time. My family was poor, but we didn’t really know it. I had two pair of pants, one to wear while the other was being washed. And when I wore the knees out, my mom patched them up so I could keep on wearing them.

I had finally worn out a pair of pants beyond any hope of repair. But my oldest sister had gone to Sears and returned with a present for me. It was a new pair of jeans.

A new pair of green jeans.

The jeans were G-R-E-E-N!

To this day, I don’t think I’ve seen another pair of green jeans.

I’ve seen red jeans, yellow jeans, white jeans, black jeans, blue jeans, stone-washed jeans, acid-washed jeans, jeans that have been shot by shotguns, and thrashed jeans. But that was the only pair of green jeans I’ve seen.

That green pair of jeans were my new pair of jeans.

I was traumatized!

My first thought was, “What are the kids at school going to think when I show up in green jeans?!”

Thankfully, my next thought followed soon after that one. It was a realization of how kind, selfless and loving it was of my sister to spend her own money to replace my worn out jeans for me. Green or not, I was grateful for a second pair of pants.

When I think about that experience, it reminds me how we want God to provide for our needs and wants in a culturally acceptable way. We want God to outfit us with everything we need to fit into our culture, while at the same time He wants to distinguish us from our culture. The Apostle Paul describes this in Galatians 3:26-27 this way:

“26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.”

Putting on Christ in a lost and broken world will “distinguish” you from others like wearing green jeans. People will notice. It’s not what most others are wearing. It makes you different.

That’s exactly God’s intent!

Which do you pursue: being like the world around you, or wrapping yourself up in Christ? What are you asking God for in your prayers: His provision according to His will, or needs and wants provided in culturally acceptable packages? Are you grateful for God’s provision, or embarrassed?

Scotty