You are What You Wear

Character: Chuck Foo (a wanna-be Karate instructor with a Minnesota accent)

Chuck:Goooooood MORNIN’ boys and girls!

Leader:Check it out, kids! It’s our old friend Chuck Foo! How’re you doing today, Chuck?

Chuck:I just want to say somethin’ to you, Buck-o! Somethin’ VERY important!

Leader:Oh, um, okay Chuck, what is it?

Chuck:I am NOT going to wear a dress.

Leader:Wait...what?

Chuck:I know what you folks are up to! We’re starting a series called “Dress Up” today. I can read...most of the time.

Leader:Yeah, we’re starting a brand new series called “Dress Up”, but what does that have anything to do with --

Chuck:(interrupts) That’s right and if I see any of you comin’ at me with a poodle or a tiara it’s BOOYA!! (does a karate move) Say “Buh-bye to Mr. Face!”

Leader:Chuck...why on EARTH would you think that since we are starting a series called “Dress Up” that it means we’re going to come after you with a tiara and a pink poodle???

Chuck:You can’t fool me! I know what Dress Up is! Dress Up is that game that your little sister makes you play!

Leader:Chuck that’s not the kind of --

Chuck:(interrupts) It starts with the pink dresses, then the purple fuzzy slippers, THEN she’s putting make up on you!

Leader:Chuck I --

Chuck:(interrupts) Then it’s TUTU’S and PONIES and the next thing you know YOU’RE HAVING A TEA PARTY WITH THE QUEEN OF FRANCE AND ALL OF HER STUFFED ANIMAL FRIENDS! IT’S A NIGHTMARE, I TELL YA! A PINK, FLUFFY, STRAWBERRY SCENTED NIGHTMARE!!

Leader:Chuck! Calm down, buddy! That is SO not the kind of “Dress Up” we’re talking about!

Chuck:It’s not??

Leader:NO! Today we’re talking about CLOTHING OURSELVES in JESUS CHRIST.

Chuck:You mean like...get Jesus to piggy-back onto you like he’s a jacket with a beard?

Leader:Noooo Chuck!

Chuck:I mean I’d be totally down for it. He doesn’t look that heavy.

Leader:Just listen. When we say CLOTHE ourselves in JESUS, what we’re saying is that GOD wants us to act just like Jesus did! He wants us to walk, talk, and live like Jesus! In order to do that, we have to start living the way Jesus did!

Chuck:Ohhhhhh! So you’re not going to put me in a dress?

Leader:No.

Chuck:And you’re not going to make me a have a tea party?

Leader:No.

Chuck:And you’re not going to make me dance with a stuffed polar bear named Mr. Dinkle- pants while singing “I’m a Little Tea-Pot?”

Leader:What??

Chuck:Nevermind. I’ll see you later, boys and girls! I’M Chuck FOO! KICK IT!!

Hey kids! We are going to play a game. Can any of you guess what I am supposed to be just by looking at what I am wearing? (allow kids to guess) WOW! Pretty good. Now, I am going to show you several pictures and I want you to tell me what kind of person we are looking at ONLY based on the clothes they are wearing.

Wow! You guys did great! How did you know what kind of person it was you were looking at? It was by their clothes or their uniform, right? The truth is…

It’s true. You were able to figure out each of those because of what they wore. Looking at the firefighter, it’s obvious, he’s not a policeman. One look at the cheerleader and you knew she wasn’t a football player. It’s obvious, easy to see. What you wear makes a statement to everyone watching. It identifies who you are and what you do. You took one look at the person wearing a policeman’s uniform and knew that they were a policeman.

Did you know that Christians have a uniform as well? No, I’m not talking about the actual shirt and pants we wear. We don’t have a certain coat or jacket we have to wear. But, we do find in the Bible that we have a special uniform. We find this in the book of Romans, chapter 13. The Apostle Paul is writing a letter to a group of Christians and he tells them, “Clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s our uniform.

Here is the big question that we will be answering in this series, “Dress Up.” What does it mean to clothe yourself with Jesus? How do you dress yourself in Christ?

Do you put on a Bible costume and sandals every morning? Is that what it means? Should you cover yourself with Christian bumper stickers? Or maybe it’s Christian T-shirts, Christian jewelry, maybe even a cross tattoo on your forehead?

Wouldn’t it be great if that’s all we had to do? In order to “put on Christ”, I could see everyone a “Now I’m like Jesus T-shirt”? Guaranteed - if you wear it with pride, people will know you are a follower of Jesus. This shirt will transform your character and make people magically follow you to church.

That’s not at all what it means to be “clothed in Christ.” It’s not about the shirt you wear. I’ve seen people wearing a Christian T-Shirt who were saying all kinds of bad words and yelling at people. It’s not about the pants you wear. If you paint “JESUS” on your jeans, but still treat people mean, you are not “clothed in Christ.”

It’s all about our actions, words, and attitudes. It’s the way we act. It’s the way we treat others. It’s all about our lives and the way we live. That’s how we can “clothe ourselves with Christ.” Here’s the bottom line—if I am “clothed in Jesus Christ”, then...

I want a relationship with Jesus that is visible to others. I want them to be able to see the difference in me. I want Jesus to be seen in my life. I want to be so clothed with Christ that the same way someone can look at a fireman and tell who he is and what he does, people can look at me and tell that Jesus is inside of me. I don’t want people to look and see me, I want them to see Jesus.

Wouldn’t that be amazing? It would be amazing if the people in your life recognize there is something different about you, that the see the “clothing” of Jesus even more than they see you. That you are so clothed with Christ that people can see there is something different about you and are drawn to the Jesus you serve. How cool! THAT’S what it means to “clothe yourselves in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

1. What was today’s Big Idea? Answer: “I Will Clothe Myself In Jesus Christ!”

2. What was the name of the “Karate expert” that visited us today? Answer: Chuck Foo

3. What was the name of the girl in our Intro Video? Answer: Kat Walker

4. What was Kat studying to become? Answer: a fashion (or clothing) designer

5. In our lesson today, we learned “You Can Learn A Lot About A Person By The ______________ They Wear.” Answer: Clothes

6. In our lesson today, we also learned “I Must Clothe Myself In ____________ _____________.” Answer: Jesus Christ

7. In our lesson today, we also learned “When Others Look At Me, They Should See ________________.” Answer: Jesus

8. What is the name of the “male model extraordinaire” that taught us our Power Verse today? Answer: Mo Dell

9. What kind of uniform was Mo Dell wearing in his commercial? Answer: karate uniform

10. Where was our Power Verse found? Answer: Romans 13:14