put on christ – The Faith Cafe

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

It’s amazing what a cape can do.

Ask any child who puts on a superhero costume for Halloween.

They suddenly feel braver. Their confidence gets a boost. They believe that they can achieve things that they couldn’t before.

Actors understand this. Many actors report that they can more readily get in character for their role once they don the costume associated with it.

Interestingly, some actors identify with the characters they portray so much that they become real-life action heroes.

Tom Cruise has reportedly rescued people in real life at least six times, including coming to the aid of a woman set upon by muggers in London, rescuing a family from a burning boat in France, and helping the victim of a hit-and-run in California.

Likewise, action star Harrison Ford has pulled someone out of a burning car, and has used his own helicopter to rescue a stricken hiker.

The theory behind this phenomenon is called “embodied cognition,” and it might help explain how actors and others become their roles.

In the case of action heroes, acting brave in movies may lead to actually being brave. The more you practice something, the more you become it.

The key might be in putting on a costume or adopting a set of behaviours.

I think that’s why Scripture tells us to “put on” Christ.

The Latest Fashions for 1866.
Image by CharmaineZoe on Flickr. CC BY-2.0

Don’t you wish there was a style of clothing you could wear that would always be in fashion?

Think of it: You’d never have to worry about being caught wearing last year’s fashions. You’d never accidentally make a fashion faux-pas. Your clothes would always be in style.

Perhaps this is a notion that preoccupies women more than men. Men seem to be a bit luckier in the fashion department: styles of suits don’t evolve very rapidly over time, and they always look becoming.

Women, on the other hand, have had to put up with fashions that have changed drastically over the years and decades. Our foremothers had to endure corsets, hoop skirts, and bustles. Perhaps some of you are old enough to recall leg warmers, tie dye and jumpsuits.

Some styles inexplicably come back into fashion for a time, like bell-bottom jeans or platform shoes.

Let’s hope that some never do: women once wore skirts so wide that they had to turn sideways to get through a door!

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to put on a style that would never go out of fashion?

As a matter of fact, there is such an item of “clothing.”

Scripture advises us to put on Christ.

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Put On The Right Costume

Always In Fashion