My Worn-Out, Old Shoes
I like putting on old, worn-out shoes.
Shirts that are a little bit out of date, too.
Usually, when I put them on, I think about my mom and my colleagues. They're the ones who (I think) would most disapprove of my worn out clothes.
I like to put them on because it helps me remember things that clothing companies wouldn't want me to think about. I feel like:
- they want me to feel better about myself if I walk out the door looking fashionable.
- they want me to think that I need new clothes.
- they want me to think that my friends will think better of me if I buy new clothes.
- they want me to think that my colleagues will look down on me if I wear a certain shirt too many times in one month.
First of all...how anti-Gospel is that!? ...that I would feel better or worse about who I am based upon the clothes that I wear. That's sick!! The kind of clothes I wear don't make me a better or worse person. I am a son of God because of what Jesus has accomplished for me. It can't get better than that! ...and what clothes I wear won't change my status before God!
Second of all...if I listen to what clothing company marketers try to tell me...I'll buy, buy, buy. I don't think that's a good use of the money God has entrusted me to steward. Do I really need 10 pairs of shoes? 15 short sleeve polo shirts? 10 long sleeve dress shirts? 25 neck ties? Isn't that excessive?
I've been telling my wife about a question I've been having the last few days, "Did God really mean for me to have hundreds of pairs of clothes? What if He wanted me to have just a couple?"
I don't have answers to all of my questions. Even though I don't know how these questions should affect my lifestyle choices, putting on an old pair of shoes can help me keep asking them. And maybe God will help me answer them little by little. Maybe he'll also tell me what he feels about the many people in the human family that don't have access to excess.
