A Gospel Dressing Room

I have a confession to make. I’ve never been a big fan of dressing rooms. Something about the fluorescent lighting paired with lines of impatiently waiting customers has a way of highlighting the worst of me, both literally and figuratively. I’d much prefer to try on clothes in the soft-lighted comfort of my own home. If you couple my dislike of the environment with my fear of getting stuck in clothing (adieu, skinny jeans!), you might begin to understand why I tend to avoid fitting rooms. 

Recently, however, my distaste for dressing rooms has been shifting, thanks, in large part, to reading through some of the apostle Paul’s letters. Paul wrote to the churches at Ephesus and Colossae at the same time; thus, we often find similar themes addressed. In both epistles, he bids believers to “put off the old self” and “put on the new” (Ephesians 4:20–24; Colossians 3:5–14). While justification in Christ (being declared righteous) happens in a moment, sanctification (putting off sin and putting on that righteousness) is a slow, steady, ongoing process for the believer. The more I sat with these crucial commands, the more I understood my daily need for a gospel dressing room. 

The Challenges of Dressing

Mothers, of all people, understand that Paul’s instruction is not as simple as it may sound. After all, we have spent or will spend the equivalent of years of our lives helping humans into and out of clothing. God, in his grace, allows newborns great flexibility before their bones fuse. While this has biological reasons, I can’t help but wonder if God didn’t also give us a short window of time to practice getting tiny arms and legs into onesies. Once we seem to have the skill down, they begin to have control over their arms and legs, which ups the ante on the dressing game. I remember telling my friends that dressing my toddlers felt like what I imagine the experience of dressing an octopus might be. Then, with school-aged children, we fight the favorite clothes battle. I cannot tell you how much cajoling it took to get my children out of their favorite superhero costumes so that I could wash them at least occasionally. 

While I can proudly announce that my teenagers are now experts at dressing themselves, they still need my encouragement when it comes to being dressed in the gospel. It seems taking off shoes and putting on pants is much easier than taking off the old man and putting on the new. If we are honest enough to admit it, we realize that we, too, need help taking off the habits of the flesh and wearing the robes of righteousness Christ gives to us. It’s easy to read Paul’s contrasting lists of the fruits of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5; it is much more difficult to get into the habit of leaving off the former and leaning into the latter. But the fruits of the Spirit don’t merely belong on cute prints on our walls; we are meant to wear them in our daily lives. 

A Gospel Attendant 

Just as we have been (mostly) glad to help our little ones into socks and shoes, God is glad to help his children put on Christ. The Holy Spirit is God’s gracious gift to us in our own private gospel dressing rooms. Like moms who stand ever available to zip up a tricky winter coat or pull off soiled pants, the third person of the Trinity offers around-the-clock, indwelling aid to the children of God. When our impatience clings as closely as a shirt long-outgrown, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin and guides us into righteousness.[1] When condemnation has us hiding in shame, the Spirit leads us out of our own insufficiency and points us to the all-sufficient Savior.[2] When we keep putting on our old fits of the flesh because they feel familiar and broken in, the Spirit reminds us that we were bought at a great price and have access to a better wardrobe. 

We are not left alone in the ongoing journey of sanctification. We have help and hope in the gospel dressing room—not only from the Spirit but also from the local church. After all, Paul’s command to put off and put on was not addressed to individuals, but to a body of believers. When we show up slouchy, dressed in the flesh, the preached Word points us back to the spotless robes offered us through the person and work of Christ. When we need accountability and encouragement to take off the “sin which clings so closely” (Hebrews 12:1-2), we lean into the local church. As the classic hymn “The Solid Rock” reminds us, there will be a day when we’ll be “dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.” Until then, we’ll need our gospel dressing rooms. 

Now that my children are teenagers who care about fashion, I find myself frequenting dressing rooms. As I sit on the little benches outside, offering honest advice and encouraging them, I cannot help but smile. Maybe dressing rooms aren’t so bad after all?

[1] John 16:7–15

[2] Romans 8:1–8