A Field Guide to Christians

In our house, we love to watch birds. We have a bird feeder in our backyard, and all sorts of different birds come to visit. We also have a well-thumbed copy of a little book called Roger Tory Peterson’s Field Guide to the Birds of North America.

If a bird shows up at our bird feeder that we’ve never seen before, we grab the Field Guide and look it up. Now this Field Guide puts the birds into different categories, and it describes them on the basis of two main features: what they look like, and what they do—their appearance, and their personality, or character.

I was thinking the other day: wouldn’t it be helpful if you could categorize people the same way? Because in our world today, there are a lot of spiritual counterfeits walking around.

Many famous people—including some of the best-known sports celebrities and movie stars—say that they have had some sort of spiritual experience that has changed their life; that has brought them closer to God. Some of them claim to have been born again. But you really begin to wonder—when you see how these people look and how they act—what sort of spiritual experience they’ve really had.

Is there any way to tell what a real Christian looks like? Are there any identifying marks that can help us to distinguish a true follower of Jesus Christ from a spiritual counterfeit?

Well, as a matter of fact, there is. You can find it in the book of Colossians, chapter 3. What we have in Col. 3:12–17 is a Field Guide to Christians.

You see, the people in the church at Colosse were having the same problem that we’re having today. They lived in a non-Christian world, just like we do. There were lots of competing religious viewpoints out there; and lots of teachers claiming to have the truth.

So the question they were asking is the same question we are asking: How can you tell who is really of God? How can you tell who is really a follower of Jesus Christ? And Paul helps them answer it in verses 12–17.

He says that there are two things that identify a Christian:

1. An outward change of clothing

2. An inward change of character

Now by clothing, I’m not talking about your actual physical clothing. I’m talking about those behaviors in your life that people can see—those attributes you have that are visible to others.

The Bible says that a Christian is a person who is in the process of putting on a new set of clothes. He’s changing his outward appearance—those attributes, those characteristics that people know him by—that they can see. Let’s look at verses 12–14…

Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Notice that each one of those sentences is an imperative. It’s a command that we are to do obey. And also notice that this section begins with the word “therefore”. Whenever you see the word therefore, remember that it refers back to something that was previously said.

In the previous section, which we looked at last week, we saw that a Christian is to put off whatever belongs to the old nature—all those behaviors that are listed in verses 5–9. He is to take them off just like a prisoner would take off his dirty old prison uniform on the day of his release.

And what are we to put on in the place of those old clothes? The clothes that are listed in verses 12, 13, and 14. A Christian is somebody who is putting on a new wardrobe—he’s all dressed up, with someplace to go.

Suppose that you were to receive an invitation to a formal dinner at the White House. The President requested the pleasure of your company at a big diplomatic reception for some visiting head of state. What would you wear?

Would you show up in blue jeans and a t-shirt? I don’t think so. Would you wear dockers and a sweater? No, I doubt it. You would wear your absolute best outfit. You might even go rent a tuxedo or a beautiful gown for the occasion. Why?

Because you’ve been chosen—you’ve been honored with an invitation. And you have been set apart—your special. Everybody in America isn’t going—just you and a select few. And that shows that you are special—the President wants you to be there.

In the same way, we put on our new clothes as Christians because:

1. We’ve been chosen by God—the Bible says elect from before the foundation of the world.

2. We’ve been set apart - that’s what the word “holy” means. It means special, unique. Not ordinary.

3. We are dearly loved. We are the apple of God’s eye.

So that’s why we wear our new clothes. But now what do we wear?

Remember when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead? He called out to Lazarus, and Lazarus came out of that tomb. He had been dead for four days, but now he was alive. Do you remember what he was wearing? He was wearing the grave clothes that his family had wrapped him in. How did he look in that outfit? Well, he looked like death warmed over.

So Jesus said “Take off the grave clothes”. And what did they put on him? They put on a suit of new clothes. And that’s a very good picture of what ought to be happening in the Christian’s life. We ought to be taking off the grave clothes—those old behaviors that were part of our old self which is dead. And we ought to be putting on grace clothes—those behaviors that are listed here. What are they?

1. compassion - the KJV calls this “bowels of mercies” because the ancient Greeks used to think that your inner emotions were located in your bowels. Come to think of it, maybe they are—if you’ve ever felt that feeling in the pit of your stomach.

A Christian is a person who feels for the needs of other people.

2. kindness - a Christian is a person who is known for his kindness.

You want a good biblical example of kindness? Look at what David did for Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was Jonathan’s son. Jonathan was King Saul’s son. Both Saul and Jonathan were dead, so Mephibosheth was the next member of Saul’s dynasty in line for the throne. But Saul’s dynasty had been replaced by David’s. David was the beginning of a new dynasty—one that would lead to the Messiah.

Now in the ancient Middle East, if you were the ranking member of a dynasty that had been overthrown, you were as good as dead. Your goose was cooked.

But what did David do to Mephibosheth? Rather than having him “bumped off”, David invited him into his house, let him sit at his table, and treated him as part of his family. That’s kindness.

3. humility - it’s the opposite of pride.

4. gentleness - the KJV calls this meekness, and sometimes we confuse meekness with weakness. But that is not what meekness is.

The word in Greek means “power under control”. The Greeks used the same word to describe a soothing breeze. But a soothing breeze that is out of control is a whirlwind. They also used it to describe a healing medicine. But too much medicine, or the wrong medicine can kill you. So the picture of meekness, or gentleness, is power and strength under control.

5. patience - KJV - longsuffering. The Greek word is “makrothumia” and it means “long burning”, or literally, long-tempered. This describes your ability to put up with provoking people or situations.

6. forbearance - “Bear with each other” (v. 13). This means to hold up under someone or something. This is when we take into account each other’s weaknesses and failings, but love each other anyway.

7. forgiveness - this goes one step beyond forbearance, where we actually release someone who has offended us, or hurt us, from that guilt.

8. Then Paul says in verse 14: “over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” Love is like a belt, which holds your outfit together. If you are acting in love, you will be doing all these other things.

So these are the outward changes that people ought to be able to see in our lives if we are followers of Jesus Christ. But there is an inward change of character as well. And this is another mark of a Christian. Let’s look at verses 15–17…

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Christ is central to the Christian life. So it’s not surprising that each of these inward changes will have something to do with Him. The first inner change that he makes is that…

1. The Peace of Christ rules in my heart.

If you are a Christian, you are a person who is at peace.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

And because we have peace with God, we can have peace with other people, peace about our circumstances, peace about ourselves, peace about the way God made us. And this peace rules in our hearts.

The word “rule” is an interesting word. It was used to refer to the official who presided at the Olympic games, who interpreted the regulations, and who awarded the scores. In our modern world, we would call such a person an umpire, or a referee.

In any sporting event, the referee’s authority is supreme. Last summer, a baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles spit in the face of an umpire because he didn’t want to yield to his authority. That player was ejected from the game and later suspended.

Does the peace of Christ have that kind of supreme authority in your heart? Or do you in effect challenge that authority by worrying and being anxious and being discontent about things? One of the indicators as to whether the peace of Christ is ruling in your heart is how thankful you are. Paul says “and be thankful”. When there is peace in your heart, there will be thanksgiving on your lips.

2. If I am a Christian, the Word of Christ will be at home in my life.

That’s what the word “dwell” means in verse 16. It means to be “at home”—to have the run of the house.

A Christian is someone who is not only welcoming the Word of God into his life on a regular basis, he is letting that Word have the run of the house. The Bible says that the Word of God is like a sharp sword that penetrates our lives, even to the discerning of our thoughts and motives. And there will be times when something you read in the Word of God will convict you—it’ll highlight something that needs changing.

How you respond will indicate whether or not you’ve made the Word of God at home in your life.

If the Word of God is dwelling in you richly, there will be two results.

1. you will be teaching others - Oh, you may not have the official role of a teacher. But others will be learning from you as they see how seriously you take the Word of God, and how faithfully you seek to obey it. You will be imparting the wisdom of the Word to them. You will be modeling it; and modeling is the most effective teaching method.

2. you will be making music - “as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God”. A Christian who is letting the Word of God permeate his life will be filled with music.

Someone has said that the Christian life is all about three books - God’s book, which is the Bible; your pocketbook, which represents your attitude toward earthly things; and the hymnbook, which indicates how important worship and praise are to you.

- psalms refer to the Scriptures set to music

- hymns are songs that we sing to the Lord

- spiritual songs are songs that we sing to each other about the Christian life

Now you may not be able to sing or play an instrument. But if the Word of Christ is dwelling in you richly, your life will be like sweet music for others to hear.

3. If you are a Christian, the Name of Christ is going to be glorified in all that you do.

In the Bible, a name was a very important thing. A person’s name was thought to represent all that he was; all that he stood for. That’s why God frequently changed a person’s name, in recognition of some significant change that had happened to him.

Abram became Abraham; Jacob became Israel; Simon became Peter.

Now as Christians, we literally bear the name of Jesus Christ. So that means in whatever we do, we are reflecting on him. We are either bringing credit to his name, or reproach to it.

I remember working in a factory in Montreal during the summers while I was in college. And one of the workers in that factory was a Christian. I discovered that because I saw him reading his Bible in the cafeteria one day.

And I discovered that all the other workers in the factory knew that this man was a Christian too. But they didn’t respect him, because they also knew that he was cheating on his wife, and was always borrowing money and not paying it back.

He bore the name of Christ, but he brought reproach to that name.

What about you and me? We bear the name of Christ, too. What do people think about Jesus Christ when they see me? A real Christian is going to bring glory and honor to the name of Jesus Christ in the way he conducts himself.

So that it—A Field Guide to Christians. You can tell a Christian by his outward change of clothing—he’s wearing the grace clothes, not those smelly old grave clothes.

And you can tell a Christian by his inward change of character.

1. He’s at peace, because the peace of Christ rules in his heart

2. He’s a very helpful, encouraging, pleasant person to be around because the Word of Christ is at home in his life.

3. He’s bringing credit to the name of Christ, because he wants to glorify Jesus in all that he does.

My prayer is: Lord, let that be me.