First Notes: The Lesson of the Neon Suit

Dear First Baptist Family,

Many years ago, I pastored a church where I learned a valuable lesson about the importance of valuing every person, no matter who they are or what they look like.

A gentleman started to attend worship. He had lived a hard life with few resources for luxury items or clothes, but he took special pride in one peculiar possession: a suit he likely purchased from a thrift store.

The suit wasn’t a standard brown, burgundy or black. It was neon-yellow. 

When he wore the suit to worship, the intensity of light in the sanctuary doubled. He loved to sit in the front row. As I preached, I would look out of the whole congregation and try to make a connection with everyone, but usually all that I could really see was that neon suit. 

I couldn’t not look at it, and when I talked with the gentleman after worship, it was the hardest thing to keep focused on his face and not on what he was wearing. I knew the suit was important to him — he wore it every Sunday — and I wasn't going to diminish his joy in wearing it. But it was hard for me to see anything else. When God gave me the grace to look past his suit, I discovered a kind, big-hearted, courageous child of God. 
My experience with the man in the neon suit has become kind of a metaphor for me. Almost all of us have something in our exterior selves that can be distracting. 

Sometimes we meet people and all we can see is some facial feature, their body shape, their skin color, or unruly hair. Sometimes there are behaviors and ways of being that may be off-putting, and if we’re not careful, our impressions of them can be clouded by that “thing” that seems to be the most prominent. 

We need to learn to look past the neon suit and see the person first.

We need to repent if we judge someone based on their looks or how they talk. We need to see the human being in front of us, the eternal soul, beyond the externals. Love means looking past outward appearances to see the humanity, the imago dei, the dignity, and the worth of the image of God in each person. That’s why every person matters is one of our core values. 

In a time of division, we need relationships that transcend differences and help create peace.

Maya Angelou was right when she penned the poem Human Family.

I note the obvious differences
in the human family.
Some of us are serious,
some thrive on comedy.

Some declare their lives are lived
as true profundity,
and others claim they really live
the real reality.

The variety of our skin tones
can confuse, bemuse, delight,
brown and pink and beige and purple,
tan and blue and white.

I've sailed upon the seven seas
and stopped in every land,
I've seen the wonders of the world
not yet one common man.

I know ten thousand women
called Jane and Mary Jane,
but I've not seen any two
who really were the same.

Mirror twins are different
although their features jibe,
and lovers think quite different thoughts
while lying side by side.

We love and lose in China,
we weep on England's moors,
and laugh and moan in Guinea,
and thrive on Spanish shores.

We seek success in Finland,
are born and die in Maine.
In minor ways we differ,
in major we're the same.

I note the obvious differences
between each sort and type,
but we are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.

We really do have more in common than what is different about us. Jesus’ church makes room for all people. His mission crosses cultures, welcomes strangers, fosters connection, and extends peace. 

If you want greater happiness and fulfillment in life, prioritize strong relationships. Take the time to be with the ones you love, but also the ones you don’t know as well. Be intentional in developing relationships with people who are different from you. Listen to their stories. Take the time it takes to see the person right in front of you.

Even if they’re wearing a neon suit.

Much love to you this week,

Pastor Brent McDougal

P.S. I’m continuing my sermon series on the church (Jesus’ ekklesia) this week with a focus on how every disciple is called to be a steward. All of us are given gifts and talents from God. How will we use them for God’s glory, and what happens when we use them together? This is also Graduate Recognition Sunday, so be sure to pray for our graduates and families.