You have all heard it said, “dress to impress”, right? If your going on a first date you want to look debonair. If your going to a job interview you want to look like you know what the business is all about and you dressed appropriately. There is definitely something to be said about first appearances. But now that we got the human side of “first impressions” out of the way, lets look at the spiritual side shalt we?

Matthew 4:18-20 says,

“One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him.”

Obviously, Jesus was looking to hire some people. He was in the market for some disciples for His kingdom business. So let’s talk about first appearances.

1^st) Exhibit A: Simon Peter & Andrew. Exhibit B: FISHERMEN!!! Have you ever smelt a fisherman before? Yeah, they smell like fish.

2^nd) I bet when fishing, you definitely don’t dress debonair. You dress the part. Your going to get wet, so your not going to wear a ton of clothes that would hold you down. You’re also going to get fish smell and mud all over you so you’re not going to wear your favorite designer jeans and loafers.

3^rd) Were they covered in mud? You bet. Were they wet with seawater? Sure. Did they smell like fish? Definitely.

So how did they dress to impress Jesus? How was that a good “first impression”? Does Jesus just like the fisherman look? Maybe. Does Christ have a fisherman theme He likes to stick to? Possibly. But you see this is where we [as humans] get confused. We resort back to what we know and understand as “dress to impress”. And we forget that Christ doesn’t function that way. You see

1 Samuel 16:7 says,

“The Lord doesn’t see things the way we see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying to never bathe and always wear rags. I’m not saying you can’t dress nice or comfortable. I’m just saying, sometimes we put way to much emphasis on what people are or aren’t wearing and not enough emphasis on the heart. Just because someone on the worship team or pastor or janitor or newcomer wears shorts or a hat or has piercings and tattoos or dresses overly nice, doesn’t disqualify them from fitting the part that God has placed them in. Just sayin’.

Keep Worshiping!