Of Crowns and Costumes

John 4:35
I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.

I wore a crown to dinner tonight. Not a real fancy one, just a paper Burger King crown, a remnant from Clara’s weekend with grandparents. As I placed it on my head, I wondered if this regal accessory might entitle me to some sort of special treatment…change the way the family looked at me…or somehow change the way I viewed myself. Plus, it looked smashing with my grey sweats.

As you can imagine, nothing much happened. I did get a few questioning glances from Jonathan. Clara gave me the thumbs up. Helen ignored it. Dorothy disappeared, quietly slipping into an upstairs closet to pray for me. All I have to show for the experiment is a permanent hair indention that runs the circumference of my head at about 30* latitude.

Wearing the crown didn’t make me a queen. But it did get me thinking.

We live in a world that loves to dress up. You know what I’m talking about. Guys that have never seen a horse wear cowboy boots; good boys get piercings and tattoos; guys in the mailroom wear suits; guys in the boardroom wear t-shirts and sneakers. And 40-year-old housewives dress like 21-year-old pop stars.

But we know that dressing the part doesn’t necessarily mean someone is living the part. It just means they like to play dress up.

Jesus said, “The fields are ripe with harvest.” And harvests don’t reap themselves. God is calling laborers to work the fields. There is a LOT of work to be done…in our town and in our world. And God’s people are required to do far more than just dress the part.

You see, many of us are dressed as God’s laborers. So many go to the laborer meetings, memorize the laborer manual, contribute to the collection, and even talk the laborer talk. But sadly, many get distracted and never actually make it to the harvest fields. Others get there, only to stand in the fields with clean hands, wearing a perfectly-pressed laborer costume…surveying the crops, criticizing the harvesters, or just waiting for the after-party.

God is calling us to something serious. It is time to work in the fields. This is no costume party. This is the real thing. And if we are going to respond to His call, we must do more than just dress the part. We need to get our hands dirty.