Pop quiz!
The situation: You are walking through the general ward of a specific children’s hospital in Fukuoka, Japan. You see someone wearing a yellow polo and a hospital name tag around their neck.
The question: What is their occupation at the hospital?
Maybe yellow is too enigmatic. What if they were wearing a blue polo instead? Or a brown dress shirt? How about dark green scrubs—not to be confused with those who wear dark blue or white scrubs? Or the nurse who had been wearing pink scrubs yesterday, who is now wearing an apron over said scrubs for today’s shift?
During the four months our son spent in a children’s hospital here in Fukuoka, we discovered how easy it was to spot the various hospital workers solely by their uniforms because each person wears their respective uniform matching that day’s duties almost without exception. This makes finding help easy. For example, if you are looking for a nurse to help with your child, don’t worry about finding a specific person—just find someone wearing pink or dark green scrubs. If you need help cleaning up a mess, someone in a yellow polo will surely be nearby.
We have found this to be true at nearly all establishments in Japan. If you are working at any established store, you are probably wearing that place’s uniform and matching the other workers. Once you are familiar with the uniform of a certain location, it is simple to spot the workers and get help with whatever you need, a skill particularly useful in crowded spaces.
As missionaries in Japan, we also want to be wearing our proverbial Christian uniform every day so others can desire to know Christ as Savior. Does this mean every Christian worldwide should wear a lime-green t-shirt loudly proclaiming their allegiance to Christ wherever they go? No, of course not! Unfortunately, wearing such clothing could get you killed in some locations on this planet.
However, whether we wear overtly Christian clothing or not, we should all live our lives in a way that allows each person we interact with to experience the love of Christ through us. As we wear this life uniform that results from a daily walk with Jesus, we can help others “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8) and, in that way, help them come to know Him as their Savior.
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:26-27, NKJV)
Will you join me in wearing the Christian’s uniform of Christ’s character wherever you go today?
