Pick the right clothes.

This is a note I sent off to our worship team tonight, and thought I'd share it here:

I remain amazed at God's ability to guide and lead and provide. This team has gone through some rocky times this year, but I sense such a strong heart for worship and a deep commitment to each other whenever we come together. Yes, we're all wired differently, and I know we have "moments" along the way when we don't always see eye-to-eye, or we bump into each other because of strong personalities. And ya know what? I'm fine with that! We're all human, and we're all works in progress. No one on the team is perfect, and that definitely includes me!

Take a moment to read this passage of scripture:

Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
Colossians 3:12-15

One of our deepest desires should be "perfect harmony" with the people on our team. Musical harmony requires a complex interaction of notes that are all different but tied to the same melody, the same chord, the same root. When those different parts come together correctly, there is harmony. When they clash, you get dissonance and sounds that make you cringe! The same is true for us as a team, or a group of believers, or a church body, or a family -- we WILL offend each other! We WILL make mistakes! The apostle Paul makes it pretty clear this stuff will happen.

And when it happens, how do we respond? It's a choice. We must clothe ourselves with the right attitude and the right response. You're the one who decides what physical clothes to wear, and you're also the one who decides what spiritual clothes to wear!

So I encourage each of you this week to clothe yourselves with mercy and kindness and humility and gentleness and patience and -- most of all -- love.