John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
Mark 1:6 NIV
Today, I want us to look at the distinction of the sent one. An ambassador is someone who represents a place or something to other people. Particularly people who are not familiar with the place or thing being represented. To behave contrary to where you represent is out of character. There is an appearance and lifestyle for where you represent.
John was fitted for the assignment that he was sent to deliver. He was intentional about what God committed into his hands. John’s dress and lifestyle were a protest against the godlessness and self-serving materialism of his day. The religious leaders of that time were more full of themselves and they were clothed to that effect. However, his outfit was a symbolism of a distinction of life and purpose. It amounted to a call to separate oneself from the sinful culture, repent, and live a life focused on God.
Even his context, the desert wilderness, was meant to emphasize this, for it was originally to the wilderness that Israel came out of Egypt. The people having to leave their towns and lifestyle to go hear John in the wilderness was a subtle reminder of them leaving their sins behind and coming to God.
So, any man that God sends is expected to live in conformity to the image of Christ. However, no one should think that God is sending him to the wilderness. The peculiarity of our message is that there is a lifestyle attached to it. Moreover, we cannot live in a way that is different from the message that we will deliver. What alien thing are you bringing to form the outlook of the message? So, clad yourself with the garment of righteousness; Embrace the distinction of God’s messengers. Desist from the lifestyle that is different from Heaven.
