Colossians 3:12

Last Sunday, a good friend of mine from work invited me to go to a "festival" to listen to one of his favorite local bands. I said "yes" to his invitation. I have NOT been to a festival (church or otherwise) in a very long time. There are a couple of reasons for this:
1. I am not familiar at all with any local bands so I do not feel compelled to run around town all summer long going to festivals (there are at least 3-5 church festivals every weekend, along with all the various ethnic festivals that take place throughout the summer months)

2. Quite often these events turn into drunken beer fests (no offense to anyone, but I'd rather not be in that environment - it really does not appeal to me)

3. I honestly don't want to sound elitist when I say this, but I don't feel comfortable around a large majority of these "festival goers". What I believe to be appropriate dress, language and behavior is in complete contradiction to 90% of those in attendance at these festivals. Their beliefs about child-rearing, parenting, etc. are not beliefs that I would choose to adopt (especially when the parent is in the age range of 16-18 years of age)

This is the part where Colossians 3:12 comes in because I have really been struggling mightily with this for awhile.
"Therefore. as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience".

When I was at the festival on Sunday, I was the furthest thing from being kind, gentle and compassionate towards the people around me! I felt so judgmental the whole time that I was there.

Here are a few excerpts from what I was thinking while I walked around:

" I cannot believe that she is wearing that outfit. Things that should not be hanging out are in full view of everyone. Did she look in the mirror before stepping out of her house?"

"I could never imagine my dad walking around in a pair of baggy shorts with his boxers showing, a backward baseball cap with a diamond-studded " $ " insignia on it, a thick gold chain around his completely tatooed neck and a wallet chain hanging from his back pocket"

"I would never want to be invited to THEIR family gatherings......."

"This is like Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind. What am I doing here??? These people are so different than me"

I could go on and on, but the more I think about it, the more embarrassed I feel for thinking those thoughts. Do I think that I am "better" than these individuals, that I am more sophisticated than they are??? Underneath the outer wrapping, no matter what that wrapping looks like, is another human being who has been created by God. Who am I to judge another human being??? The more I think about this, the angrier I become because this is not the type of person that I want to be, nor the kind of person that God created me to be.

Somewhere along the way, I forgot the part about clothing myself with compassion and gentleness. I forgot about seeing others as God sees them. I forgot the part about taking my old self off and putting on my new self.

"Christ is all and is in all".

How quickly I forget.....................................