Around here, of course, it’s all about the “Big Orange.” Up north in our neighboring state, it’s all about the “Big Blue.” And back where I come from in Nebraska, it’s all about the “Big Red.” And whichever color happens to be OUR color, we wear that color with pride. We wear it as a show of support … as a sign of our loyalty.

And that got me to thinking. What if there was a color for Christianity … a color that marked us as belonging to the Lord Jesus … a color that signified our loyalty to Him? What if there was a color for Christianity? And what might that color be? I suppose RED would be a good choice, for red is the color of blood. It would serve as a reminder of the blood Jesus shed for us on the cross. Yes, red would be a good choice, for as John writes in his First Epistle, “the blood of Jesus, [God’s] Son, purifies us from all sin.”

And that verse seems to suggest another possible color for Christianity … WHITE. White is the color of holiness and purity, and therefore it signifies what the red blood of Jesus has done for you and me. It has washed us clean of all our sins. It has made us pure and holy and righteous in God’s sight.

Or what about GREEN … the color of life and growth? Green could easily signify the new and eternal life that is ours in Christ. And then there’s YELLOW … the color we often associate with light. In John 8:12 Jesus says of Himself, “I AM the Light of the World.” And in Matthew 5 He says of you and me, “You are the light of the world … let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

A good argument could be made for any of these colors, and for others as well. What if we had to come up with a color for Christianity? What color might it be?

Before I go on, I’m going to give you a word of warning. This is not going to be a “feel-good” message. And it’s not a typical Law-Gospel message … a message where I first tell you that you are all sinners and then tell you that Jesus died to save you. I’m assuming that you already know that. I’m assuming that you already know you are sinners saved only by God’s grace through faith in Jesus. What follows, therefore, focuses primarily on what happens next. It focuses on what happens AFTER the Lord Jesus has called and chosen us to be His own. In other words, its focus is on you and me living our lives as Jesus’ disciples.

In our text (Matthew 4:18-22), Jesus calls some of His first disciples. He first calls Peter and Andrew, saying, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then He calls James and John. “Follow Me,” Jesus says. Or to paraphrase Him a bit, Jesus says, “Put on My color and follow Me.”

And what is the response of Peter and Andrew? “Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.” James and John responded in the same way. And whether these four men realized it or not, this was NOT just a sometime calling. Jesus was NOT simply asking them to devote an hour or two a week to Him, but everything … all that they were and had. He was NOT simply asking them to put on His color for the duration of a ball game and then change into some other color … but to wear His color from that moment on.

It seems to me that, nowadays, too many Christians have lost sight of that. And I’m not just talking about you and me. To be sure, you and I are included … but I’m talking about Christians in general. It seems that, nowadays, too many Christians have compartmentalized their lives. We may wear the color of Christianity on Sunday mornings and at various other times during the week … but we quickly change into other colors when we’re at home or at school or at work or out and about. Or at the very least, we cover up the color of our Christianity with other colors … so that no one really sees us wearing that color. It reminds me of the old question: “If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” We forget that when Jesus says, “Follow Me,” He is not talking about a part-time calling. We too easily forget that He is talking about a full-time calling … a 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week calling.

Now I’ll go back to where we started. If we were to choose a color for Christianity, what might that color be? Well, my answer might surprise you at first. It might surprise because it is not even a color. What do I think is the color of Christianity? That color … that color is Christ!

And what, exactly, do I mean? I’ll give you some examples. Does Christ color your language when you’re at home … when you’re at work … when you’re hanging out with your friends? Does He color your language so that you refrain from cursing and misusing His name? Does He color your language so that you refrain from making fun of others or gossiping about others? Does Christ color your language NOT just when you’re within the four walls of the church … but also when you’re out there in the world? Does Christ color your language?

Does Christ color the way you treat other people? Does He color your attitude so that you’re kind and courteous and respectful to the store clerk … to the receptionist … even to the phone solicitor? Does He color your attitude toward people of other races and colors? Does He color the way you treat your spouse or your children or your parents? Does He color your words to them and your actions toward them with love and patience and forgiveness?

Does Christ color what you do for entertainment? Does your relationship with Him color the television programs you watch … or the movies you see … or the music you listen to? Does Christ color the way you fill out your Income Tax return … or the effort you put in at work or school … or the way you do business with others? Does your relationship with Him color your response when someone is in need? Does it color your response when someone pulls out in front of you or cuts you off? Does it color your response when someone hurts you or wrongs you?

I’ll offer one final example. November 4 will be Election Day. Does Christ and your relationship with Him color the way you vote? Please DO NOT misunderstand me. I am in no way suggesting that all Christians should vote a certain way. That is for each individual to decide in his or her heart. What I am suggesting is that when you and I walk into the voting booth, we should do so NOT wearing the color red or the color blue as the media likes to paint us … but wearing the color of Christ. In other words, even when you and I walk into the voting booth, first and foremost, we should do so as disciples of Jesus and NOT as Democrats or Republicans or as members of any political party.

And all of this is just another way of saying that the color of our Christianity … the color of our relationship with Jesus Christ … it is NOT to be just one of the many different colors we wear day by day. No, the color of Christianity … Christ Himself … He is to be the color we wear at all times and in all situations … and not just for an hour or two a week while we’re at church.

To be sure, there are plenty of times when you and I fail. There are plenty of times when we take off the color of Christ or cover it up with other colors. That’s where the red blood of Jesus comes in … to make us pure and clean and holy all over again. But when Jesus calls Peter and Andrew, James and John, to follow Him … to be His disciples … He is not calling them to a sometime thing. No, He is calling them into a most serious and high calling. He is calling them into a 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week calling … a life in which He colors every single aspect.

And so it is with the calling to which He has called you and me. Our Christian faith is not just one of many different colors we wear, but the color that runs into every other color of our lives … THE one color that colors every single aspect of our lives.

When speaking of the life of discipleship you and I are called to live, Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 5: