How should Christians dress.....?

I'm doing a something a little bit different today and writing about how Christians should dress, from a 24 year old married man and the Bible's perspective.

I know I'll probably have many disagreements, only because this a big issue among many individuals, but it is important. First, I'm going to borrow a couple of excerpts from some good articles. So hang with me for a minute.

Keep in mind when we study scripture we have to consider the whole message and entirity of the Bible not just a single passage. The Bible is our ultimate authority, not our experiences. Remember we are to interpret our experiences with the Bible, not interpret the Bible with our experiences. I'll pray that you don't stop reading!

1 Samuel 16:7
“The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Here's a big one women:
1 Timothy 2:9-10 tells us, “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.”

Important point: Paul did not forbid women from wearing jewelry, makeup, or braided hair—rather he tells women to not let their outward appearance become more important than their inner beauty.

Another reference:
Peter reminds us of this spiritual fact: “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight” (1 Peter 3:3-5). There is nothing wrong with wearing jewelry, makeup, or braided hair as long as it is done in a modest manner. A woman should not be so focused on her outward appearance that she neglects her inner spiritual life. The Bible focuses on the heart. If a woman is spending too much time and money on her appearance, the problem is that the woman’s priorities are wrong. Expensive jewelry and clothing are the results of the problem, not the problem itself.

Our outward appearance should not be our focus. If the reason we try to be the perfect weight, wear the best clothes, have facial treatments, etc., is to impress other people, then our physical appearance has become a matter of pride. We should be humbly aware of our appearance rather than acting to conform to the world’s standards. Matthew 23:12 says, "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." And James 4:6 says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

We must watch out for anything that draws us away from God, including the too-often extreme emphasis the world places on appearances. God does not want us to love the world or anything in it (1 John 2:15), and we are not to think as the world does (Romans 12:2). God has shown us His own amazing power and beauty and love in an incredibly diverse creation. We should be humble, not committing idolatry in worshiping the creation rather than the creator (Colossians 3:5).

Those were a couple of excerpts from articles of www.gotquestions.org

Now, this seems like it is geared a lot towards women, right? No, this is for men as well. I believe women were made to be much more beautiful creatures than man and Satan knows that as well and uses it. When God made Eve from Adam I think He left out all the unattractive features from Adam, ha.

From my personal and Biblical perspective I agree with the passages above. But I think as Christians we should go deeper and look at Jesus' commandment to us, "love your neighbor as yourself". As Christians, we should love our Christian brothers and sisters along with the lost. From my witnessing experiences and research I have found that men suffer from lust much more than women do. I personally do not think there is anything more attractive than having a wife who loves me unconditionally and gave birth to our son. No womanly flesh could ever even compare to my wife.

Now for the controversial part. Many will say, "well I'm just trying to build my self-esteem or this is how I like to dress". First off, where does the Bible talk about building our self-esteem in that way?

Phil 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

We are commanded to be humble servants to our Lord just as Jesus was. This is a view most people do not want to take. If I dress this way will it cause someone to lust after me? If we love our neighbor why should we want to make them fall to the sin of lust? Many, many, many people fail to realize the repercussions this can have on people, especially Christians. Of course, we can't guarantee someone is not going to have lustful thoughts, but are we helping the situation, that is the question. Christians, are you dressing in such a way that draw people's attention towards your eyes, your face, and not towards the other parts of your body?

As Christians we have a responsibility. Men, look women in the eye no matter what women are revealing, in respect to yourself, God and women. Women, don't give men something to look at even if it makes you feel better about yourself. You should love people enough to put them before yourself. Guys, if your giving women something to look at then that is sick in itself and I don't know how you are a man.

Unfortunately this is even happening in our churches.

In Closing:

Dress to please the Lord. The world is already full of raunchy images found on: TV, ads, the internet, and magazines. So let's not add to the fallen worlds immorality. We can still dress beautifully/stylish. You don't have to look stupid or out of style to be modest. I know this is the case because there are hundreds of very attractive people who dress modestly and don't cause people to stumble, and they don't look out of style. I think my wife is a pretty good example : )


In Christ,

Joey Acker