Hi there. From The Christian Chatbox on Nairaland Religion ( https://www.nairaland.com/1114515/christian-chatbox-sticky/), we share with you conversations that we have had as Christians on topical issues of the day. Today it is Feminism: Dressing For Women. You will find the discussion running from Introduction of Feminism to Conclusion of Discussions on Dressing. Below is the conclusion drawn from the Bible on the matter. This thread is opened for reference purposes and to allow the sharing of new thoughts on the subject. The discussion is effectively concluded on the Chatbox and will no longer continue there. Any new comments on it are encouraged here. Grace and blessings be multiplied to you. 1 Peter 3:3-4 King James Version (KJV)
3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
1 Timothy 2:9 Amplified Bible (AMP)
9 Also [I desire] that women should adorn themselves modestly and appropriately and sensibly in seemly apparel, not with [elaborate] hair arrangement or gold or pearls or expensive clothing
Exodus 28:2 King James Version
2 And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.
Exodus 28:40 King James Version
40 And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty.
Isaiah 28:5 King James Version
5 In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people
As seen from the first group of texts, the Bible's standard for dressing is modesty. But what is modesty? We have asked that question a few times, I know that I have more than a few times myself over the past years. It is in Paul's letter to Timothy that we see the term modesty and that letter was originally written in Greek. The word is κόσμιος and 'is common in classical Greek in the sense of "welt (sic) -ordered," "welt (sic) -behaved"' (see http://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/1_timothy/2.htm). This may still seem a bit vague but if we look at the two bits of Scripture together, the bit from Peter's letter and the bit from Paul's, that is, the concept of modesty makes more sense to us.
Both apostles essentially command that the woman be better known for her godly behavior than for her dress. The folly some of us may fall into here is the reasoning that God looks on the heart and not on the appearance and if a woman is to be known for her godly behavior then her dress should not matter. But this is very untrue. If one's adornment is of a meek and quiet spirit as Peter says, their dress will confirm the same for out of the abundance of the heart the woman dresseth. Still there are practical things to note, non-vague things, that is.
The woman is commanded by Peter not to plait her hair, wear gold or make much of her garments. This is for very specific reasons that will be found in full in https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/1Pet.3.1-1Pet.3.7. It is never wise to carry specific instructions made for people who lived in a specific era straight into another era to apply to the people who live in that era. So we must not assume that women today must not plait their hair and wear jewelry. There is a reason that both Peter and Paul made an issue out of those specific things. Back in their days, prrostitutes and wicked women were known by such dress. We have the equivalents today. When you hit a red light district even unknowingly, you can soon tell that you have by how the women hanging out on the streets are dressed. Plaiting hair does not today identify a woman as a prrostitute but certain other kinds of get-up do. Those get-ups are what women today are to avoid. Whatever a Christian woman does, she must never let herself be mistaken for anything but a Christian. That is the meaning of letting your adorning be the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit: your godliness should be obvious and unmistakable.
What about decking yourself out in gaudy jewelry and expensive wears? Both apostles are very particular about these in addition to the plaiting of hair. Again, wearing jewelry is not the thing in itself, it is the message that is sent by wearing them. Today, as in their days, the tendency in fashion is to show off. Showing off is unchristian. What these apostles hold up is something translated as "shamefacedness" or bashfulness. One commentary refers to it as '"shamefastness" (that which is made fast by honourable shame)' (see http://biblehub.com/commentaries/jfb//1_timothy/2.htm). Another commentary says, 'there is no religion or irreligion in dress, provided pride and luxury are guarded against, and modesty and moderation preserved' (see http://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/1_timothy/2.htm). Even without reading so many commentaries, we can tell that if your focus is on looking good, you will sacrifice being good. This is a truth that holds in everything: if any focus on our own selves occurs, Christ will be sacrificed for it. That is something we should be careful of losing sight of. As much as we think that the war is between Christ and Satan, we must never forget that Satan has no power except in self. Satan's whole interest is to get us to focus on ourselves because if we do so, Christ will be nullified in us.
So, it is clear that the Scriptures command women to tone down on looking good. I, for one, love a woman to look good. I enjoy looking at good-looking things but my history so far with God has been that my enjoyment cannot be paramount. After all, all of our tastes are necessarily acquired. Many things I could not abide at one time in my life are commonplace and even sought after by me now and many things I once made everything of mean nothing to me today. So I can get to love looking at a woman whose curves have been completely obscured. I can get to appreciate seeing the inner beauty of a woman radiating on her without much outward beauty to speak of. As the Scriptures say, we are changed as we behold the Lord. Change is just part of growing up into Him in all things. The woman then who cannot sacrifice her natural need to be found very appealing physically is a woman who will sacrifice the ornament of the meek and quiet spirit that Peter spoke of.
Another thing to be noted is the group of texts in blue. In them we see that God does care about appearance. He cared as much about it as He did about His Tabernacle judging by the detail with which He described both to Moses and the provision He made for achieving both. It is foolish to think that God wants us to walk about in rags and with no care whatsoever for our bodies. As Jesus Himself said, the Father knows that we need clothes for our bodies and not just to cover our unclothedness but for beauty and for glory. Still, the text in green tells us what our beauty and our glory is. It is the Lord Himself. Women in bars, in clubs, on music videos look very enticing to the eye but does the Lord call that beauty? Let us see what the Scriptures say. In Proverbs 11:22, it says that a beautiful woman without discretion is like a gold ring in a pig's snout. We are Christians. In Colossians 3:1, Paul tells us that we belong above and should therefore focus on the things that are above.
Today, the world is so violently material and sensual about everything. Love is judged by sexxual attraction. Justice is judged by anger. Mercy is judged by pity. And so on. As a result, nothing is clear for many times we are angry at even those things that are just and pity things that should be destroyed. Look at the multitude of divorces and the rotting fabric of society to see how sexxual attraction has helped human beings as a judge of Love. But none of this is nearly as tragic as when the "little Christs", the "small Messiahs", the Christians are caught in the same snare of materialism and emotion. When Christians forget that the things that are seen are temporal and passing away but those unseen things out of which they were made remain forever, then the world is doomed. Women are warned to dress in a certain manner but the temptation to disobey is great indeed because of the focus of today's world on the seen. Still for that reason it is even more imperative that our women should obey.
Finally, it matters that we understand that the focus of the Scriptures on women regarding instruction on dress is very deliberate indeed. The demand that men too should be commanded as women have been is a distraction from obedience and a questioning of the wisdom of the Author of the Scriptures to give commands as He does. Some women have claimed that they are as much tempted sexxually by a man's physical appearance as men are by a woman's physical appearance. Perhaps they are indeed, but I very much doubt that, but what a man ought to do about his dressing is one thing and what a woman ought to do is another. The Scriptures are very clear in their instructions to women. It would not be wise to disobey them merely because nothing was said to the man too. Having said that, it is not a bad idea for men to learn a thing or two from the instructions given to women. The focus of the Christian regardless of their specific gender is on being clothed with good works not expensive raiment and questionable attire. The testimony of the Christian must always be clear and without confusion whether in dress, in speech, in career or in anything at all. The Christian is not a show-off. The Christian is not an attention-seeker. The Christian is a moderate individual. The Christian does not attach any value to anything of this world, not the applause of it, the hate of it, the splendour of it or anything. His appreciation of value is wholly determined by the praise and presence of Christ in anything.
For the Gift of Your Word, we thank You, our Father. And we ask that It may bear great and everlasting Fruit unto You and establish us in Your truth and in all righteousness in the Name of Your Son Jesus. Amen. |
