Does your appearance matter?  This can go in a lot of different ways, but let’s look at just a few.

The Beach

I was speaking with a friend recently and he asked if I had been to a beach lately.  He further clarified an ocean beach and by “lately” he meant in the last 5-10 years.  My response was that the last time I had been to an ocean beach was 2007, almost 20 years ago.  His laugh indicated that I had fallen outside the parameters he was asking about.  He went on to tell me that some of the women were basically wearing the equivalent of a string with something about the size of a postage stamp to cover the “covered” areas.  I wasn’t shocked, as not much does surprise me anymore, but it was still sad to hear.  I might think things are bad, but knowing they are bad is even worse.

Public, But Not The Beach

This may make me sound old, but I remember a time when pajamas were for wearing to bed, and that was about it.  Today, I see people wearing pajamas to movie theaters, stores . . . you name it.  In some respects, I think it is sad, but in other ways, I think it is kind of nice.  We live in a society were people feel free to wear just about anything they want in public.  There is a free, non-judgmental sense about that kind of freedom that seems nice.  I’m not suggesting that wearing pajamas in public is a good thing, but rather the ease with which people can wear what they desire is nice to see . . . to a certain extent.

What Does God Say?

Whether or not it is tasteful or fashionable to wear pajamas, or anything else, in public is not really the question under consideration.  By do appearances matter, what I am really asking is does our appearance matter to God?  That is the real question.  Concerns like fashion and taste are nice and have their place, but they are not really what is most important.

There isn’t much in the New Testament about how we should dress.  Col. 3:12 states that we are to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  At first glance, this doesn’t seem to have a whole lot to do with what we wear, but it is emphasizing what we wear on the outside, not physical clothing, but the kind of person we are supposed to be.  In I Tim. 2:9, Paul tells women that they should dress modestly with decency and propriety.  The word “modest” effectively means not flashy or attention-drawing.  This could refer to a failure to cover certain parts of the body, but the term is more inclusive than just that.  It is primarily referring to the way of dressing that does not call attention to one’s self.  This includes provocative clothes, but anything that is trying to draw intention to the wearer is being prohibited.  “Decency” clearly indicates not wearing things like a string and postage stamp on a beach, or away from a beach.  “Propriety” refers to a standard of behavior that is commonly accepted.   It is important to remember that as used in the Bible, a commonly accepted standard of behavior would not be the world’s standard, but rather that of God’s people as directed by God.  Paul would go on to say that women should not be adorning themselves with gold and jewelry and fancy hairstyles.  Instead, they were to adorn themselves with good deeds(I Time 2:10).  His point is that women professing to be godly should be seen and known for the good things they do, not their sense of fashion.  Paul is not suggesting that nice clothes are a bad thing, but rather that clothing needs to be second to who you are.  If your clothing is creating a distraction from your character, it needs to go.  Peter makes the exact same argument in I Pet. 3:3.  Later, in I Pet. 5:5, Peter tells everyone to clothe themselves with humility.

Who are you trying to be?  Are you trying to be like the world, dressing(and doing other things) to draw attention by any means possible?  That is clearly not how we are supposed to live our lives.  God’s people are a quiet people who look to serve others, not to be served.  We are not the source of attention; we are to give our attention to others.  Humility . . . service . . . those are our calling cards.  That is what we are to be known for.  It is not about how much skin we can show, but how much heart we can show to others.  We do this by following the example of Jesus.  So let’s do that.  Let’s follow His example of humility and service.  When people see us, they should think, “That’s someone who is trying to be like Christ.”  That’s a WAY better compliment than, “You look nice today.”

Conclusion

There isn’t much in scripture about how we are to dress.  There is certainly enough to let us know that what we do, our inner person expressed through action, is where our emphasis is to be.  This does not mean to dress like a slob, but rather that we are not to try to bring others to us by our manner of dress.  In addition, we are not to dress in a way that is immodest(whether that would be flashy or revealing).  It’s easy to fail.  It’s easy to succeed.