What Shall I Wear Today?

by Micky Galloway

As warmer temperatures approach it is the season for bare or nearly bare bodies to be exposed in the name of summer temperatures. Christians, young and old, must give thought to how we should dress. All need to guard carefully against being seen in public in the immodest, unchaste, and ungodly attire of the season.

Please be reminded, our clothes do send a message. Can you think of anything more practical? We decide every day what we are going to wear. The promiscuous woman who set a trap for the simple” young man “void of understanding” knew what kind of clothing would entice him. She met him wearing “the attire of a harlot” (Proverbs 7:10). “Attire” is from the Hebrew word, shiyth, “A masculine noun meaning a garment. It refers to a piece of clothing but in context describes figuratively the clothing of the wicked, which represents their characters (Psalms 73:6). It refers to the dress or clothing worn by a harlot (Proverbs 7:10)” (The Complete Word Study Dictionary). Is it any wonder that we have been influenced by worldly thinking that seems to dominate our society? Everything from toothpaste to cereal, health-spa membership to an automobile, is sold with lewd, sexually enticing commercials. Displays of near nudity have become so commonplace that our children view it as a normal part of life. (Ever hear the argument when you oppose what your kids want to wear, “Well, I don’t see anything wrong with it”? Or, “This is what everyone else wears.”) Parents, take heed, this is a problem Christians must address if we are concerned about our children, modesty issues, preserving our influence for good, and pleasing the Lord.

When God had finished His creation He said it was “very good” (Genesis 1:27-31). Remember, God made the bodies of man and woman attractive to each other. He also created within each a desire for the other sexually. However, from the beginning, God placed boundaries on man and woman, limiting their desires for one another and permitting the fulfillment of those desires only in marriage. “Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4). Only in marriage can they become “one flesh,” only there is the “bed undefiled” only there shall a man “looketh upon a woman to lust after her” (cf. Genesis 2:18-25; Hebrews 13:4; Matthew 5:27-28).

God has made us responsible for ourselves and our influence upon others. When men and women dress and behave in such a way as promotes unlawful desires they promote lasciviousness. On almost every TV program there is vulgar and lurid filth that is designed to condition our thinking to accept without offense that which we ought to find shocking. One can hardly go to Wal-Mart or the grocery store without being faced with women (and men) whose apparel (or lack of it) is immodest and unblushingly scanty and revealing. We are expected to behold without shock near nudity. Much of today’s music is designed to produce lewd, foul, and dirty thoughts in the minds of the listeners. And who would deny that the modern dance is intended to promote such lewd and lustful thoughts? Careless display of affection is also lasciviousness! The apostle Paul said, “They who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21). The term “lasciviousness” is found in the following passages: Mark 7:22; II Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 4:19; I Peter 4:3; and Jude 4 (Please read them). Lasciviousness “denotes excesses, licentiousness, absence of restraint, indecency, wantonness … The prominent idea is shameless conduct” (Vine). Very simply, it is that which tends to produce lewd or lustful emotions. When one either carelessly (through innocence or ignorance), or callously (simply doesn’t care), displays one’s body in such a way to invite and provoke lasciviousness, one commits sin and shares a responsibility in sin committed by others. No Christian who is interested in his or her soul’s welfare or the welfare of others would jeopardize that soul. “Ye are the salt of the earth … Ye are the light of the world … Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16; cf. Philippians 2:15). We must, “… MAKE IT OUR AIM, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto Him.”

What should a Christian do? Rather than become upset, think seriously and honorably. When Adam and Eve committed sin in the garden of Eden they sowed fig leaves together to make for themselves aprons. Meaning they made themselves loin coverings. Adam was then as well attired as many today would consider themselves in their swimming attire. Yet, when God approached them in the garden, they hid themselves because as Adam said, “I was naked.” Adam was not totally unclothed for he wore the apron he had made, but God, said, “Who told thee that thou wast naked …” (Genesis 3:10). The Lord made for Adam and his wife “coats of skins and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). God did not do this to protect them from thorns and elements, but rather to cover their nakedness!

These principles are timeless. We need to be taught that human attraction is a powerful thing and the appeal generated must be respected and treated carefully. When women adorn themselves in clothing that reveals the most alluring parts of the body or when men dress so as to provoke impure thoughts, surely we are not thinking and living soberly, that is with a sound rational mind (cf. Romans 12:3; Titus 2:12). The control that one is to exercise over his thoughts and intents, the keeping of one’s heart with all diligence (Proverbs 4:23), is essential as a safeguard against degenerating into the state of lasciviousness. We must bring our thoughts into captivity unto obedience to Christ (II Corinthians 10:5), that is, think like Christ wants us to think.

I want to go to heaven. The apostle Paul wrote, “If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth” (Colossians 3:1-2). He wept over those whose God was their belly, whose glory was their shame, and who minded earthly things (Philippians 3:19). Their end was their destruction. He wrote, “I want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety … appropriate for women who profess to worship God” (I Timothy 2:9-10 NIV). Let us give appropriate attention to how we dress. Indeed, our clothes do send a message.