Revealing attire is not proper dress for Christians

EDITOR: In my last discourse, I commented on music and dancing in worship. Today, I would like to draw the attention of Christians to the matter of dress.

Speaking to and of the church in the final stage of the Christian era, symbolized by the church of Laodicea, Jesus said: “Thou sayest, ‘I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;’ and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me … white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear…” (Rev. 3:17-18)

The text suggests that nakedness should produce shame in the Christian mind. But that is not the case in the church of Laodicea. In fact, she is not even aware of her condition. She lacks both social and spiritual sensitivity in that regard. When Adam and Eve sinned and became conscious of their nakedness, they made for themselves aprons that fulfilled their acknowledged need for personal privacy and interpersonal decency. (Gen. 3:7) But when they were to meet with God, they hid themselves: considering their aprons inadequate apparel for that holy encounter. (Gen. 3:10)

God has dictated a standard of dress for the church. It is, simply put, “modest apparel” (1Tim. 2:9). The questions that need to be asked are: “What was modest apparel in the days when the text was written?” And “What was modest apparel in the ensuing ages up to the middle twentieth century?” In a nutshell, it was a form of dress that revealed only head, hands and feet and concealed the vital statistics. It was the universal code in all civilizations following the flood and the dispersal of nations. All extant religions still maintain this expression of modesty: Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, etc. Christianity is the only one that has returned from “coats” to “aprons” against the initiative of Jehovah God.

A dress cannot seriously, or from a Christian perspective, be termed modest if it:

1. Fits the body like the skin of a fruit

2. Reveals parts of the breasts or even the cleavage

3. Fails to cover the back and shoulders, as well as the armpits

4. Is too short to cover the knees when the lady sits, so that the thighs and the space between them are not exposed

5. Is so tight or thin that the underwear is visible or printed; or the posterior lobes are protruding, or seductively voluptuous when she walks.

Here is something Christianity needs to learn from the heathen religions she seeks to convert.

The revealing attire of the harlot (Prov. 7:10) is now generally adopted by Western society and is creeping into the church, as the secular music has, and the leaders are saying or doing little or nothing to discourage it. Does God accept indecency and disrespect in His worship? In His assessment of the church of today, (Laodicea) Jesus offers the white robe of His impeccable purity and holiness, but until we are clothed in this immortal glory, He expects us to be clothed in “coats” not “aprons”. The enemy is succeeding in his relentless efforts to separate us from God, and make our worship unacceptable. Let the church of Christ take heed!

(More on this and related themes in my book CHRISTIANITY IN CRISIS available at Jujube Book Store)