If your clothing is provocative, even though it may be your heart’s desire to remain pure for your spouse, you are sending the message to men, to boys, that you are ready for that sexual activity now. You’re sending a conflicting message and you’re making it hard for your brother to remain pure. When your clothing draws attention through its tightness, or through the flesh that it reveals, away from your face, where you could be treated as a person of intelligence and dignity, and to those parts of your body which have sexual functions, you are asking for trouble and you are causing your brother to stumble… Do we want our wives and our daughters to be looked upon as sex objects for the gratification of other men?
“The Scarlet Letter”, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, MS. As downloaded in Fall of 2010, www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/exodus/Exodus%20Vol%203%20&%204/25bExo.htm. Used by Permission.
What are my motives in relationship to what I wear? Am I merely attracting attention to myself or to the Lord Jesus Christ who lives within me? Remember: You can dress elaborately to attract attention to yourself, or you can be shabby, unkempt or unclean to attract attention to yourself. Both lead to a lack of respectability.
The Measure of a Man by Gene Getz, Copyright 1995, p. 81, Gospel Light/Regal Books, Ventura, CA 93003. Used by Permission. Get this book!
We should chose clothing that does not draw attention to ourselves and shows respect for others. We should not choose clothes in order to impress.
Reverberation, Moody Publishers, 2011, p. 82.
It is at least juvenile, if not self-absorbed, to attempt to draw special attention, whether positively or negatively, by the way we dress. This cuts both ways: preaching in an old hoodie and slobby jeans, or in designer kicks and $5,000 leather jackets. Love and maturity lead us to consider others, from a full heart, and to try, within reason, to put them at ease, rather than shock, offend, distract, or entice.
Men Worthy of Admiration – Why Pastors Must be Respectable. Copyright 2021, Used by permission. www.DesiringGod.org.
We are unavoidably saying something to others with how we dress and comport ourselves. Here, we as Christians will want to be especially diligent not to take our cues from the unbelieving world. As society continues to devalue marriage and cultivate a hookup culture in which dress subtly (if not overtly) signals sexual availability, we will want to think carefully and fundamentally differently about how we dress. We cannot simply take our bearings from the world.
Men Worthy of Admiration – Why Pastors Must be Respectable. Copyright 2021, Used by permission. www.DesiringGod.org.
The image of an ambassador might be helpful for us as pastors. We are not the king. We are ambassadors. A good ambassador doesn’t dress to look like a king, or eclipse the king. Nor does he dishonor the king by wearing conspicuous rags. Rather, the ambassador seeks to honor the king whom he represents, not draw attention to himself. This is true for all Christians, but especially so for pastors. We do not want our clothing to be conspicuous, either because of how fashionable we are, or how surprisingly casual and informal we are.
Men Worthy of Admiration – Why Pastors Must be Respectable. Copyright 2021, Used by permission. www.DesiringGod.org.
If lustful looking be so grievous a sin, then those who dress and expose themselves with desires to be looked at and lusted after…are not less, but even more guilty. In this matter it is only too often the case that men sin, but women tempt them so to do. How great, then, must be the guilt of the great majority of the modern misses who deliberately seek to arouse the sexual passions of our young men. And how much greater still is the guilt of most of their mothers for allowing them to become lascivious temptresses.
The Sermon on the Mount, The Law and Adultery: Matthew 5:27-32.
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There is little virtue in the beauty which calls attention to itself; modest beauty is the last to extol its own charms.
Innocence at first was man’s comely robe, in comparison of which the richest clothes are but nasty rags. Ah, how lovely did he look in that heaven-spun attire! In his primitive splendor, the most gaudy and costly apparel would have been but as a cloud over the face of the sun, or a coarse curtain over a beautiful picture. But sin caused shame, and shame called for clothes to cover it.
Works, v. 1.
God is not offended by the way you dress, unless it is immodest or in unusual ways that draw attention to yourself. Wear what you have and what you can afford. God sees what is inside. Please Him, not others.
Life in the Body of Christ, Founders Press, 2006, p. 248, www.founderspress.org. Used by Permission. Get this book!
[Guidelines for the selection of church attire.] There are no set, specific rules. But there are some personal guidelines. Some of them are: What is the custom of the church? How do the members dress? What can our budget reasonably cover? What standard does the general community condone? What is typically modest? What can be nice enough but not draw attention to ourselves? What is the appropriate dress for the occasion? What clothes enable us to be proper stewards of God’s money? A simple rule is: Clothes should be clean and neat, not flashy but enhancing, and should neither take attention away from nor draw attention to… Our words and walk are more important issues than our dress.
Practical Wisdom for Pastors, Crossway Books, 2001, p. 30-31. Get this book!
Pray against the love of dress, that sin that diverts the mind of so many professors from the simplicity of Christ, and takes the eye off from the true adornment!
Morning Thoughts.
