How should Christians Dress?
And, what about lust?
How Should I dress? How should I clothe my children? How should teens dress?
These are all reasonable questions, considering the time and point in which our society exists right now. The morals of society have definitely shifted for the worse, never mind even mentioning Christian principals at the moment. This moral decline has a correlation to our rising crime rate, drug usage, and wide spread sexual irresponsibility of roll models in the limelight. Our society has degraded to the point where it is common place to see people running around in public view almost naked, and in many cases, completely naked.
Here is where I could go into a big long spiel, pointing out many of the aspects of our moral decay as a people. But I will try to refrain and stay on target here.
So how should we dress? Why is it important?
Well, aside from inviting disease, and aside from having our own solid morals as individuals, it is important to God, who has not changed and who has not dropped His moral principals. God, our Creator, is by nature, HOLY HOLY HOLY, beyond what we can even comprehend. God cannot and will not tolerate the blemish of sin to tarnish His Holy Kingdom. Not only this, but God knows what is good for us and what will harm us. He warns us throughout the Bible about lust. For one example:
God warns that for a man to look upon a woman to lust after her in his heart is to commit adultery with her (Matt. 5:28).
Of the many many verses in the scriptures that warn against lusting, Matthew 5:28 is one of the most striking. Here God shows us that by lusting in our own minds, thoughts and imaginations, it is as good as actually committing the act of adultery.
This brings us to the very root of the dress issue. Girls and women, are you dressing in a way that could cause someone to lust after you? Boys and men, are you? Yes, I mentioned both males and females. Both genders are guilty of dressing in ways that are alluring, though females do seem to be more prominent in this area. Parents, are you allowing your daughter or son to dress in a way that could cause someone to lust after them?
Pr 28:10
Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good things in possession.
So then, how should we dress? When society has changed so drastically, and when all around us everywhere, the standard code of conduct for the example of dress is to show some flesh, many may not even know what is considered to be proper.
In Proverbs 7:10 the Scripture has a warning to a young man against immorality: “And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.” The translation? The woman was dressed like a hooker, a prostitute, and her heart being subtil, is to say that her heart had some things to hide. The point? She dressed in a way that would cause the young man to lust. Most of us know how a hooker or a prostitute dresses. We have either seen them on the streets or we have seen them on television, but for the most part, most of us know how they dress. Back in the day when God had His Apostles Disciples write down His Word to us, even a prostitute did not dress as revealing as a modern woman of today dresses. But a prostitute would wear clothing that is revealing, accentuating her curves and other various features, intended to cause – what? Lust! This way of dress is intended to cause lust. For a prostitute, her livelihood depends on causing her potential customers to become lustful for her. This is how she makes her money. Anyhow, back to the point –
James 1:14
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
James 1:15
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
So how then should we dress? Common sense plays a roll here. What on a woman is a man attracted too? What on a man is a woman attracted too? God created us with the intention of making each gender attractive and alluring to the other gender, and there is nothing wrong with that. The problem arises when an unmarried woman openly dresses in a way as to be alluring to others outside of the marriage bed. And when unmarried men openly dress in a way as to be alluring to others outside of the marriage bed. In other words, God intended us to be sensual with our husband or wife in the confines of the privacy of our bedrooms, not in public view, where we can cause another person to lust. True, some people will lust no matter what a person wears, but we can dress in a way as not to cause lust in an otherwise non lusting person.
Women should wear dresses that at least go down below the knee. Long hair is intended to be as a covering, and of course, the curves of the legs, hips and thighs should be covered. Tight clothing that accentuates womanly curves should be avoided.
Isa 47:1
O daughter of the Chaldeans: for
thou shalt no more be called tender and
delicate.
Isa 47:2
Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover
thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh,
pass over the rivers.
Isa 47:3
Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy
shame shall be seen:
Men, should follow the same principals. Tight clothing that accentuates muscular curves should be avoided. Now I can see the emails flowing in now – “Who do you think you are?” “You are going a bit overboard!” and on and on. Before you email to complain, please keep in mind, I am not enforcing my personal thoughts on this matter, but rather, I am showing what God thinks, pertaining to the issue.
The bottom line is this – Are you dressing in a way that could cause someone to lust after you?
Let me reinforce this lust thing with a more worldly prospective. I want to start (for the sake of those of you who may not understand the saved Christian) with the fact that I have not always been saved. We are not born saved, it is a choice we must make. Therefore, I was once lost and carnal and worldly and so were the friends and people that I hung out with. From that perspective I want to reassure you that without doubt, that the way you dress does cause people to lust after you.
Case in point: Around the time of Christmas in the winter of 2003, I went to the local Mall. There I met an old friend, who noticed me and came over and talked with me for a few minutes. We proceeded to walk through the mall as we talked. Now this old friend of mine is not saved. Not yet, though I do work on it when I see him. But the point is, he is, to this day, worldly. A good guy though. He is just a typical man. He likes football and other sports, he drives a pickup truck, works a steady job and supports a family. As we walked along through the mall, he held his arm out to his side, across my chest as to stop me. We paused our walking and he pointed across to the other side of the walkway to a group of young girls who stood looking through the glass of one of the stores. These young girls all wore tons of makeup, and an array of very short skirts, extremely tight low waist jeans, halter tops and t-shirts without bras. Now when I see females dressing this way, I normally simply remind myself of Jesus and I look the other way. Most Christians will. But the carnal man doesn’t. My old friend, as he pointed to this group of young girls, said to me: “Why? Why do they have to look so hot?” He was caught up in lust. Not only was he caught up in lusting, he was lusting after young girls who were less than half his age.
As he pointed the girls out, I did look them over. Not for a thrill or to cause myself problems with lust, but a critical look. I looked them over, considering exactly what was happening with the lust issue. How could it be that this grown man who I was with, could suddenly be swept away in lustful thoughts for young girls half his age? We had walked half way down through the mall by this time and dozens of dozens of women had passed us by and they had not caused him to stop and comment. What was different here, now? As I considered the issue, I looked at him and looked over at them again. It was their dress of course. Had I not known better, I myself would have thought these young girls to be prostitutes. Now I know better, they were not. This method of fashion has become acceptable in today’s society, it is the norm as far as society is concerned. But the point is this – God has not changed and God’s principals have not changed. God would say that a girl dressing this way is dressing like a harlot. Do these young girls know that older men are looking at them in that way? Do these girls’ parents know that older men are looking at their daughters in this way? Well they are!
The above example is not the only one I could give you. I could give you dozens of examples. Because I have been out there on the streets and in the malls and in the bars and in the nightclubs. The first 37 years of my life were spent as an unsaved carnal and worldly individual. I have heard the lingo, I have heard the conversations that take place and have been a participator in them. Young girls – women – I want you to get this… if you are dressing in tight jeans, low waisted pants, short skirts, bikinis etc etc, then you are causing men to lust after you.
Parents – You need to get this too, since you are responsible for raising up your kids – if you are allowing your daughter(s) to go out of the house dressed in tight jeans, low waisted pants, short skirts, bikinis etc etc, – Grown men are lusting after your daughters! Do you care? If so, then you need to stop it now. God considers them to be dressing as harlots (whores). They are causing others to lust after them and to thereby sin against God. Suppose they cause a saved Christian to stumble and lust? Girls – guys – when you dress seductively, what if you cause one of God’s children to stumble and fall into lust? There can be far reaching consequences for both the one who lusts and the one who causes it.
James 1:14
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
James 1:15
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.