Dress Code

When I see the words "dress code" I immediately think of working in the hospital. We had a dress code that required all women to wear nylon stockings with all skirts and dresses. I hated this rule. Not only are nylons impractical in a hospital, I was forever getting runs in them, but are also pure torture in the summer months. But today I am taking a little literary twist on the word code. A code can be an encrypted message. I think that what we wear sends a message, a dress code if you will.

The idea that what we wear conveys a message is not a foreign one. We all know if you go for an interview, you wear a skirt or a suit. The message you want to convey is you are a professional. If someone comes in wearing a coat, you presume it is cold outside. Women dress provocatively in order to attract men, though you honestly do not want the men you catch that way. Our clothes even tell people what kind of day we are having. We have all had sweatpants and baseball cap days, or the days when we actually feel pretty as we wear our favorite outfit. Whether you like it or not, what we wear says something about ourselves to others.

But does God really care what I wear? I think He does. Clothing is mentioned throughout the Bible, and I believe there is a reason. I do not think it was fluff or a casual observation. I think what we wear says a lot about who we are, and God definitely cares who we are! The words clothes and clothing appear 66 times in just the first five books of the Bible, obviously God notices.  If you remember God  made the first set of clothing as Adam and Eve left the Garden. In Deuteronomy when God gave instructions for a captive woman to become part of the tribe of Israel, one of the things she had to do was give up the clothes of her captivity. Her clothing identified her as belonging to another people. Clothes designate mourning (King David), special favor (Mordecai), industry and wealth (Proverbs 31), service (priest in the temple), and many other things. So, what we wear conveys a message to others and as Christ's ambassadors that message is vital. The question is what does our clothing today say? More importantly, what does the clothes we wear to church say?

 In 1Tim 2:9 Paul writes " In the same way also, I desire that women adorn themselves in decent clothing, in modesty and sensibleness...". I never looked back to see what Paul was referring back to when he said "In the same way also". If you look earlier in the chapter you see the attitude of worship Paul hoped to see in others. The way we dress communicates our attitude of and toward worship. Now that is a sobering thought, especially as the Christian life is to be lived throughout the week, not just on Sunday.

But back to the idea of what we wear to church. In time past, everyone had a set of clothes that were their Sunday best, but not anymore. In embracing freedom (see previous post), we have moved away from having a certain set or type of clothes we wear on Sunday. Sunday is a day of rest, and we take it quite literally. I have had friends in the past tell me, "I have to dress up all during the week for work, Saturday and Sunday are my only days to relax".  We would never dream of going to work out of dress code and using that "logical" statement with our earthly bosses, but we have no problem coming to the Lord's house that way. Does what we wear reflect awe and respect, do we look like the princess' we are or are we princess' in hiding? When people see us at church, does our clothing reflect that we belong to the King. Or does our clothing call people to look at our "beautiful person" or flaunt the money we have. Wealth is another message that our clothing can verbalize and one I think we should seriously consider in the light of the global body of Christ, but that is another whole post.

I have found this particular post really made me think. What is the message I send others each day? Do I reflect that I belong to the King? What is my dress code?