External Appearances—Does God Care?
Terry DeLaney
What is the basis for the Christian “dress-code?” Does God care what we wear, or is He more concerned with how we are seen by others? In areas such as women wearing pants or men wearing long hair, emotion and personal bias sometimes win over good old bible exegesis. We also sometimes run the risk of “arguing over foolish matters.” (1 Tim 6:4)
Neither slacks nor dresses were known in Paul’s time, so the “mandate” for women wearing dresses stems from tradition rather than biblical prescription. It’s a cultural issue, not a doctrinal one. Saying that a woman must wear a dress to church is “teaching the doctrines and traditions of men,” which our Lord condemned. (Mark 7:7)
Personally, I’m skeptical of any man who demands that a woman wear a dress. I’ve stood behind the pulpit and endured skirts that were too short. Some young Christian ladies don’t see a problem with it. But when they step outside the church building into the sunlight wearing a dress sheer enough to stop someone’s heart, the older women should be teaching them to avoid such indiscretion. (Titus 2:3-5)
While many believe otherwise, scripture seems to say that women should not wear dresses:
- Let not your adornment be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses. (1 Peter 3:3) NASB
In other words, don’t wear dresses!
In fact, the whole context or 1 Peter 3 is oftentimes overlooked by many. Note:
- In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands; just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear. (1 Peter 3:1-6)NASU
What Peter said was, “If your husband won’t go to church or become a Christian, getting all dressed up is not gonna convert him. What will work is for you to show the inner beauty instead.” The verse does not restrict any and all jewelry or all fixing the hair. It says, “let not your adornment be merely, or only external.”
If you take Peter’s words at face value, it seems that women are not to (1) fix up their hair, (2) wear any jewelry, (3) wear fancy dresses. In other words, women have to look as plain and as unattractive as possible. However, if you look at Genesis 24, where Abraham’s servant meets Rebekah, Isaac’s future wife, he gives her a gold nose ring and gold bracelets. So you can’t exclude a woman from wearing jewelry using NT scripture, when it was clearly done by the women in the OT. Those who dismiss the OT as merely a reflection of history, not God’s will, need to rectify Peter’s reference.
Mennonite women, for example, wear long, colorless dresses. They wear no make-up. They wear white gym socks and plain black shoes. They sport an odd-looking black cap that covers whatever hair is coiled up behind their head. Still others go to greater extremes. These women’s reasons may be to abide by a religious code in order to exalt inward beauty over outward. However, their husbands may spend all day at work with women who wear attractive clothing, perfume and make-up. Coming home to a disheveled wife who looks like an un-made bed may do more harm than good.
Christianity emphasizes always placing one’s brother or sister above self. We are also to “avoid any appearance of evil.” (1 Thess 5:22) You may not think anything wrong with wearing certain apparel, but how is it affecting someone else?
Inside Outside
In the Old Testament (OT), any animal sacrificed was dedicated to God. It was given up solely for that purpose and none other. In the same way, offering up our body involves giving the whole body up “as a holy and living sacrifice.” (Rom 12:1) Our body belongs to God. Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal 2:20)
What we oftentimes do is let Jesus Christ in the driver’s seat, and then sit next to him, wrestling for control of the steering wheel. Then, when we succumb to temptation, we wonder why. “I thought God won’t allow me to be tempted beyond my endurance?” we cry afterwards. (1 Cor 10:13)
Paul said that he buffeted his body and made it his slave, lest he should lose his reward. (1 Cor 9:27) The deeds of the flesh will prevent one from entering the kingdom. (Gal 5:19-21) John warned Christians against making sin a practice in our lives. (1 John 3:4-9)
These scriptures point to the external manifestation of our inner nature and the need to avoid sinning against God and each other. It also refers to the ongoing struggle between the two natures that war within the Christian. (Rom 7:21-23) To a certain extent, what we wear or the length of our hair has nothing to do with what is in our hearts.
We are supposed to be “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession.” (1 Pet 2:9) Since the word ‘holy’ means ‘set apart,’ Christians are not to adopt worldly ways and attitudes. God has not chosen the ungodly to be His royal priests. The world is unholy and not fit to abide in the Lord’s presence. So not only are Christians to be different, but we’re to count ourselves as less important—do what’s in our Christian brother’s and sister’s interest. (1 Pet 5:5)
This is difficult to swallow for many, which is the reason why today’s Christians look no different from the rest of society. Instead of adopting a biblical attitude of self-sacrifice and humility, we maintain a worldly notion that “I’m somebody.” To lack pride is seen as a mental deficiency that requires psychiatric treatment. As a result, we tend to “roll with the flow,” think God will sort it out, and we’ll eventually come out smelling like a rose in the end.
But to those who see this as an un-Christ-like attitude, they use external appearances to show the rest of the world that they really are God’s people. There’s nothing wrong with what they’re doing, but their extremism usually leads to hypocrisy.
Dressing Up for Church
After answering the invitation at a denominational church, my oldest son was told by the elders that he would have to get rid of his rock star T-shirts and cut his hair if he wanted to be a “real” Christian. The experience drove him away from Christ.
Let’s face it: church folk are the worst extremists on the planet. Here’s what Solomon had to say:
- Do not be overly righteous, neither be overly wise—why destroy yourself? Do not be overly wicked, and do not be a fool—why die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes. (Eccl 7:16-18) NIV
Jesus railed against the religious leaders, with their ostentatious piousness. (Matt 23:13-29) Today, priests, ministers, pastors, and “reverends” don special clothing, collars, crucifixes and so forth to publicize their position. The Pharisees “lengthened their phylacteries” to show people how much of the law they had memorized. (Matt 23:5) In like manner, some Christians like to lug a bible around in public—especially one that’s well-worn and cracked—which may look “holy” but gives no clue as to how much of it has been applied to the heart.
Appearances mean nothing when the Holy Spirit doesn’t indwell the heart. Even when it’s done on a positive basis, the reaction may become ill-intended. James admonished a church of Christ who judged visitors based on appearance. (James 2:1ff) The practice still exists today in conservative congregations. The clergy are expected to wear a suit and tie to services, while the lay person can get by with more casual dress. Some denominations mandate ties for all males. Blue jeans on women are forbidden. This is all legalistic nonsense, to which Paul replied, “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.” (Col 2:23)
Long Hair On A Man
Paul wrote, “Does not even nature itself teach you that it’s a shame for a man to have long hair?” (1 Cor 11:14) There has already been so much material written on the subject of men’s (and women’s) hair, that I refer the reader to those writers who have already plowed there.
Suffice to say, the Corinthians were primarily Gentiles, who were beyond the scope of Jewish law and tradition. So where was Paul coming from? Did he mean this edict to apply to all Christians in every age? Paul was approaching the hair issue from a cultural perspective, not a legal one. Although God strictly forbade cross-dressing, (Deut 22:5) or acting effeminate, (1 Cor 6:9) there was nothing in the Mosaic Law that forbade long hair.
Those who took the Nazirite vow let their hair grow long (Numbers 6) but that was not society’s norm. They stood apart and grew their hair as a sign of being set apart for God for a specific purpose. Samuel was set apart to serve the Lord his whole life. His hair was never to be cut. (1 Sam 1:11) Bottom line: they were not to appear normal, but set apart.
When we look at the Gentiles living in Corinth, male homosexual prostitutes grew long hair to publicize their trade. Female prostitutes cut their hair short to also advertise their business. Both groups stood apart from society and altered their hair for a specific purpose, in this case, an immoral one.
The bottom line is that we need to be careful of applying 1st Century culture against 20th Century Christians.
Can Christians Have Tattoos?
The Law forbade the Israelites from getting tattoos. (Lev 18:28) The reason for it was because the heathens tattooed themselves in honor of their idols, not for decorative purposes. People get tattooed today for cosmetic reasons, not religious ones. We are not living under the Mosaic Law, and those who seek to forbid tattoos based on Leviticus risks falling from grace because they are trying to be justified by law. (Gal 5:4)
Someone may think that by having “Jesus Saves” inked across their forearm promotes the Gospel. However, it is trivializing the Good News of salvation. The Gospel is supposed to be preached, not stuck to a bumper or tattooed into someone’s ankle.
Summary
As Solomon said, “avoid all extremes.” We don’t want to wear clothes that accentuate our sexuality; neither do we need to wear burlap bags to make people think we’re ultra-religious. We don’t need to force early church customs onto 21st Century Christians either. There are more important matters the Christian needs to concern themselves with. Let’s relish in having the mind of Christ and drop all of the Pharisaic high-mindedness.
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