Dressing Set-Apart
I’m having a hard time knowing how I should dress as a set apart young woman. Is it possible to be trendy yet Christ-honoring at the same time?
Question #7
Leslie’s Response:
Amy Carmichael wrote about several young Indian women who became followers of Christ and decided to give up their jewels—a decision that was completely outrageous to Indian culture at that time. A woman’s jewels were her security, her identity, her way of being accepted by society. And yet God was challenging these young Indian Christians to become “dead to the world and its applause.” Amy described the choice of one young woman:
It was a tremendous decision she made at the foot of the Cross that day. But nothing anyone could say could shake her. She had seen her Beloved, her Redeemer. On His brow was a crown not of gold, but of thorns. His hands and His feel were not jeweled, but pierced. She had seen Him. Could she follow Him adorned with gold?
Rather than showcasing the status and sparkle of the world, these women desired to shine with the radiance of Christ.
This is the foundational principle of dressing selflessly—to dress as a daughter of the King rather than a product of pop-culture. To lay down our pursuit of gaining the approval and applause of this world, and to live for His smile alone.
Take some time to prayerfully consider the way you dress, and what your inner motives are. Does your appearance show everyone that you belong to Christ or does it show everyone that you belong to this world? Are there any “jewels” that Christ might be asking you to lay aside in order to better reflect His glory? Your “jewels” might be your addiction to the latest trends, your controlling craving for designer jeans and sunglasses, or even your obsession with always having the latest technology (cell phone, laptop, etc) in order to show it off everywhere you go. There might not be anything intrinsically wrong with a pair of designer jeans or a brand new I-phone—but all too many of us have made these things part of our status and identity. Are we willing to let them go, that our identity might be found in Christ alone?
Here are a few key questions to ask yourself:
1.Does the way I dress place value on the status symbols and materialism of this world?
2.Am I so consumed with keeping my look up-to-date that I spend an inordinate amount of time and energy shopping for the latest trends? Am I insecure and uncomfortable if I’m not wearing the latest fads?
3.Do I secretly look down on people who are not wearing the most current styles?
4.Is there anything in my appearance that is sending the wrong message to the world about what my true priorities are?
I believe that it is more than possible to dress stylishly without being enslaved to worldly trends and status symbols. (there is nothing more spiritual about being frumpy!) However, it’s important to recognize that it is not a woman’s clothing or sense of style that truly gives her grace and dignity—but the Christ-like radiance that exudes from her inner being. In light of eternity, things like clothes and jewelry are trivial and meaningless. They are tools that can be used to serve a higher purpose in our life—our call to reflect Jesus Christ to this world. But the moment we become servants of clothes, trends, style, or possessions, is the moment we stop serving Christ and start serving ourselves instead.
Many set-apart female missionaries throughout history chose to lay down personal style and adopt the simple clothing styles of the people they were ministering to in order to keep their appearance from being a distraction to the Gospel.
Lottie Moon, a young single missionary to China in the early 1900’s, was described as a pretty woman with lovely soft features, kind eyes, and dark hair that she wore high swept. Raised in a wealthy Southern American family, she was used to American luxuries and style. But on the mission field, she willingly chose to live like those she wished to reach for Christ:
She began to look Chinese as she went into the villages, for she dressed in a plain Chinese coat and gown and wore embroidered shoes made from fragments of old garments. Later she estimated that her shoes cost less than eighty cents and her winter boots less than a dollar. She slept on a brick bed and ate food bought in a village market, and cooked in Chinese kettles.
When Amy Carmichael was a young missionary to Japan (before she arrived in India) she had an experience that profoundly influenced her. She was sharing the Gospel with an old woman, and just when the woman seemed ready to turn to Christ in faith, she noticed Amy’s hands. It was very cold that day, and Amy was wearing fur gloves. The opportunity to win a soul for Christ was lost because of it. Amy wrote,
I went home, took off my English clothes, put on my Japanese Kimono and never again, I trust, risked so much for the sake of so very little.
When it comes to the way we dress, are we placing value on the temporary things of the world rather than the eternal treasures of God’s Kingdom? Are we bypassing opportunities to be ambassadors for Christ because we are too busy flaunting worldly style and status?
Before we can truly learn how to dress with selfless style, we must first become dead to the world and its applause. Once we exchange the world’s value system for Christ’s eternal priorities, we can begin to reflect the beauty of Heaven.
January/ February Issue 2010