A Little Bible Q & A For Your Day

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Date: May 27 2016 9:04 AM

Hey Everybody,

I hope you are looking forward to a positive weekend. The weather is beautiful, and I am sure many of you have big plans for the holiday. I pray for your safety. Here is a little Bible Q & A for your day.

The Question:

Dear Brother: Should a Christian woman wear a dress? The Bible says to dress modestly; so, are slacks modest? Also, the Bible says women should not adorn themselves with pearls or gold or elaborate clothing. Does this mean women should not wear jewelry at all, or just sparingly?

The Answer:

This is an interesting question, and there are two passages that relate directly to it. "I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works" (1 Tim. 2:8-10). And the apostle Peter writes of wives, "Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit" (1Pet. 3:3-4).

In the first passage, the subject is how to influence other people for Christ. In the second passage, the subject is how to win a husband to Christ. A woman may attract a man to herself with fancy clothing, makeup and jewelry - but that will not win him to Christ! It is the "incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit" that will win people to Christ. That is the apparel the Lord wants us to wear.

Is this an absolute prohibition against wearing jewelry? I have heard some argue so. It is not wrong to wear jewelry, if it is not costly and ostentatious. Neither is it wrong to wear other clothing, with the same considerations. Is a dress "modest" clothing? That depends. Our word "modest" comes from the word "mode" and literally means "fit for the occasion." Thus, a fancy dress would not be modest clothing for doing gardening, nor would overalls be modest clothing for going out to dinner at a nice restaurant. For many occasions, slacks would be more "discreet" or "decent" than a dress (horseback riding or washing windows up on scaffolding, for instance).

The point that the Lord makes in the passages above, though, has to do with how to influence and win people to Christ. The outward things will not do it. We, men and women, must win people with the "apparel of a meek and quiet spirit."

I hope this helps.

Have a great weekend and a safe holiday.

Mitch Robison

Enon Church of Christ

1366 Enon Road

Webb, AL 36376

[email protected]

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