Christian Clothing- What to Wear?
Before I answer the question about Christian clothing, let me give you some guidelines and background on how I can “speak for God”. Until recently, (the last couple of years) I did not think about or care about clothes. This is going to be my opinion on what I think God would have you wear. Please do not go ballistic until you read the whole page.
My initial (and final answer, sorry Regis) is God doesn’t care what you wear. If someone has put pressure on you or tried to condemn your clothing choice let me help you with one of my favorites scriptures, Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.
If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, God is not going to condemn your clothing selection. If you haven’t accepted Jesus, you are being condemned but not by God. Satan hates you and condemnation is a very effective weapon in his arsenal. With that said, I do believe God is passionate about clothes. Read Genesis 3:21 And for Adam and Eve He made tunics of skin and clothed them.
God made the first clothes to cover Adam’s (and Eve’s) mistake. God was fine with us walking around naked, that was His original and perfect plan, but something changed…Sin entered the world and adjustments to His plan had to be made. With sin in the world it was no longer perfect, it was immediately out of order.
Here is how I have it pictured; Adam was made in God’s image. He was like God, made up of three distinct parts: spirit, soul and body (God is Father, Son, Holy Spirit) for a scripture reference we look to 1 Thessalonians 5:23. Adam and Eve have their individual god-like trinity (three parts, one person remember we are made in His image) and they were given this wonderful garden with only one rule…Don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:17)
What happened? You know the story…They ate the fruit and something died…but what? Adam was still walking around and hiding after he ate from the forbidden tree. His body didn’t die. He was still thinking, still had emotions because when he heard God he was scared and hid himself. His soul did not die (I define soul as mind, will and emotions) God’s word is true so something had to die when Adam ate the fruit…Adam’s spirit died. I am not going to get into an in depth teaching on body, soul and spirit but before Adam ate the fruit, he communed with God, using his spirit. (God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth John 4:24)
So in order to fix (temporarily) Adam’s mistake, the nakedness had to be covered. Vegetation (Adam’s attempt) was not going to do the trick, there had to be a sacrifice. Read Hebrews 9:22 God killed an animal (my guess it was probably a lamb) this was a big deal because Adam’s job was to name the animals and he knew exactly which animal God destroyed to cover their nakedness. God takes the clothing industry seriously.
Christian clothing, in it’s current form, is a niche or market segment of the clothing industry, Christian t-shirts, Christian jewelery, Christian apparel etc. is made to market to Christians. This is a very good business model (in my opinion) but not necessarily one God is involved in . God loves all His kids, the ones that worship Him, as well as the ones that hate Him. Read John 3:16 again, God so loved the world…Christian clothing should be defined as ANY clothing that gives God the glory.
We understand secular clothing companies are only “in it for the money”. They (secular companies) would argue Christian clothing companies are in it for the same reason. Christian clothing, in our opinion, is not a particular clothing line but an attitude.
Again, we know God loves all His kids, good and bad, but we also know every one of you reading this will one day die (hopefully much later) and God will one day judge all of His kids. Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once and after this the judgment. Like it or not, believe this or not you are going to die, God knows this too so He sent His son Jesus to seek and saved them that were lost. God is loving, merciful, caring etc but He is also just and a just God will require you to answer for your life.
There will be no detour once you die, to be absent the body is to be present with the Lord. You will answer one of two ways, Yes God I believed in Jesus or no I lived my life the way I wanted to and did not acknowledge You or Your Son…the judgment. If you choose not to follow God in this life, don’t be surprised when God doesn’t let you follow Him in the next life.
Death is certain, what happens after that, eternity, is left to your personal faith or belief. The Bible tells you to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12) Christian clothing should help a lost and dying world chose Jesus. So if the clothes you wear give God glory I believe God is for that and not against it.