CHRISTIAN UNIFORMS: Modesty Taken Too Far?

“Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of… putting on of apparel.”
(1 Peter 3:3)

Please note the title comes in the form of a question. So while it is a firm conviction I am presenting, because I don’t think this thought on Christian dressing has been explored before, I present it as food for Christian thought, that we may consider the matter before it can be well accepted. So, I hope to share my thoughts on an aspect of Christian dressing that I suppose is a bit extreme on the side of modesty. While it is the safer extreme, it may be done sinfully and may be injurious to the faith.

By Christian uniform I mean this way of dressing that makes it plain and loud that you are a Christian, and not just a Christian but a Christian of a particular sect. For the word denomination is just a nice word for sect. This sectarianism is the same thing Paul condemned in 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 and 1 Corinthians 3:4, but now style in dresses is now used as badges of sectarianism. In Nigeria we have different sects that from their dressing you can tell that this is a Jehovah Witness, a Deeper Life, a Cherubim and Seraphim, a sister of a Roman Catholic convent, etc. they have this distinguishing dress that separates them from all other humans. Yes these uniforms are modest and not worldly, for the worldly dressing comes from outside in and so I don’t think there will ever be a Christian uniform that would be worldly. But modest as it is, the fact that it distinguishes one from the rest of the world may not be God’s will for us.

Now first of, our key text reads, “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of… putting on of apparel.” (1 Peter 3:3). Apparel is a distinguishing garment. So from the Biblical perspective, which is our ultimate authority, a garment that distinguishes a person from the rest, for distinguishing sake alone, is not of God. Yes we would say this is talking about making us focus on the beauty of character and not on an outward show of wealth which is against the spirit of the meekness of Christ. But as it forbids us not to seek to distinguish ourselves by putting on expensive things, it also extends to mean that we should not distinguish ourselves by any other vain motive. And if there’s no reason to be distinguished apart from just the will to be distinguished, then is it a vain motive.

Even when the distinguishing element is in the form of a modest garment, it still has an effect of raising one up above others. And since the object is not to be modest in itself but to be raised above others on the scale of modesty, we, by a show of modesty, tend to seek to be glorified.

This does not of course mean that we should blend with whatever is commonplace. If the motive of distinguishing ourselves is to avoid impropriety and immodesty in dressing, then that is good and very Christian. But where it is not this but just to be different from every other person for no cogent reason, even trying to be different from other people of the same faith however modest they may be, may be just so they can know you’re “holier than thou,” or that you belong to a denomination that don’t take a select class of nonsense, then it is not God’s will. I say a select class of nonsense is because most sects become separate from all others on the grounds of certain perceived nonsenses they don’t tolerate. But as strict as they may be against nonsenses, there are always other classes of nonsenses they well entertain.

So when you dress, just ensure you’re modest, well covered, your clothes don’t reveal the shape of your body, you don’t cross dress, and other like sinful dressing, and you’re good. It should be so subtle that it may take a while of careful observation before someone would suspect that you’re a Christian. It may be after a long while a friend may ask you as a female, “I’ve never seen you wear trousers before.” Then you could say, “yeah, it’s against the Christian faith to cross dress.”

Now the practice of wearing uniform is not just a practice that is merely a wrong on a personal level, it also has its injurious effects. I believe that the way of righteousness ought to be made as easy as possible especially for those who may be weak. I do not say making things easy by bending the rules but keeping it easy by not adding a dime to the commands of Christ and the Holy Ghost. Indeed Christ says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you… For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”(Matthew 11:28 – 30). Christ has promised to give rest and declared that his yoke is easy, not burdensome. And again it is written, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” (1 John 5:3). It is therefore wrong to make that which has been made easy by the very shedding of the blood of Christ to become burdensome, and that by human contrivances. It is wrong to make grievous that which is not grievous. Christ frowned at the lawyers of his days for this same thing when he said, “Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.” (Luke 11:46). So it is wrong to lade men with a burden their Master hasn’t appointed for them.

Now, we know that dressing to be different from others is not very easy. Not many people like to have that attention (negative or otherwise) that comes from belonging to a particular sect. Mind you, not wanting such attention that comes from such sectarian affiliation has nothing to do with being ashamed of Christ. Rather in some cases it can be born of modesty itself as well as sound reasoning.

Apart from this, such uniforms create an unnecessary wall between the saved and unsaved. It would have the effect of pushing others away for no good reason. People should keep away when they know you won’t engage in foolish or corrupt conversation, sinful association, and not because you dress differently in an obvious way.

So choose those garments, styles, fashion, that is commonplace yet do not go against the tenets of Christian dressing. These tenets I explained in my book titled, “OUR HOLY CHRISTIAN DRESSING TRADITIONS AND APPEARANCE.” The tenets, in summary, are:

• modesty (in everything the word means),
• meekness (not evidently expensive and showy)
• clothes should be free from the body,
• clothes should be above the collar bone and not slack to reveal the back or chest,
• the sleeves should be below the elbow,
• skirts should be well below the knee. This is where a lot of office ladies go wrong wearing tight skirts that are usually above the knee, though not what we can call miniskirt. They say dressing like that is smart. Believe me it is not smart. It is ungodly.
• kemptness
• appropriateness (don’t, in the supposed spirit of meekness, go into the king’s presence in sack clothes. That is inappropriate. The places we go to can dictate how we dress (Matthew 22:11-14). Going to important places with certain kind of clothing is downright disrespectful. I speak not necessarily in reference to expansiveness of dress but in reference to formal and informal.)

Whatever meets these criteria and is also commonplace is a good Christian outfit.

Thank you and God bless you.

Prayer: Dear Lord and Father, as you have seen it fit that man should not be merely clothed but properly clothed and sewed a proper garment for Adam and Eve when they covered themselves with improper leaves, teach us proper dressing not just one that is according to letters that kills but in the Spirit of meekness that makes alive. This I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Please follow and like us: