Clothes

            I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. (I Timothy 2:9-10)

          Paul is an equal opportunity sexist. Yesterday’s passage focused on men’s behavior. Today’s and tomorrow’s passages will focus on women’s. Those who love to stand in judgment of such things are likely to be incensed that he takes more time to direct women and seems more critical of them. I think there are good reasons for this.

In the Middle Eastern culture of the time, as in many times and cultures throughout history, women were seen as less than men and they lived lives that were more private. Men and women often worshipped separately. It doesn’t matter whether this was right or wrong at this point. It simply was.

            But with the birth of Christianity, as Paul taught, the male/female distinction was no longer the shackles it used to be. Women and men could worship together, and women needed to learn the same things the men did, but having been excluded for centuries, how were women to behave? If men tended to misbehave in the direction of anger and disputation, what way might women be likely to misbehave? And given that, for men, the main way women were involved in religion with men was as temple prostitutes, how were men and women to interact, especially in a religious setting?

             Our response to all of this today is “I should be allowed to dress as I please! I’m not responsible for guys keeping their minds where their minds belong!” Is the attitude behind those statements one that seeks the well-being of others? In other words, do they express love for the guys in question? Is the focus of the woman dressing with gems, or with a shirt that’s missing the top and/or bottom third or leggings that leave nothing to the imagination on God? As she has to keep adjusting her clothes, is she thinking about what the pastor is saying? Can she go out and do good works, or does she have to worry about wardrobe malfunctions, or about her clothes getting dirty, or her jewelry broken or lost? Are those things that women who profess to worship God should be concerned with during a worship service, or at any other time?

           Paul’s warning to women is simple, timely, and appropriate. Don’t let your clothes or looks get in the way of worshipping God or of loving your neighbor as yourself.