While on campus, the student fellowship I attended had an evangelism program tagged 'Vision 2020'. On the days of 'Vision 2020', workers will come together and pair ourselves to go preach the gospel.
On one of those evangelism adventures, I went to the village to preach in the company of a sister. We approached a man who gave us rapt attention as we preached. At the end of our message, he said, "If you people are not well dressed, I wouldn't have listened to you but I gave you attention because you dressed well"( paraphrase).
As we returned, that reminded me of a scenario that happened in my previous campus. I was in the hostel room of a friend whom I visited shortly. As we were gisting, a bevy of ladies with protroding breasts and bogus body shapes walked into our room. As they entered, all of us became silent because their presence could not be ignored.
Their leader spoke up asking for a particular guy who was not in the room at that time. They told us they came from one of the fellowships on visitation. When they said they were fellowship sisters, our minds became calm but we were surprised at their seductive appearance. When they left, a carnal conversation began among the boys. Someone said, "I thought they came to rape us".
Isn't it surprising that worldly people know how a Christian should dress? The guys on the street who are sinners know what a professing christian should look like and when they see someone who claims to be a believer not properly dressed, they know it.
When the mad man of Gadara was made whole from his insanity, the first thing the people noticed was his dressing. They saw a change. It was obvious that his deranged mental state was responsible for his previous bad dressing. I am sure his hairdo changed as well.
Your dressing reflects your state of mind. If harlotry is not in you, it is impossible for you to dress like one.
The bible talks about the attire of an harlot: "And, behold, there met him a woman with the ATTIRE OF AN HARLOT, and subtil of heart"( Proverbs 7:10).
It is antithetical for you to profess Christ and be found wearing the attire of an harlot. Your appearance matters. Don't be deceived by those who tell you it is only your heart that matters. Stop competing with mad people in your dressing in the name of fashion.
As humans, we cannot see your heart. The first thing that attracts us to you is how you appear after which we'll discern the content of your heart. No one drinks clean water from an outwardly dirty container. That is how humans are wired, we adjudge the container first before the content.
If we truly mean to evangelize our world and attract men into the kingdom, our dressing should not repel them. Before sinners will listen to our gospel, they'll assess our appearance first. As a soul winner, I know this like I know my name.
The issue of dressing among believers has remained a controversial topic for decades. There are extremes on both sides of the divide. Some tilt towards legalism while others tilt towards libertinism. However, what the bible teaches is moderation.
Philippian 4:5 says, "Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand".
I understand that we have liberty in Christ. However, we must take into congnizance the cultural acceptability of where we find ourselves. If your dressing is counter culture, you'll lose the people God has sent you to. I know this as a missionary.
Let's be guided in the exercise of our liberty so we don't wound the weak and repel the lost.
