“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21).
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17).
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers . . . shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10).
Packaging is a huge industry. Companies spend billions every year on crates, cardboard boxes, packing materials, shrink-wrap, and strapping tape. Yet packaging is also a lowly industry, for packing things in crates and cartons is not an end in itself. Packaging is devoted to delivering valuable goods to their destination, free from damage or from spoiling. Much of it is discarded after a single use. With few exceptions, packaging is not for show. Gift wrapping is a paradox of sorts. It has no power over value within. The removal of the wrap may bring gladness-or even keen disappointment.
Packaging is not new. Adam and Eve tried it after sinning and failed. They tried to make clothing (packaging) out of fig leaves. God had to provide adequate covering. This “packaging” in the area of dress still has lowly lessons for Christians. We need to receive these lessons in a humble, teachable spirit. But this is also the very realm in which the Spirit of God ministers, to magnify and to preserve the great treasure of godly character and purity of heart. The only claim of the Christian to being the temple of God is to have a new birth experience and obedience to God.
The packaging must be sufficient to “keep” believers in a world at enmity with God, a world boldly sold out to all kinds of evil and deviant behavior. Christian “packaging” must preserve the godly values we pursue, what we do for entertainment, the music we listen to, and the very way we dress (a high calling in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, where we are called to shine as lights in the world).
The very scarcity of teaching and writing on outward standards of behavior is evidence that many churches are blind to the negative impact of voluntary exposure to the works of darkness. As a result, the Christian community loses the dynamic of the Spirit-filled life and victorious living. Spiritual fruit decays as the church neglects defining sanctifying limits for Christian living. When believers, parents, and churches default on this, their responsibility simply becomes nobody’s business how sensually or lavishly people may dress. The church should be a conscience to society. For many growing up in the church, the damage and loss is permanent.
Many Christian authors’ personal appearance on glossy jackets in Christian bookstores embody the popular embrace of a popular book entitled Your Best Life Now. The Tele-evangelistic community has also given us an eyeful of examples, not only with lavish and even seductive wardrobes, but numerous other lavish outlays. Thus even writers and leaders shamelessly mimic the gaudy gift wrap and packaging of the ungodly-often with the same excesses-and with the same ungodly results. Clothing without regard for godliness and modesty can only grieve the Spirit of God into retreat.
Consider for a moment the concern among evangelicals to stem the tide of immorality among young people with virginity vows and chastity ceremonies. This is no trivial concern. The spiritual life of church and family is nil amidst the moral washout of believers. These provide no temple for God to dwell in. Yet these virginity vows are shown not to be very effective. The promise of the lips requires the backup of packaging. Chastity requires a heart well insulated with an outward appearance and a personal environment deliberately chosen to protect the treasure of the purity principle within. The vow of the lips is no match for sensual appearance, conduct, entertainment, and music.
We may not know the whole of what transpired in the Fall. But we do know that right through our present time and experience female allure readily attracts the male fallen nature. Male affinity to lust shows up on workplace calenders and in every kind of product advertising imaginable. In our culture this is portrayed as “normal.” In fact, these men are proud of their unrestrained baser instincts. But this comes at the expense of marriage, of family, and of one’s own soul.
Satan would clothe every attractive woman in “gift wrap,” a sensual goddess, with the singular goal of leading men like oxen to slaughter. Ultimately, the house of the sensuous woman is the doorway to hell. Froward women are using nudity to turn the men of our nation into slaves to their passions.
God’s provision of modest clothing was and is an act of mercy, closely entwined with the blood of animal sacrifice. The image of God in humanity requires the preservation of Biblical morality. The pure in heart who will see God will gladly subject outward personal choices to the inward goal of receiving the grace of God. Whatever gets in the way-from entertainment, to music, to wrong influence from friends, to improper clothing-must go. There is no keeping the heart with all diligence, apart from taking available outward measures.
Proper clothing is beneficial not only for believers. U.S.A. Today did a before and after report on the effects of school uniforms in the Long Beach CA school system in the early ’90s. They rated ten categories of problems. Every category showed marked improvement-after uniforms. Vandalism showed the least improvement – down 18% – sexual offenses the most – down 74%. This is not claiming that decent clothing has power to change the heart; rather, that indecent clothing incites the evil tendencies of the heart.
The dwelling of God is in two places. First is the high and lofty place above the heavens which is His throne (Isaiah 57:15). The second is in with the humble and contrite heart on earth. He utterly rejects the proud of heart with their outward trappings. This is the day to start applying these principles, beginning with your wardrobe. For you, Christian, yet unprepared to follow such an order, the question is actually- What makes you think you are following Christ at all? Jesus warns us that it were better even to sacrifice an eye or a hand, than to have two eyes and two hands, and to be cast into hell. Your future good and eternal abode are surely worth it.
Lester Troyer