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Column 8
Do Clothes make
the Man?
“Therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience”
Colossians 3:12There's an old adage that says that clothes make the man. Though as I need to be deemed politically correct I will adjust this to say that clothes make the person. There that didn't hurt too much. Groan...
Back to the column 8 topic about clothes. In today's society we can generally understand people by their choice of clothing. Such sub cultural groups as Gothic's, Emo's, Metal Heads, Punk's, Steampunk's, Lolita's and the list goes on. Each wears clothes that marks them as part of the sub culture that they feel they best identify. A sort of social cohesion of to be easily identified, recognised and accepted.
Yet for Christians there doesn't seem to be a unique or distinctive dress code. Which can leave us unable to recognise each other in the wild. True we can wear a cross around our neck. Yet not all necklaces are visible. AS they tend to hang behind a shirt or blouse. There are some cross or fish shaped pins we can attach to our collar, shirt, blouse or hoody. Yet I wonder how willing some Christians are to poke holes in their clothes to let others know of their sub cultural alignment. Even that title seems to be difficult for some Christians as they may not like being lumped with some herd mentality. So we are getting bogged down here trying to find a group fashion statement. One that is easy to wear and easy to identify.
I'm personally a bit of an old age gothic. I tend to wear mostly black clothes. With the very rare or occasional coloured item when clean clothes run out. Oddly I decided to wear a bright coloured shirt to church and nobody even noticed. That for me was not a fun day at church. But hey I'm over it. Mostly. Really. As for any sign that I'm affiliated with Christians? In the past I wore a cross pin attached to most shirts and jumpers. At least until the cheap pin broke.
But that's another story for another time. One that will go along with Bible verses on erasers that make you feel guilty for using them. Or fridge magnets with Bible verses that tend to hold non Christian items to a refrigerator. There really needs to be some law against trivialising the Bible to such demeaning levels.
So what can Christians wear or do to stand out and announce to the rest of the world of sub cultural groups? I'm guessing it should be clean, well fitted and not overly controversial. I remember in the 1970's there were some "Jesus Freaks" walking around Sydney handing out Bible tracks for their religious group (aka cult). These grown men wore nothing more then an oversized diaper. When I asked one of them what they were doing he told me that we needed to be children before God. They were dressed oddly and stood out for all the wrong reasons.
So I'll finish off with maybe we Christians should dress like the MIB. Nice dark clothes with a trendy cut and style. Works for this old gothic Christian anarchist.