Chapter 6: Dressed for Success
The Bible and Fashion.

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
--Joshua 1:8

What about fashion? God forbid that our women in our Baptist churches should dress like the Pentecostal ladies. I guarantee you, when I hear about a United Pentecostal preacher who commits adultery, I almost do not blame him. You look at some of these guys' wives, and you know that you almost can not blame them. I know that sounds bad, but it is true.

These women intentionally make themselves ugly. They are so afraid of being worldly that they turn away from anything that might make them look appealing. But God does not expect that of us.

Many of our women have been driven from their homes and into the work force. This sudden shift in lifestyle has created an entirely new set of problems. Many women who work in different fields feel the need to wear certain types of clothing to work. So, the question becomes how should a daughter of God dress for success?

Remember what God told His son, Joshua: This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. God is never wrong about anything. This is certainly no exception. Business suits with skirts can be both feminine and professional. In fact, women who are able to balance those two things are more apt to work well with their male co-workers. Especially, when they obey all of God's rules.

Women who go to work dressed like they are going to a street corner to work do not last long in the professional world. Neither do rebellious women who are radical in their defense of their so-called "liberty and equality." Their pride and selfishness causes them to become uncooperative and unproductive. Here again, how they look on the outside is a good indication of the attitude and intent of their hearts.

Employers are not stupid. They do notice these trends and tend to hire women who can balance femininity and professionalism. These women will go farther in their fields. As God promised they prosper and have good success.

The Bible says we are not to be conformed to the world, in Romans 12:2. And in Proverbs 25:29, the Bible teaches us that "the fear of man bringeth a snare." We do not have to have the latest style, nor, do we have to be afraid of fashion. But at the same time, First Corinthians 7:31 says, "And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away." So we do not want to be a slave of fashion. We do not want to necessarily spend all of our money, time and resources making sure we have the latest styles and fads, but at the same time, we do not have to throw away our clothes because they happen to be fashionable.

You have a skirt and have owned it a number of years and maybe it has not been in style for the last five or six years, but all of a sudden, that particular style of skirt comes back in style. You do not have to throw the skirt away, just because it happens to be in style. The Bible says it is okay to use the world, as long as you do not abuse it. It is okay to be in fashion, as long as you are not a slave of fashion. And we also do not have to purposely go to the second-hand store and go out of our way to find clothes that we know are out of date and not in style. There are some Christians who, when they go to buy clothes, they go to the second-hand store and purposely buy a tie that has not been in style for twenty years, because they do not want people to think they are worldly. The Bible does not say that you have to do that. If you want to do that, I guess it is fine. We have liberty in Christ. You have the liberty to go and buy ugly ties, but God does not put a command on you that you have to dress a certain way so as not to be fashionable.

Although you should not be a slave to fashion, if the clothes that you are wearing happen to be fashionable, that is okay. The command of God is to be modest, that women be shamefaced and dress with sobriety, or with moderation. So if a garment is modest, if it is shamefaced and in moderation, and happens to be in fashion, well, God bless you. Go for it.

What about pretty clothes? It is the same thing. There is no sin in wearing pretty clothes. In fact, God wants your clothes to be beautiful. God wants a woman to be beautiful. God wants a woman to be beautiful for her husband. We read in Proverbs chapter thirty-one that the "virtuous woman" will wear pretty clothes. It says, "She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple" (Proverbs 31:21-22). So we read here that a virtuous woman wore very beautiful clothes. Is it a sin to wear beautiful clothes? A lot of Christians would make it out to be. Like the Quaker people, who say you have to wear black clothes all the time. God never said you had to wear black clothes all the time. If you want to wear black clothes all the time that is fine. The Bible does not say that wearing black clothes is a sin, but it is also not a sin to wear blue clothes, gray clothes, green clothes, etc. You can wear pretty clothes and that is fine. God wants you to be beautiful. A woman should want to be beautiful for her husband.

In First Corinthians chapter seven it says that the husband owns the wife's body, and if that be the case, if a woman deprives her husband of her beauty, she is actually sinning against her husband. That is why God gave the woman to the man.