"Straining a gnat, gulping a camel."

Trends found in the global apparel industry focusing on child and forced labor in the cotton production. free2work.org

When you think about all you know about clothes in the eyes of the church what comes to mind?

Immediately, I think: Modesty. I can recall a moment sitting down in a store with my mom when I was a little girl, I am thinking maybe 9 or 10, I was sitting with my knees up and my arms strapped around my legs. A man came up to me and told me the way I was sitting was inappropriate and was sending the wrong message to men, he went on to tell me about his sons and how he had expectations for their future wife and the way they should dress. He told me men would respect me more if I didn't wear short shorts and dressed more modestly.

I can already hear the Pharisees reading this on the other end saying "What was her mama doing letting her wear short shorts?!" And I would say the same message this entire blog entry is meant to communicate is that we are missing the point people! First of all, to be clear, I was an innocent child and completely unprepared for the conversation this man was trying to give to me. Second of all, that message he presented to me that day left an uneasy feeling then, and has re-presented itself to me all throughout adolescence, continuing to sour the taste of judgmental and condemning Christians eager to "slut-shame" young women into fear and insecurity. The Western culture being a fear-driven culture is another conversation for another time, so let's get to the point.

Why are we so concerned about WHAT we are wearing and what message it is sending when there are bigger elephants in the room? Like for instance, how much are we spending on the clothes we are wearing and how consumed have we become with keeping up with public opinion? Have we forgotten Jesus' message about cleaning the inside rather than spit-polishing the outside? And since when has "fashion" become a luxury at the expense of the sweat and blood patterned into the clothes on our backs at a child or slaves despair?  Or how Jesus told us time and time again to clothe the naked and quit showing partiality to the well-to-do.  This is not meant to be a Bible slam, this is meant to emphasize the messages Jesus so clearly presented in the gospel, through His life and the life He called His followers to live.





I am angry because these messages were not communicated to me growing up in the church. If anything, I was told the opposite. "Wear your Sunday best so you can give God your best." As if Jesus didn't come to this earth to continually flip the norms and values of society completely upside down and bring a radical message that says, "Hey, you there in the rags, the one every one else counted as worthless and insignificant, the one every one else avoided, I have got a special place in the kingdom for you (James 2:5-6)."  Because in God's economy, the poor are exalted and the rich are humbled (James 1: 9-10).

And in His design, a God who says He wants Oceans of Justice and Rivers of Fairness (Amos 5:24) , we do not prosper at the expense of human suffering, and we surely do not swim in a parade of stained gold and silver. We are talking about a King who came into this earth to be clothed in rags, we are taking about God in the flesh who did not have a place of His own to rest His head, we are speaking of a Savior who spent His whole life approaching the people we are too busy avoiding. How have we come so far people?

Can we at least start somewhere small? Small but significant. Can we change the conversation? Can we begin examining our own motives and locate ourselves in relation to the global picture?

I am in this boat too, which is why I am so passionate. I don't want to live blindly anymore, I want to re-present the way Jesus lived.

Can we do ourselves and humanity a favor and just look at the way Jesus lived His life a little more closer?

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