To
conclude our series on Church service etiquette, we ask as an
audience, “How are we to dress?” While we find no strictly
outlined dress code in the Bible, we are given some instruction in 1
Timothy 2:8-9.
“I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy
hands, without wrath and doubting. In like manner also, that women
adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety;
not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;”
We
are told to dress modestly, which means our clothing should not be
revealing or such that it gets attention for the wrong reasons.
However we often find this ignored in the Church service. Many of the
clothes we see in the Church today do not cover enough of the
wearer’s body to be considered “modest.” Many of the popular
clothes worn to services would not even pass public school dress code
regulations. If what you are wearing would not even pass the dress
code of a public institution which has outlawed teaching the Bible,
should you be wearing it to Church? No.
We
consider the Church a safe environment, but we are not immune to
temptations even then. “But I
say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath
committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (Matt
5:28). Are the clothes we are wearing in the Church services causing
another to lust? We are not to lust after another person, nor are we
to encourage another person to lust after us. As a blunt message to
young women, the more skin you are showing, the more likely you are
being lusted after. Do not encourage this on purpose. Satan wants to
distract us during the worship service, and sometimes this distraction
appears as a revealing little black dress.
Most
young people are quick to ignore this topic. They ignore the lessons
and articles on the subject because they just claim there’s nothing
wrong, fashion and style have just evolved over the years, and they
think the Bible should catch up to the times. The Bible does not need
to catch up to modern times. The modern times need to get back to the
Bible. As Christians we are a peculiar people (1 Pet 2:9). As we are
not to talk and act like the world, we should not look like the world
either. Just because something is in style and popular it does not
mean it is right. Remember, the majority of the world is headed down
the path of destruction.
Sometimes
due to work and other obligations or circumstances, we are forced to
attend services without much choice of what to wear. If you have to
come into Church wearing your work clothes because you can only take
an hour and a half off to attend or have to come straight from work,
that is completely understandable. Everyone is just thankful you have
the opportunity to attend. What about those of us who have the time to
choose and control our attire?
There
has been debate about what is acceptable to wear to Church services.
Unlike many “denominations” we have no formal “dress code”. We
know that we are to dress modestly, and this goes for both males and
females. A good question to ask yourself when choosing your attire for
Church services is “Would you wear it to a funeral?”
Every
Sunday morning is a funeral. We come together and partake of the
Lord’s Supper all in remembrance of Jesus’ death. Every Sunday
morning is a memorial for Jesus, and we should dress accordingly. Is
what you wear in the services something you would wear to a visitation
or funeral? I’ve never seen a male at a visitation or funeral
wearing plaid shorts and flip-flops, or a female leaning over the
casket in a strapless dress with a slit up to there. Yet we find this
to the left and right of us in the pew on Sunday morning. We
wouldn’t walk into a funeral home wearing jeans with holes
everywhere in them and a baggy T-shirt, so we shouldn’t walk into
Church on Sunday morning dressed similarly. Some of us dress more like
we are going to a fraternity party than a Church service.
We
often ask the question, if Jesus were to come to our house for lunch,
would we have to hide some magazines, movies, and then dust off the
Bible? Now, what if we were going to Jesus’ house for lunch? What
would you wear? If we were going to Jesus’ house, we would all dress
modestly and respectfully. On Sunday mornings are we not in the
presence of the Lord? I’m not saying that females need to wear a nun
habit and that males need to wear a tuxedo. But when God is among us
in the Church service and he looks down on us, he doesn’t want to
see boxers and bra straps. God wants to see us dressed modestly,
worshipping in the proper mindset.
QUESTION: In Exodus 20:13 the
sixth of the Ten Commandments is given, “Thou
shall not kill.” Why did the Children of Israel kill so much
after that commandment was given to take the land?
The command to not kill (Exo
20:13) was a command that forbade the killing of a fellow human being,
and the command was to be strictly carried out in civilian life.
Notice the way it, along with other human relationship commands, was
repeated by the Apostle Paul and then these collectively were
summarized with the command, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Rom 13:9)
Love would prohibit murder just as it would stealing, etc.
However,
this command to not kill carried with it a penalty that the one who
kills must in turn be killed. “He
that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.”(Exo 21:12) “And he that killeth any man shall surely be put
to death.” (Lev 24:17) The first killing would be murder. The
second killing, unlike murder, was the carrying out of God’s
judgment.
This
“death penalty” was to be carried out not only for murder but for
other sins of a serious nature as well. Notice for example, in
Leviticus 20, that starting with verse 2 and then going on to verses 9
through 16 they were commanded to kill a fellow human.
“Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he
be of the children of Israel, or of the
strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any
of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people
of the land shall stone him with stones.” (Lev 20:2)
“For every one that curseth his
father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his
father or his mother; his blood shall be
upon him.
And the man that committeth
adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery
with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall
surely be put to death.
And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his
father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their
blood shall be
upon them.
And if a man lie with his
daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have
wrought confusion; their blood shall
be upon them.
If a man also lie with mankind,
as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination:
they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be
upon them.
And if a man take a wife and her
mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire,
both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
And if a man lie with a beast, he
shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
And if a woman approach unto any
beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast:
they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be
upon them.” (Lev
20:9-16)
Again,
in each of these, such a killing would not be murder but would be the
carrying out of God’s judgment on the person because of his sin.
We
must note also that God brought judgments of a much lesser degree on
many whose sins were of less serious nature as is seen in the
remaining part of that same chapter, Leviticus 20.
In
all of these we can observe personal sin and then God’s judgment on
that individual. In other situations, we see God’s judgment on
entire cities or nations. In some of these God brought the judgment
directly, that is without using or involving His people. The flood in
Noah’s day, the destruction of
Sodom
and
Gomorrah
, etcetera would be examples in which God brought judgment directly
with no human being used in the process. Humans were used to warn but
not to carry out judgment.
Many
times God did the same in His judgments on individuals. Such would be
the case with
Lot
’s wife (Gen 19:26) or Uzzah (2 Sam 6:7) and many others. Again,
this is God’s judgment with no people involved in carrying it out.
However,
in the case of Israel taking the land, God was going to use people,
His people, to accomplish both His judgment on these sinful nations
and His promise to Abraham to give them this land. God was their (
Israel
’s) King.
“And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule
over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over
you.”
(Judges 8:23)
“And
when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against
you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the
LORD your God was your king.”(1
Sam 12:12)
He
ordered battles, ordered the killing. He would carry out His judgment
using His people. The people followed through and in turn did the
killing as per God’s command. If they did not kill as God had
commanded them, God would in turn hold them accountable for not
carrying out His judgment as He had directed them. Observe 1 Samuel
15:2-3,
“Thus
saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel,
how he laid wait for
him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they
have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and
suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”
Saul,
for his own reasons, spared the king (vs. 8-9). Now notices verses 18
and 19.
“And
the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy
the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be
consumed.Wherefore then
didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the
spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?” (1 Sam 15:
18-19)
Notice
also the severity of God’s judgment on Saul for his disobedience.
“And Samuel said, Hath the
LORD as great
delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice
of the LORD? Behold, to obey is
better than sacrifice, and
to hearken than the fat of rams. For
rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is
as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word
of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being
king.” (1 Sam 15:22-23)
This
is the pattern in God giving
Israel
the land. He commanded the destruction of these nations. The people
of
Israel
carried out the instruction. This, then, was God’s judgment on
these people, these nations.
Observe
that from God’s perspective, these people’s sins (as in Noah’s
time) were so great that God destroyed them. Notice too, that until
such a time, God spared them. Ponder Genesis 15:16, “But
in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the
iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” Notice in verse 18 that He would
give the land, not to Abraham, but to Abraham’s descendants, one
reason being that the iniquity of these Amorites was not yet at that
extreme point that His judgment, His wrath must destroy them.After 400 years it would have become too great for God to
tolerate them any longer. At that point He would give the land to
Israel
, destroying the Amorites. This accomplished, it was God’s judgment;
it was killing, yet not considered murder as forbidden in Exodus
20:13.
Coming
to the New Covenant under Christ, we are commanded to leave judgment
to the Lord. He, not we, will repay.(Romans 12:17-21) We are commanded to never render evil for
evil to anyone. “See that none
render evil for evil unto any man;
but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.”
(1 Thess 5:15) Though a certain judgment must be carried out within
the body
of believers as stated in 1 Corinthians 5, it is far different from
the death penalty carried out under the Old Covenant.
Furthermore,
the command to take the land was for God’s people who at the time
were a nation, whereas God’s people today in Christ, are “of
all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” (Rev 7:9)
and our “promised land” is eternal in the heavens. Observe the
following verses.
“For we know that if our
earthly house of this
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2
Cor 5:1)
“Let us therefore fear, lest,
a promise being left us
of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of
it” (Heb
4:1).
“Wherefore we
receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby
we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:” (Heb 12:28)
Also,
today, though God does not use His people to execute His judgments, He
does continue to use civil governments as His “avenger”:
“For
he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which
is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is
the minister of God, a revenger to execute
wrath upon him that doeth evil.”
(Rom 13:4)
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