What we wear says a lot about who we are.
I just received a prayer request regarding a grandchild attending a music class at her public school where a male teacher dresses in women's clothing. Isn't this what is called dressing up in "drag?"
I realize that "drag" in the vernacular usually refers to one who is dressing and acting for entertainment purposes—if that is what someone wants to watch for entertainment. However, this behavior is now being forced upon this generation as something acceptable, even promoted, so that young children are indoctrinated to believe it is normal behavior.
This was practiced by Greeks and Romans in past history. In a recent article on the internet titled, Tales of Times Forgotten: Making the Distant Past Relevant to the Present Day, Spencer McDaniel wrote, "children wearing drag was a religious obligation!" (see)
This author concludes the article:
"In reality, the ongoing right-wing moral panic about children and drag is a uniquely modern phenomenon arising from uniquely modern historical circumstances. For the vast majority of human history, this notion that it is inherently inappropriate for children to view or participate in any form of drag has simply not existed. The fact that the ancient Greeks had absolutely no problem with children viewing drag or participating in it themselves at least for certain religious occasions reminds us of this reality."
To be transparent, I did speed-read the article (not word for word) because I thought it was probably a diatribe against Christians. It is. This immediately brought to mind a verse of Scripture where Israel was strictly forbidden for individuals to dress in the garments intended for the opposite gender (cf. Deu 22:5). Since I do not have the mental capacity to recall tidbits of Bible "trivia" such as the prohibition against wearing garments of the opposite sex, to find this verse I ran a quick search of "garments" in Englishman's Concordance. What an eye-opener. There are 125 matches regarding the term, in 104 verses. Most have to do with the garments of priests to be worn in religious observances. These were to be sewn, cared for, and worn in special ways so as to reflect the holiness of God.
With this quick overview of two opposing views on proper dress, please follow my logic for a moment.
We now have at least one or two generations of Christians who believe that what a person wears doesn’t matter. A few years ago, while attending a religious service in a church, a former pastor approached me and criticized what I was wearing. I was wearing my usual church attire, a sports coat, dress shirt, dress pants, and a tie. I was told that I need to dress informally to be relevant to this present age. In other words, I had to stop dressing like I thought God wants me to dress and dress more like the world around me.
Forgive me for this leap. But wasn’t he saying the same thing as the person who wrote the above article regarding wearing drag? On the one hand, we are told we should not dress as we think God might want us to dress when we come into the public assembly to worship Him. On the other, we should dress like the world wants us to dress.
Now, before you turn me off, let me say, you and I have the right to choose what to wear to church. In fact, I believe we have an obligation to wear what we believe honors the Lord we serve. In fact, what others think should not be the standard of our dress. But let’s not be judging one another on the basis of dress.
Let’s also not be so hypocritical as to say that how the world chooses to dress is evil and that how we choose to dress is holy and righteous. Dress is not the issue. In fact, let me state it stronger. Stop making dress the issue. Remember, whatever we do, we need to “do all in the name of our Lord Jesus“ (Col 3:17). Also, “whatever is not from faith is sin“ (Rom 14:23).
To be sure, I am concerned about the youth of today. There is an ongoing push to bend their minds to things that categorically are evil. Satan has many angels of light who have committed themselves to spread his doctrines which destroy both mind and body (cf. 2 Cor 11:14-15). We need to speak up when it is God’s will for us to do so—but in a God-honoring way. God has not called us to judge the world. He will do that in His way and in His time. We need to shine the light of the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ as His servants and not be so anxious about what the world is doing. One thing we do learn from the above article is that Solomon was right. “There is nothing new under the sun.” (Eccl 1:9-10).
God has not called us to judge the world. That is His job. We must find a way to live in this world without becoming a part of the world ourselves. Paul wrote:
I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters; for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler — not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. (1 Cor 5:9-13)
Regarding our children and grandchildren being exposed to the things of the world, perhaps we need to view this as a teaching moment, not just by word but also by actions and attitude.