“Dark Devotions” Steve Messer
The Lord said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet, therefore the Lord will strike with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts.’
In a world obsessed with looking good and ‘dressing to impress’, it’s no surprise that there is a Christian equivalent. “We deserve to indulge in a guilty pleasure or two. So don’t feel bad about straying from your goals every once in awhile… embrace it: eat the cookie and buy the shoes”, purrs a seductive publicity blurb.
‘America’s #1 Christian Style’ coach teaches ‘how to look and feel your best, no matter what day it is or what the occasion…’ so you’ll never again need to scream at the top of your lungs, ‘Help me, Jesus! I have nothing to wear!’
The prophet Isaiah wrote to confront the decadent people of 8th century BC Jerusalem who had rebelled against Yahweh, their God. They had become a ‘sinful nation’, guilty of despising the Holy One of Israel, ‘utterly estranged’ (1:4). One example of this rebellion concerns Jerusalem’s ‘leading’ women, probably the wives of the city’s elite.
Isaiah 3:18-4:1 lists 21 fashion and beauty items that will be replaced by rottenness, roughness and public shaming when their owners meet Yahweh’s inevitable judgement.
The Bible never condemns outright dressing well or being concerned for personal appearance, in fact, it endorses it at times (e.g. Ruth 3:3; Ps 45:13-14; Ecc 9:8; Song 1:10-11; 4:9, 11; Mt 22:11-12). However, the women of Jerusalem
are condemned because the wealth that enables them to accessorise so flamboyantly has been gained through oppression of the poor, their obsession with glamour is out of all proportion with godliness and expresses arrogance
and lustful intent. So, Isaiah calls them back to living by God’s word before it’s too late, promising a future that includes putting on beautiful garments if they do (52:1; cf Rev 7:14; 21:2).
It is doubtful that any honest Australian Christian will ever need to scream, ‘Help me, Jesus! I have nothing to wear!’ given that we typically own 5 times more clothes than our grandparents had. Those saved through faith in Jesus can count themselves ‘clothed in his righteousness’ and should shun the worldly compromise represented in the quotes above, expressing contentment, gospel-shaped priorities and hearts made truly beautiful in Christ, even in the way they dress.
‘Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewellery, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet
spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious’ (1 Peter 3:3-4; see also Prov 31:30; 1 Tim 2:9-10).
1 Joyce Meyer, Eat the Cookies, Buy the Shoes: Giving Yourself Permission to Lighten Up.
2 Shari Braendel, Help Me Jesus! I Have Nothing to Wear!
3 Edward Mote, My Hope is Built (The Solid Rock). See 2 Cor 5:4; Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:9-10.