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PROGRAM D-7282
Is it wrong for a Christian to dress fashionably? This topic has come up between Fran and her friends, Jeff and Lois.
They attended church together yesterday and after lunch a conversation ensued about the young woman who sang a solo. While Fran thought her outfit was a bit too short and somewhat distracting while she sang, she attributed it to today’s fashion scene. However Jeff made a comment that it was hard for a man to keep his mind on worship when a woman was on the platform dressed like that.
After Lois and Jeff left that afternoon, Fran gave it some more thought. “Women are not responsible for how men think,” she says out loud to herself. “They can’t blame us just because their minds wander so easily.” And she begins to feel a bit defensive about this Christian dress code idea.
Now it’s Monday morning and Fran decides to wear her new midnight blue suit. She loves it and she has an important presentation today, so it’s a good time to break it in. And as she puts it on she feels really—well—really pretty. As she zips up the skirt, her eye catches her reflection in the mirror. She realizes her new skirt is as short as the soloist’s in church yesterday.
That same uneasy feeling comes over her. “Fran, if her skirt was too short, what about yours?” That still, quiet voice of God’s Spirit is clear in her head.
“Lord,” Fran feels defensive, “it’s impossible to find anything these days that isn’t short. Besides, this is not nearly as short as some of them. What’s wrong with it anyway? I mean, what’s wrong with legs? We all have them!”
Fran’s reaction is a clear indication that she is convicted and trying to defend herself. She knows her reaction is wrong. However, she is not ready to admit defeat.
She remembers what Lois said—about godly women having higher standards of dress than other women. That doesn’t sit well with Fran.
“I don’t think just because you’re a Christian woman, you have to wear skirts to the floor and collars to your neck and look like a Pilgrim!” she hears herself say.
Fran recognizes that her reaction and the anger she feels about this issue is a sure indication that she’s under conviction from God’s Spirit. She knows she needs to take a step back and rethink all this, because when her spirit is this disturbed, something’s wrong.
But it’s time to go to work and she doesn’t give in that easily. So, she grabs her attaché and heads for the car with the kids. This whole issue of how a woman should dress really upsets her. Why? She wonders to herself. Why am I so bent out of shape over this?