Question: I have several questions to ask. The first one is, is it ok for women to wear jeans (both in worship and outside)? Is it ok for women to wear make-up? Is it ok for women to cut their hair? And is it ok to pierce your ears or any other body part (both male and female)?
Introduction:
1. Most of these questions are issues that seem to come from those in the Pentecostal church. Most of these questions seem to be things they feel very strongly about. There are a couple of good passages of scripture that shed light on this topic.
a. I Timothy 2:9-10, “in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety (shamefacedness, KJV) and moderation (sobriety, KJV), not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works.” NKJV
b. I Peter 3:3-4, “And let not your adornment be merely external-- braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.” NAS
c. Let’s notice a couple of things about these verses.
I. Modest Apparel.
A. The Christian is to dress:
1. Modestly (which means “orderly” or “well arranged”),
2. with Shamefacedness (means “a sense of shame or honor, bashfulness, reverence, regard for others, respect),
3. and with sobriety (means “soundness of mind, self-control, soberness”).
4. You can see from the definitions of these words the importance of a Christian in their dress.
B. Paul goes on in the passage in I Tim. 2 to describe more accurately what he is talking about.
1. He uses what we call a NOT— BUT statement.
2. This is a statement that shows in which area the emphasis is to be placed.
a. Let me give you an example. In John 6:27 Jesus says, “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you, for on Him the Father, even God, has set His seal."
b. Would you gather from this that someone could not work to feed himself physically?
c. Of course not, that would contradict other passages (II Thess. 3:10, “If a man will not work, neither let him eat.”)
d. What Jesus is saying is that the important thing is not physical food but the spiritual.
C. Jesus goes on to say a few verses later, “I am the bread of life.”
1. He is showing that eternal life comes through Him.
2. So the emphasis is placed on spiritual things. He is not saying it is wrong to work for physical food.
3. Now apply that to I Tim. 2 and I Peter 3.
a. It is not the braided hair, gold, pearls, costly clothing, jewelry, and the putting on of a dress that is important.
b. What is important is what is on the inside.
c. The contrast is between the outside and the inside of someone. It’s not what the look like on the outside that God is so interested in but what is on the inside.
d. It is the “hidden person of the heart” that is the most important. Paul and Peter are not saying that it is wrong to braid you hair, wear gold or pearls or jewelry. That is not the most important thing.
e. By the way, how many people who forbid wearing make-up, jeans, jewelry, and other things would say it is wrong to wear a dress?
1. That’s what Peter says!! If you are to take their position, Peter says that the external things, which include the wearing of dresses, cannot be done.
2. They teach just the reverse. They say that you can only wear dresses and no pants, right?
D. Jeans in worship.
1. I believe that worship is a time when we are to have our thoughts concentrating on God.
2. We sing praises to God and talk about spiritual things in our Bible Classes and in the lessons.
a. For the most part the way we dress has much to do with our attitude. I believe you are more likely to have a proper frame of mind for worship when you are dressed your best than when you are in a T-shirt and jeans.
b. Fortunately, this is more of my opinion than what we could quote from scripture. The important thing is that we worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).
c. With the right attitude and with the truth of His word. I don’t believe you can condemn someone to hell because he/she wears jeans but I also don’t believe it is a wise practice to start.
d. Usually when you get lax attitudes about one thing it isn’t too long before it goes to other matters of greater importance.
II. Earrings And Body Piercing.
A. Before we talk about some of these things it is important to understand that much of this has to do with customs that they had.
1. In Genesis 24:47 we have Abraham’s servant who puts a ring in her nose, prior to her getting married to Issac. Once again, this had to do with their customs.
2. In Job 42:11, “Then all his brothers, and all his sisters, and all who had known him before, came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a ring of gold.” KJV makes it clear that it was an earring. So we know that some men at least wore earrings.
3. Before Aaron made the golden calf, he said (Exodus 32:2-3), "Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.” So it was not a foreign idea for both woman and men to have earrings.
B. I remember when I was in high school (around 10 years ago) earrings for the guys were popular.
1. The reason they were popular was not because it was a custom or because it was part of our culture.
2. If you wore an earring on one particular side (I don’t remember which) it showed that you were a homosexual. If you wore it on the other side it meant you were promiscuous (immoral).
3. Now I don’t know what it is supposed to mean today but I do know where it all started. I would never do this (pierce my ear) myself or ever tell anyone it was a good idea based upon the above.
C. Body piercing is something relatively new.
1. There are many different degrees of this. Some want to pierce their belly buttons while others go way beyond anything imaginable.
a. For instance, one show had a woman who had her tongue split down the middle so it would resemble the split tongue of a snake. One man had spikes put into his scalp.
2. Paul said in Colossians 2:23, “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.” Our bodies are something special. It is not for our abuse or for us to do whatever we want to it. We must take care of it. It is wrong to purposely mistreat the body, either by immoral behavior, self-indulgence or mutilation.
3. Paul said in I Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
a. We are not our own, in that I follow my every desire. In the context of this passage, Paul is talking about immorality. But it holds true that whatever we do with our bodies should be to the glory of God.
b. Why? Because we have been bought with a price. Jesus died for our sins so that we could have the opportunity to go to heaven.
c. Is it in our best interest to mess up our bodies with immorality, body piercing, or any other thing that is harmful to it.
D. Why would anyone (especially who claimed to be a Christian) want to do this? Through all of this, we haven’t even mentioned our example.
1. Our example is one of the most important things that we have, to show the world who we are.
2. Could you imagine someone coming up to you who had their tongue pierced, their eyebrow pierced, and their belly button pierced (goes back to modesty. If you are going to wear an outfit short enough for all to see your piercing, you are immodest!) coming up to you and asking you for a Bible study!!.
3. Look at the following passages:
a. Philippians 3:17, “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.”
b. II Thess. 3:7-9, “For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we might not be a burden to any of you; not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, that you might follow our example.”
c. I Timothy 4:12, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.”
d. Titus 2:7-8, “in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 8sound in speech which is beyond reproach, in order that the opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.”
Conclusion:
1. We have a responsibility to be different from the world, but not to the point of binding our opinions on other people. If someone doesn’t want to wear make-up, cut their hair, wear jeans, etc., that’s fine. When they try to make that what the Bible says, that’s where there is a problem.
2. Those who pierce their ears aren’t doing anything different than any example we can find in the scriptures. Men who pierce their ears are doing so most likely out of rebellion or in an attempt to be accepted by more people. The true Christian would see a problem with that.
3. Those who are interested in body piercing are not doing anything that would benefit them spiritually. They are harming their influence and are basically trying to be more accepted by their peers.
4. We need to be very concerned with our example. We need to be concerned about how our actions affect other people. (I Thess. 5:21)
