Our small group is reading 1 Timothy. Got to Chapter 2 yesterday reading about how a church should be a praying church–oh, yes, and how women should dress with modesty before the Lord. The leader suggested that if Paul would have proof read what he wrote, he’d have deleted those couple of sentences. This same (male) leader often has suggested taking a black magic marker to parts of Paul’s instructions.
I had been contemplating that chapter and said that, on the contrary, Paul knew exactly what he was writing. I presume that men, much like through the 19th and much of the 20th centuries, wore pretty boring attire. We started changing by the 70s, but even there we went to khakis and polos rather than black suits, white shirts and ties.
But women–they were for adornment. In those New Testament times according to our resident historian, women displayed the family wealth. You knew the family was wealthy depending upon the amount of jewelery displayed. But I think even more than that, the focus became on the external person of the woman and not on her soul. We are all to be humble before God, but women can show it externally more than the average man when they are not.
I asked the group (rhetorically, of course, and understand that I’m the youngest one in the group), when you stand in front of the mirror getting prepared for church, are you thinking about how great you look or are you thinking about being humble before God.
My wife told me I wasn’t very uplifting to the women. I said, I’m a teacher not a motivational speaker. I want people to think. Is it all about them? Or is it all about God?
So, have I made you stop and think about why you dress as you do? If so, then I succeeded.
Faith Venture 
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