A Response to “Anonymous”

I received several “Anonymous” comments and I wanted to address one of them here.  This response is not solely for this particular commenter, but likely encompasses all of them.  You can read the posts and comments I am referring to here and here and here

1 Samuel 16:7 says, "But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

The heart is what God sees. Yes, be respectful in the way you dress (for example) but also respect those who may not be convicted the same way you are. Don't just assume what someone's heart is like based on their appearance.

I know what you are trying to say in your posts, but the line that you said in your first post about this comment saying, "if Jesus walked into any one of the many churches, even in my own city, His first thought might actually be, ‘wow, they are doing so awesome, look at all the hookers and prostitutes here.'" I cringed at this statement. First of all because it is wrong to even say what you THINK Jesus would say, secondly because going off of the verse above (1 Samuel 16:7) God looks at the heart not the outward appearance and thirdly because Jesus LOVED the prostitutes! He did not love their sin, but he LOVED them.
So just think about that. If our God looks at the heart and not the outward appearance, shouldn't we do the same?

Thank you for your response. I agree, that in my zealousness, to presume what Jesus might think is inappropriate. I am firmly convicted to not add anything to the Word of God and would not want be the one to presume to know what “Jesus would say or think”. That was not my intention. Perhaps it was sloppy zealousness.

I am not saying He would say that, nor am I saying that because they dress like prostitutes that they are indeed prostitutes. I was talking about appearances. Nor was I saying that their heart should be judged and that they are not loved, by Him or by us. They need teaching and correction, which is the subject of another post. Who should teach them???!!!  Perhaps us ‘older’ women??? Which, by the way, is sort of what this is!

. . . the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— ⁴ that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. (Titus 2:3-5)

. . . in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, ¹⁰ but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. (1 Tim. 2:8-10)

I think my point is getting missed here. I am simply talking about common sense. It really doesn’t take an Einstein or some deep conviction to dress in an appropriate way. I am absolutely not talking about hair length, ‘dresses only’ or tattoos, etc. I am simply saying that it is not right, for the believer, to dress in such a way that exposes vast amounts of body (and likely causing others to stumble) in the name of fashion or freedom.

I am not judging someone’s heart by the way they dress. I am simply pointing out that immodest dress is inappropriate for the believer and it shouldn’t need some deep conviction to correct it. One look in the mirror and the question, ‘am I presenting myself in a way that represents a pure and holy God?’ is all it really takes.  Or, ‘Lord Jesus, You are LORD of my life, does the way I dress reflect You?’ Yes, that might look different for everyone, but again, skirts that expose upper thighs and tops that expose cleavage seem to cross that line. It is not that hard to figure out.

And absolutely yes, If our God looks at the heart and not the outward appearance, shouldn't we do the same. But here’s the rub. We live in a society that does indeed place high value on appearances and you simply cannot deny that the way one looks, dresses and behaves really does go a long way in expressing what may or may not be in there heart.

Again, I am not judging the person, I am simply pointing out the Truth. If I see someone rob a bank, I am going to tell them that stealing is wrong. If someone (a believer)  is dressed like a ‘hooker’, I think someone should tell them so,  and they actually should want to correct that. Not claim their heart is judged.  And, if one resists the correction, refusing to take it to the Lord and the Word, then yes, perhaps the heart is not exactly in the right place. 

I don’t know how to make it any clearer that just because sin is pointed out does not mean the person’s heart is being ‘judged’ nor the person pointing it out is somehow making some unloving and ungodly judgment of the person’s heart.  My point is really just to get the Church (including MYSELF!!) to stop and evaluate the way we act and dress and live our lives.