Does God judge a person by clothing?

[Cyber Dream]

I like to dress in gothic/cy goth style and people I meet seem to have a problem with it. I go all the way with it. Dark makeup, clothing, jewelry, and so on. I asked my pastor and he told me that clothing you wear and how you prsent yourself matters but that he felt I wasn't dressing in a sinful way in his opinion. He sees me outside of church and I never dress in an overtly sexual way.

What do you think?  

[911child]

I dont think your attire is bad, but if one were to wear sexual explicate clothing or clothing like that would be bad. True, the clothing you wear matters, but its not saying that God wants us to dress in designer outfits. If you feel your clothing is sinful in anyway you could always ask a pastor, or a church member as well as just change your outfit.  

[Cyber Dream]

911child

I dont think your attire is bad, but if one were to wear sexual explicate clothing or clothing like that would be bad. True, the clothing you wear matters, but its not saying that God wants us to dress in designer outfits. If you feel your clothing is sinful in anyway you could always ask a pastor, or a church member as well as just change your outfit.

I did ask my pastor. He said a lot but his response was pretty much the same as yours.

I don't really want to change my outfits because goth works for me and it would require a new wardrobe.  

[911child]

Cyber Dream

911child

I dont think your attire is bad, but if one were to wear sexual explicate clothing or clothing like that would be bad. True, the clothing you wear matters, but its not saying that God wants us to dress in designer outfits. If you feel your clothing is sinful in anyway you could always ask a pastor, or a church member as well as just change your outfit.

I did ask my pastor. He said a lot but his response was pretty much the same as yours.

I don't really want to change my outfits because goth works for me and it would require a new wardrobe.

Well no matter what you wear, just make sure you can praise God one way or another. Myself, i like to have shirts with crosses on it, but i dont have alot. Though i do have a bracelet that has crosses on it.  

[Cyber Dream]

911child

Cyber Dream

911child

I dont think your attire is bad, but if one were to wear sexual explicate clothing or clothing like that would be bad. True, the clothing you wear matters, but its not saying that God wants us to dress in designer outfits. If you feel your clothing is sinful in anyway you could always ask a pastor, or a church member as well as just change your outfit.

I did ask my pastor. He said a lot but his response was pretty much the same as yours.

I don't really want to change my outfits because goth works for me and it would require a new wardrobe.

Well no matter what you wear, just make sure you can praise God one way or another. Myself, i like to have shirts with crosses on it, but i dont have alot. Though i do have a bracelet that has crosses on it.

The only symbols I wear are crosses, hearts, and other posative things. No skulls or anything like that. They mostly give me a hard time about wearing all black.  

[911child]

Cyber Dream

911child

Cyber Dream

911child

I dont think your attire is bad, but if one were to wear sexual explicate clothing or clothing like that would be bad. True, the clothing you wear matters, but its not saying that God wants us to dress in designer outfits. If you feel your clothing is sinful in anyway you could always ask a pastor, or a church member as well as just change your outfit.

I did ask my pastor. He said a lot but his response was pretty much the same as yours.

I don't really want to change my outfits because goth works for me and it would require a new wardrobe.

Well no matter what you wear, just make sure you can praise God one way or another. Myself, i like to have shirts with crosses on it, but i dont have alot. Though i do have a bracelet that has crosses on it.

The only symbols I wear are crosses, hearts, and other posative things. No skulls or anything like that. They mostly give me a hard time about wearing all black.

Well, non believers and some believers will find ways to make our lives hard, Just ignore them and focus on God.  

[real eyes realize]

Dressing in black isn't sinful to God; he himself is surrounded by darkness / "dressed in black" you could say (Psalm 97:2) and at Mt. Sinai his presence was marked by black clouds and deep darkness as well (Exodus 20:21; Deuteronomy 4:11-12). To the Israelites too, that was a very off-putting image; they were terrified of the voice speaking from the thick darkness and fire (Deuteronomy 18:16). Humans just tend to have this impulsive reaction to all things dark and mysterious. It doesn't help that there are very few positive associations for "black" and "darkness" in society, in entertainment, in nature and even in scripture (the few I already mentioned are the only ones that come to mind).

For the most part, scripture uses black/darkness in association with the day of God's judgment, famine/severe hunger, death, gloom, to depict "lost" people who haven't come to "the light" and are still enslaved to sin (Joel 2:1-2; Lamentations 4:8-10; 1 John 1:5-7; 2 Peter 2:17-20). And society shares those views to some extent. So, it's understandable why the color, especially in overwhelming amounts, would incite that kind of response from people, but it shouldn't be coming from fellow Christians who are told to look beyond appearance and at the heart of people (1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Peter 3:3-4). Now that I mention 1 Peter 3:3-4, perhaps that may be how these fellow believers are viewing you: they might feel as if you're placing too much importance on appearance. But at the end of the day, as long as you know you're doing it for modesty's sake and not beauty, it doesn't matter what they think.

The only time YHWH ever judged someone (like full-on smite-down) for what they chose to wear was in Zephaniah:

Quote:

Zephaniah 1:8 (NIV)

"On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all those clad in foreign clothes."

It must be referring to an outward manifestation of what they were treasuring in their hearts (foreign idols or reliance on political/military allies instead of God), since we know the form of a thing isn't the real issue. Maybe they were treasuring the foreign customs more than God himself? Something else to be wary of: if you find yourself feeling "enslaved" by a particular fashion, as if it holds your identity and defines who you are, you might want to reassess what you're actually holding in esteem. Your identity as a child of God should pull stronger than any physical sign/decoration. But, to reiterate, it's not a sin to dress in all black.  

[Aquatic_blue]

This is generally a highly debatable and an interesting topic when it comes up. I've put a lot of thought into this topic before and may not have all of it down, but what I think is that people have the free will to dress however they like. However, as a believer in God - there are certain ways we probably should not dress.

In the Bible, there were certain dresses people were told not to do. Although, I believe this strictly applied to that time:

1 Timothy 2:9 - 10 NIV:

I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

Elaborate hairstyles or in some cases, I think this says "braided". At this point in time, prostitution was used by the government and prostitutes generally wore their hair in a certain manner and wore certain clothes. These women also probably dressed this way for worldly attention - not for God's attention. This isn't an "absolute" that goes on forever. If a person dresses like a prostitute in real life - they will be seen as one. If a woman shows her cleavage, and wears a tight outfit that may be short, revealing, or displaying chains, buckles, or zippers in way to be purposefully provocative to lure in customers. Some women dress in such a way to lure in guys. I'm not saying that guys don't do this, it does happen and it isn't seen as commonly as it is in women.

I believe that no one should dress in such a way that it causes another person to stumble:

1 Corinthians 8:13 NIV:

Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.

The Bible clearly demonstrates that we shouldn't cause others to fall. It isn't only food, drink, what we watch on tv, etc. I'm sure this also concerns what we wear.

There are stereotypes in this world. It's generally assumed that the attitude comes along with the clothes the person wears. In the world of stereotypes - if a person dresses like a cheerleader, then they must be a cheerleader and have an attitude that is arrogant, stubborn, and snobby. Even though every cheerleader on this planet probably isn't that way. Human stereotypes can affect the way people think about us in what we dress. So we need to keep that in mind.

Since you enjoy the gothic type style, there will be stereotype thinkers that will assume that you enjoy death and are fascinated with it so you embrace death. That may not even be the case at all.

I've heard some Christians say it's unacceptable attire because it's dark - although, I don't agree with it because I enjoy dark colored clothes for the fact that they don't get so easily ruined due to stains. Generally, if a stain gets on a black shirt - it's not a huge deal unless the stain is a bright color. I enjoy wearing darker colors. I suppose part of it is because I can throw all my darks in one load and not have to worry about separating colors. Laundry is done a lot quicker razz

That's different that's it's the color most are concerned about. If they were making such a fuss, I would be assuming that you were wearing skulls, pentagrams, or things of that nature. Although, I don't support wearing pentagrams, I don't think it's the worst thing to wear skulls. I know some Christians that see skulls and say, "Ew, how evil." I'm not sure how it is evil exactly other than a skull generally resembles death or danger. It's good that you wear positive jewelry.

If it's the black/dark colors people are concerned about and you aren't wearing anything that should exactly raise question then you should be fine wearing what you are now.

I will say that in this world what a person wears makes a difference. I used to wear sweat pants and a comfy t-shirt everywhere I went because one, I had been incredibly lazy. Two, I didn't feel good a lot of the time. Three, I didn't feel good about myself. Four, I did it to annoy my mom because she always wanted me to dress in what was "in"; what was "fashionable; what everyone else was wearing. I hated that - I liked my own style. I realized after a few years of wearing mostly sweat pants and a comfy t-shirt that people would always assume I just woke up or that I had recently gone to work out. I didn't think that was too bad and noticed that people I got to know would tell me they notice I'm treated differently when I'm wearing sweatpants than when I wear jeans. So, I made the effort to dress better.

Also, I've met people who assume that if a person doesn't dress well that they must not feel good about themselves. Sometimes true, and other times not true because they don't care what others think about them. I noticed that when I tried to dress not in sweatpants wherever I went - I was treated differently. People would treat me better and not like I was a slob or lazy or a workout fanatic. I'll wear sweatpants out once in a while, but not all the time. I will wear jeans and a t-shirt, which is a bit better and if I need to dress nice - I will do so. How we dress will affect the way people treat us - unfortunately. Stereotypes are that way =/  

[StrongGirlBong-Soon]

I don't think God judges us by what we wear as long as we aren't purposefully trying to be sexually explicit or wear something that says something blasphemous. I like to wear random odd outfits just because that's who I am. Depends on my mood as to what I'm wearing. Don't trip and just be you. God loves variety or he would've made us all the same. biggrin
Peace and blessings.  

[Biblical_Counselor]

I believe that whatever we wear is a reflection of the heart. Yes, clothing is important that we should not wear anything that could cause someone else to stumble. I believe that God doesn't judge by clothing alone, but He judges the heart. In Psalms, it says that He tries the reins, which means that He knows what our emotions and motives are. Are they true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.  

[Servant Reborn]

What's Goth? I only know the tribes, and I don't know what modern Goth really means apart from architecture. sweatdrop  

[Rednal]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_fashion  

[Souijji]

God does not judge by outward appearance. He does however ask us to keep ourselves "unspotted from the world" Meaning that we should hold to a higher standard. Making yourself reach for something better makes you more like God, thus less apt to fall into the traps of the devil.  

[Aquatic_blue]

Personally, I don't believe that God judges a person by clothing in certain instances. By this I mean, the reason you wear the clothes you do. Are you wearing these clothes in rebellion against something that is for God? Are you wearing these clothes in order to tempt others? Are you wearing these clothes for a reason that God would not like?

However, keep in mind that how you dress in society will affect the way people think about you. This is inevitable, it happens to everyone. Some people even get labeled with stereotypes because of their clothing choice. For example "goth" is a stereotype by the clothes you wear so some people would label you as such.

Edit: I apologize o.o I didn't realize I had posted to this before quite a bit ago. Ignore this post if you need >_<  

[Skinny Legend]

Servant Reborn

What's Goth? I only know the tribes, and I don't know what modern Goth really means apart from architecture. sweatdrop

A gothic person os usually defined as somone who appreciates the darker side of lifeor embrace it,that is the whole umbrella of it. its can be a view on life,lifestyle,can also be a music genre (rock,metal,sad etc) the fashion sense is all black(basically),some goths may have chains,spike collars,colored hair,crosses,bones,skulls,necklaces (or things part of that nature,most goths get creative with accessories)not every type of gothic style is the same (their can be levels to it,as in like going easy and then like going Hardcore)but some people see goths as satan worshippers even though being dressing in a gothic way doesn't really effect your religious views but its just seen like that to some people since black is considered a dark color,perhaps reminding some of death and sad things,leading SOME people to the idea that a gothic person is more likely a satan worshiper OR a depressing person