I’ll never forget the moment that I was slapped in the face by the most fashion conscious city in America, Los Angeles. Near the end of my four years there, the city began to wear off on me. I started to “up my game.” Bought some nicer clothes, some flashier shirts, some tighter jeans. The usual. After a good amount of purchases, I thought I’d finally arrived. Then I made the fateful mistake of bringing my “best game” to a wedding. I arrived at the wedding, took one look around and realized I was still in the minor leagues. And not triple AAA minor leagues, we’re talking end of the bench on a single A minor league team. I looked like I had just crawled out from under the I-5 bridge compared to the rest of the crowd. Macy’s is just no match for Gucci or Armani.
Doubtless, a humiliating experience. And yet it was this event that I frequently come back to whenever I consider the topic of vanity. Over the past five years I have noticed something increasingly strange about ministers in my own age bracket (late millenials), especially in urban environments. That strange thing is the seemingly unquestioned assumption that dressing sharply (read: vainly) or with nice clothing is morally neutral.
This topic is infrequently broached among Christian men. If a woman draws attention to herself with her looks she is considered vain, immodest or even sexualized. And yet a guy who dresses stunningly is typically considered a “sharp dresser.” I think we should question this assumption.
While the Bible’s remarks about vanity are usually explicitly directed toward women, the principles apply across gender lines. So when Peter tells women, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes” (1 Peter 3:3), this is equally applicable to men.
Dressing vainly obscures the beauty of Christ within you. It draws attention to the external rather than the internal.
And yet, the essence of our savior is that of hidden beauty. “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire them” (Isaiah 53:2). Jesus was a hideous looking man. Perhaps his teeth were crooked. Maybe he had scoliosis. All speculation but the point is that he was not a good-looking man. Yet, there is a beauty in this. It means that those who were drawn to him were drawn to the Wellspring of Life, not trivial vanity.
Should it not be the same for us, brothers?
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