Should Priests Dress to ‘Kill’?

“TO HIM who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God the Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever” (Revelation 1:5- 6).“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2: 9).

Someone once asked, “Do the heirs of God, Christians, really know who they are?” Well, many know, but others may be unaware. Now, if you know that you are royalty of a glorious kingdom, you will not put on any indecent dress to worship particularly dance before your King. Will you? I believe that you will not.

Responsible princes, princesses, kings, queens and priests know their worth so they dress responsibly to cover their bodies. The ladies among them do not dress provocatively, exposing their body shapes to entice, seduce or tempt the gentlemen to lust after them. They refuse to be used by the devil as instruments for temptation to cause others to fall. Jesus Christ warned against those who cause others to fall into sin (Mark 9: 42).

These days Satan has been using many young women in the Church to dress seductively to tempt men to lust after them in their hearts. Those who fall into their traps actually commit sexual immorality with them. The irony is that some of the women may not even know that men lust after them. They may not also know that they are being used by the devil to spread the spirit of seduction to fight against the purity of the Church.

“You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5: 28).

Pay attention to the words, “Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent…” A man may mostly be tempted to commit this sin if the appearance of the woman he sees is sexually provocative. Demon-infested women intentionally dress lustfully to attract men. This is why genuine members of the kingdom of God must dress properly to cover their thighs, breasts (cleavage) and every sensitive part of their bodies.

We ought to know that a person's manner of dressing tells a lot about them. It is said that people address you by how you dress. In Proverbs 7: 10, Solomon saw a woman and called her a prostitute by how she was dressed. How do prostitutes dress? There are many prostitutes in Ghana and in many parts of the world, and we know how they dress. They wear gaudy garments, showy or short dresses that fit and expose their bodies for sexual attractions.

Unfortunately, many Christian sisters also dress this way and call it modern fashion. There is nothing like modern fashion prescribed in Scripture for Christians to adopt. As priests to God, we are not like others, and we are not called to dress to 'kill' as prostitutes do. We are called to save even through our dressing. It is surprising the number of Christian sisters who take pride in wearing sexy dresses.

Many smile when they are told they look sexy. They think they are celebrated and praised. But they do not realise that they are insulted. You must not smile, but weep when someone tells you that you are looking sexy in your dress unless you are a prostitute or immoral. The intention of dressing sexy is to attract and arouse men to come after you to sleep with you. That is why prostitutes dress sexy.

However, hardly will anyone see members of a respected kingdom dress as prostitutes. They dress decently and appropriately to honour and glorify their kingdom and the King who sits on the throne. Esther did not put on sexually suggestive apparel to entice King Ahasuerus to love and marry her. She simply won grace and favour in the sight of the King more than all the virgins (Esther 2: 17). That was because God was with her.

Truly, many people confess they are Christians, but they do not genuinely know who they are. If we know that we are royal priesthood to our God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, blessed with grace and favour, we will not dress indecently as the world does, but dress decently to please our holy King.

Henceforth, let our manner of dressing prove that we are sanctified priests to a holy and reverent God. Let us not dress to kill, but save in reverence to the Scripture which says, “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” (1Timothy 2: 9, NIV).

FROM James Quansah, Kumasi
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