What not to wear.
by Bill Blair on 12/03/08 at 8:45 am
One night in my personal evangelism class we engaged in one of those great rabbit-trail discussions that totally gets off topic. It all started while we were discussing points from one of the chapters in The Soul Winner by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. The beginning point was Spurgeon’s insistence that preachers should posses a holiness of character in order to win souls. Holiness of character soon turned into holiness of dress for preachers. There was a brief, but interesting discussion regarding how preachers should dress and present themselves when they preach the Word.
My classmate who brought it up was of the opinion that preachers have gotten way too lax in their dress, and that they are not presenting any reverence when they dress too casual. In some ways I agree with him, but I think it varies from person to person, church to church, and culture to culture as to what represents reverent dress. I think the main thing is that you don’t want to look like a slob and don’t care.
I think most would agree that we don’t want to see pastors wearing gym shorts and a holey (not holy) t-shirts when they preach, but what about the average Christian when they practice personal evangelism or ministry? Can a person’s dress and hygiene affect their witness? I think how the average Christian dresses and presents himself on a daily basis is just as important as that of a pastor who preaches on Sunday.
I currently work as a home-builder in a small business, and one thing I have learned is that you always have to be ready to talk to potential clients. I typically do management work, but there are times when I have been forced to get out and do manual labor to get a job done. One time I had to install some landscaping on a house that I had for sale so I dressed in comfortable clothes that were not of great appearance. Of course people began to show up wanting to see the house while I am digging in the mud with some ratty looking clothes on. I felt very embarrassed. I did not expect to have to become a salesman that day, but I ended up having to be one. It was not so much that I was digging in the mud, but that my clothes made me look lousy. The truth is that I was not representing myself or my company very well because of how I was dressed.
I think that as Christians, we need to always try to present ourselves in the best way possible. This goes for external things like our clothes and hygiene as well as internal things like our character. There can be opportunities to present the gospel every time we walk out the door. Make sure you are ready at all times to step up and represent Christ with your best.
Take pride in both your character and your appearance. Don’t let anything get in the way of the gospel. Take a shower or a bath so that you are clean. I will leave you with one question to think about regarding this.
How can your witness to someone be effective if they don’t want to get close to you because you stink?
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