Culture vs. Dress

Q: Do you think that culture plays a role in what people wear and do? Should it? why or why not?

Don, 24, Florida, United States: Cultures do have a role in what we wear, but simplicity and modesty of dress is universal.

Beki, 27, Malaysia: Well, the way I have been brought up is that once you become a Christian, culture does not have a say in what you are because Christianity itself is a culture. . It is a way of life that we are called too. Like the Bible says, it is not possible to serve two masters. Either you will hate one and love the other, so when it comes to mixing Christianity and culture, personally, I would discourage it. This then brings me to the point of dress, I would say think of it this way: If you bumped into Jesus the way you are dressed would you be comfortable? And also, does the way I dress cause others to sin? If you can answer these two questions and remain with clear conscience then its okay.

Renaldo, 22, Brooklyn NY: Culture does and should play a role in one's mode of dress; however, there is a responsibility we have as Christians to dress appropriately and modestly. A young lady should not ware any piece of garment that is tasteless, unattractive, short, tight, and revealing; at the same token us young men must learn to keep our shirts on, especially those of us who work-out. Just a how a sister may "help" us to sin by their dressing, we also may "help" them sin by our lack of clothing....

Spink, 26, Honiara, Solomon Islands: I do agree that culture plays a lot of roles on young peoples dressing and what they do. But it shouldn't be a total influence on our lives. Let alone, that God should be our focus to what we wear and do.

Anonymous, 16, United States: I read the previous comments posted for this questions and one thing the answers have in common is that they all focus on visitors and non-members of the Adventist church. Don't get me wrong they are all great answers but none of them really focus on what we, as Adventists, not the visitors, should be wearing. The most common answer was that we should accept people as they are and not judge them based on their attire. That's true.

At the same time as Adventist [sic] we need to be introducing people to the Christian way of dressing. In our times it's hard to do because we ourselves are not following the Christian Dress code so how are we going witness to someone else about it. Sure culture plays a role in what people wear and do, that doesn't mean that we can use as an excuse to do whatever we want under the cover of "its part of my culture". People change/ignore certain aspect of their culture when they move to a new country or for a job; how much more should we be willing to change OUR culture and adapt God's culture. But anyway at the end it’s all about personal choice and how strong of a conscience you have.

Letang, 17, Gaborone, Botswana: I definitely think that culture does play a very important role in what most people do and wear today. However I think as Adventists our different cultures should not play a very major role in what we do, we should be more concerned on what God wants us to do and do His will. This is because some of our cultures may bind us to do things that God wouldn’t see as right.

Joe, 27, Kafue, Zambia: Yeah I reckon it does. We ought to understand that God created us uniquely. There is unity in our diversity. Culture is an identity. But we as Seventh-day Adventists have to be careful when it comes to visitors in our church. We have to accept each one as they are. This includes the way the dress, talk etc. Once the good news hits them, they will adopt the new Christian Seventh-day Adventist culture.

LaFranche, 16, Texas United States: Yes, I do think that culture plays in a role in what people do and say. It shouldn't but it does. For example, I know a girl who had dancing at her birthday party just because it was apart of her culture. She was an Adventist, too. I was sad when I heard that. People actually tried to justify that by saying that it was apart of her culture. These dance are provocative and I think that God isn't please to see His people do things that are of the world especially when they are suppose to put off the old man when they get baptized and enter into His church. I don't think God winks on that type of behavior.

Also, I know that Catholic rituals and traditions are apart of most Spanish cultures. Many people who are Spanish do not forsake those evil and idolatrous traditions because they say that they are apart their culture. So, basically, I think it is pretty obvious what I believe I was taught by God. If God is willing to accept any person despite their past, religion, race, and nationality, why shouldn't we fully accept Him despite our past, religion, race and nationality? Just ask yourself, would God participate in these traditions if He was of my race, background, or nationality despite His religion?


Reproduced in part from a Let’s Talk feature at http://letstalk.adventist.org/have_your_say/2006_05_18.html