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Does This Pagan Holiday Reveal Our Culture’s Addiction to the Occult?

April 28, 2017 in Culture

by Ron Allen | These amazing connections between Babylon,

Pope Francis visits Egypt to promote ‘unity and fraternity’

April 28, 2017 in Latest News, Culture

by Catherine MARCIANO |Cairo (AFP) | He will later meet Muslim and Christian leaders before visiting

Daily Life in Uganda

April 21, 2017 in Christian Life, Culture

by Steven Hoyt | I must be honest, quite often I hold this all in struggling to look up to the Lord for answers. I want to scream at Him with serious accusations. Attacked by the devastating pain that inundates all of my five senses, if ones soul can be […]

Bayeke Bahleke (Let Them Laugh) Lyrics by Zaza

December 1, 2016 in Culture, Gospel

Lyrics by Zaza (Sung in Zulu) | Reach Zaz via Facebook Bayeke bahleke (Let them laugh) Bayeke bajabule (Let them rejoice) Ngoba

ECWA FOUNDERS’ WEEK 2017: Nov. 28 to Dec. 4, 2016

November 28, 2016 in Ministry, Culture, Campus

by Sunday Bwanhot, ECWA Chicago, Connect via

How To “Church Shop” When You Move To A New City

September 5, 2016 in Connecting....., Christian Life, Culture, Spiritual Warfare

by Blair Lamb Decide what you’re

5 Reasons Why Many Christians Are Broke

June 3, 2016 in Culture, Christian Life

by Kyle T. Miller | Many Christians who are lazy, disobedient and unforgiving are broke. (Flickr) The

If God Is Just, Why All This Suffering?

April 18, 2016 in Woman, Culture, Spiritual Warfare, Justice

Bethany Hanke Hoang and Kristen Deede Johnson | Holding God's goodness and the world's pain in

Teaching Kids to Love Reading

April 15, 2016 in Connecting....., Our Youth….the future, Book Review, Culture, Education

Randall Beach | Reading is an opening to selfhood but also to citizenship David Denby (pictured

Before becoming a PhD candidate at Fuller Theological Seminary, I served for 12 years at a church in Long Beach, California. A number of my congregants worked in the fashion industry. From them I learned that programs on fashion—fashion design, merchandising, and a body of literature called fashion theory—were popping up all over. When I looked for a Christian response to the fashion industry, I didn’t find anything. There are books on Christianity and film, Christianity and literature, Christianity and psychology, but I couldn’t find anything on Christianity and fashion. Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper famously said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’ ” Like Kuyper, I want to understand every aspect of human life in relationship to Christ. This set me on a quest to understand the fashion industry and emerging fashion studies. The Bible doesn’t directly address fashion, which today refers to the rapid interplay of clothing in consumer societies. But the Bible has a surprising amount to say about clothing. Right from the beginning, after the Fall, Adam and Eve became aware of being “undressed.” Then God provides for them in their nakedness. Theologians call this a protoevangelium—literally a “first gospel.” The gift of clothing reveals a God who meets us in our shameful, sinful condition and covers us through a sacrificial death. Clothing takes on special significance in the story of Joseph; in the way the prophets Samuel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah delivered their message; and at the Transfiguration, where Jesus appeared in clothing that “became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them” (Mark 9:3). Luke 12:27–28 tells us God dresses the flowers of the field, more splendorous than Solomon in his fine dress. If that is how God clothes the fields, how much more does he care about clothing us? Modesty is not the locus of biblical teaching on clothing. The Bible also addresses modesty, and therefore, we must seriously consider it. But modesty is not the locus of biblical teaching on clothing. After all, Esther won a beauty contest to rescue her people. Conversely, any of us can wear modest clothing and still lack the generosity that Paul puts forward as the end game of modesty (1 Tim. 2). So here’s a test to see if we are practicing biblical modesty: Do we reserve resources to bless those less fortunate? Or do we spend all of our resources on ourselves? Further, as we are obligated to care for others, we might spend more money on high-quality clothes, as cheap clothing notoriously relies on sweatshops and child labor. And consider the elaborate nature of the priestly clothing detailed in Exodus 28; the celebrated gold-laced bridal gown in Psalm 45:13–14; and the Proverbs 31 woman, who dresses her household in scarlet. From these and other texts, we learn that the Christian story embraces the festive, fine, and elaborate dress associated with fashion. To truly engage fashion as Christians, we need to move beyond explicit verses about dress and examine the underlying values that are reinforced by fashion. Some of these values are good. It is no accident that modern fashion has arisen alongside suffrage and other aspects of democracy. The two cities known best for fashion—New York and Paris—are major cities in countries that have had powerful democratic revolutions. If we all get to choose what to wear, we are already practicing a form of voting for the public decorum. But not all values put forth by fashion are reconcilable with Christianity. One of the parasites that feeds and fuels fashion is late-modern expressionism. I’m talking here not about the value of expressing yourself, but about making self-expression into an entire way of life. As Catholic philosopher Charles Taylor pointed out, self-expression has become the highest good for many people, pursued with a religious zeal. This new form of late-modern Romanticism teaches us that to not “follow your heart” is to diminish our humanity. Clearly such expressionism is at odds with the Christian faith. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, not pursue ourselves (Matt. 16:24). Self-denial, not self-expression, is at the heart of Christianity. Again, here is an opportunity for Christians to look beyond concerns about scanty dress to consider how we might make sacrifices in our choices for the sake of others. Beyond this, Thomas Aquinas provides one more model for engaging clothing. He believed we have a moral obligation to compose our outward manners—including our dress—in light of the person we are addressing, the company we are with, the business we are pursuing, and the place we are in. He claimed that a truly virtuous life includes the art of savoir faire—“a sense of occasion discerning differences of situation”—and that this should inform the clothing we wear. May we rise to the occasion. Robert Covolo is an ordained pastor and a dual PhD student at Fuller Theological Seminary and VU University–Amsterdam. His dissertation (under William Dyrness) is on fashion theory and theology.

The Biblical Meaning of Clothing

April 3, 2016 in Ministry, Christian Life, Culture, Campus

Robert Covolo | It takes on special significance throughout the arc of Scripture. Before becoming a PhD

8 Myths About Israel’s Iron Dome Defense System

March 25, 2016 in Culture, Views

Reuters file photo Ron Cantor/Messiah's Mandate | Israel's Iron Dome defense system is not

Why Jesus’ Skin Color Matters

March 18, 2016 in Christian Life, Culture, World Religion, Education

Christena Cleveland | That he was an ethnic minority shapes how we minister today. After one of my

The Christians, the Soviets, and the Bible

March 8, 2016 in Culture, Television

Phil Christman | ‘The Americans’ has handled Christianity in a way unlike almost any other show.

Can Christians transcend the nihilism of our politics?

February 4, 2016 in Culture, Views

O. Alan Noble | Followers of Christ are called to “hope all things.” According to Paul, this is one of the

Differences Between Modern Dating and Biblical Dating

January 31, 2016 in Culture, Relationships

Scott Croft | Looking for a completely countercultural path to marriage? Here's how to apply God's Word to dating, finding a

Facing Giant Problems Outside Our Comfort Zone

January 10, 2016 in Connecting....., Ministry, Christian Life, Culture

Many of us today may find it difficult to stand against these kinds of challenges because of fear. (Global Ministries-The United Methodist

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