should women wear dresses/skirts all the time

Ugh! When I hear about the rules that are supposed to make us more godly --it seems they all (or most) pertain to women.

I wear appropriate clothing for the occassion. I would not wear a dress to play volley ball--but I wouldn't wear jeans/sweats to a funeral or a formal church function.

Second of all, if I am walking down the street and get attacked I have a much better chance of not being totally violated if I have pants on.

Third of all, when sermons like this are preached, how many people are pointed toward Christ?

And I have seen dresses that were more obscene than pants. One situation I heard of was 2 women came to church. One w/a short dress, the other in pants. Guess who received the most criticism.

It is a personal matter. And if someone chooses to wear dresses all the time that's fine. But I see no eternal significance for trying to force someone to dress a certain way or wear their hair a certain way.

Yes, there are standards. Yes, I believe in modesty. But let's focus on pointing others to Christ and let Him change the person. We catch the fish, the Lord cleans them!

Take care.

 

Comfortable? [grin] Sometimes women wear pants for reasons of comfort and health...not just to be rebellious. I find it interesting how men talk about how they like the way a woman LOOKS in dresses. If a man tried for one day to wear what women have to wear...tight hose (you have to be totally dry to put on hose or you may break the third commandment [grin]), high heels (proven by doctors to cause back problems and bunions),..and all the rest I won't mention, you may be a little more sympathetic for women. I'm not saying the fellas should dress like a women, but they don't know what it's like.

But, what about women not looking like men? Have you taken time to study fashions? Back in the 18th century, women wore long dresses as soon as she became an adult. This was for modesty purposes...to cover the calves. Men had the same feelings back then, too.

"But, we're in the 19TH CENTURY, NOW, Nobodyspecial!" Exactly my point. Whether we like it or not, we are still following the world's standards. We may be a decade or two behind them, but we certainly are following them. Wouldn't we appear MORE seperated if women wore ankle-length dresses? This would discourage men from looking, maintain seperation and the women can be modest in most things she does, including climbing a ladder, if there's a fire in her second-story house.

I'm not trying to cause friction...just giving you something to think about.

I've never heard of this being a clause in the membership contract (though I have heard about going to movies).

However, I also agree that if you don't agree with the church standards, you should find one you feel comfortable in. Griping about the pastor's sermon to others in the church only causes problems in the church.

All the churches I've attended (Bible college was the reason for leaving my first church BTW), they all now allow women to wear pants...and they can have a zipper in the front. I recall one man who was...I guess a copastor of my first church, you might say...explaining to me when I was in the hospital once, that our church standards for dress had slackened (excuse the pun, Tee! Hee! Hee!) and his wife now wears pants. I asked him what would happen if the pastor decided to tighten the grip once again and he said, "I guess we'd have to change churches". It surprised me to hear him say this, since he was in that church for years before our pastor came, but I agreed with him. Conflict like this in the church does not help to lead others to Christ, and that is our main focus, isn't it? Sometimes we lose this focus.

 

I like it here.

 

The more I read your words Dr. Bob, the more I want to call up your church and say, "You folks are lucky to have such a wonderful Pastor." (Of course I'm lucky to have mine too.)

 

We are also fortunate to have him on this Board.

 

this subject isnt or shouldnt be about whether women (in general) should wear only dress/skirts..it should be about whether CHRISTIAN women should wear dresses/skirts all the time.
Because if they havent found Christ than there not going to understand any of it in the first place..plus if they havent been saved...that should be our # 1 priority above anything else.

 

Actually, it shouldn't even be about Christian women, in general.

It should be about each one of us individually and what God has convicted us to do or not do...

 

I agree, Blessed 16.

I didn't want to reveal my gender, but my last post either exposed me as a lady or a male cross-dresser, and when I discovered it, it was too late to edit. So, now you know if you hadn't guessed (a lady, in case you're STILL not sure).

I wear pants because I have back problems and it would not look decent to sit with my knees pulled up to my chest...the only position that relieves the most pain...while wearing a dress. I still wear dresses in church since I couldn't sit like that whether I wore pants or a dress in church. Honestly, I like to dress up, and I did enjoy wearing dresses when I did wear them. I never wear heels, regardless of the occasion, because it aggrivates my back even more...but I would LOVE to be able to wear them. I only wear the nicest shoes that Dr. Scholls puts out (and they weren't built for looks...they were built for comfort)LOL! But, an hour or more of sitting on the seats and pews at church, and I'm walking to the car at a dying snail's pace-holding on to my husband for support- when it's over.

But, I said all that to say that when I'm home, I wear fleece outfits, warm-up suits or loose-fitting outfits that allow me to curl in a ball to relieve the pain.

A lot of praying and research went into my decision. I researched modern fashion and why/when women wore dresses and pants, why Christians wore them, the rise and fall of the hemlines and the history behind them.

I also considered my then-current church's stand, which only required dresses at church services... (paid church workers had to wear them on the job, of course) and my husband's desires before I wore them. Then when I finally did wear pants for the first time in public,I felt funny in them because I had been wearing dresses since I was in 9th grade (about 10 years). I felt like everyone was staring at me, even though they were all wearing the same types of clothes.

I'm not posting this to change any dress-wearer's decisions or views, or to knock them; nor am I trying to justify or "make excuses" for my own decision. I don't need to make excuses for what the Lord has given me peace about, and Praise the Lord, because of His grace and mercy, I am not required to gain approval from other Christians concerning decisions like this.

I'd also like to mention that this is one of the most civil boards I've visited. I would have been chewed up and spit out by now for stating an opinion on any other board. People can be so possessive over their views of mac or PC, Photoshop or Painshop Pro, CRT or LCD monitor, etc. [grin]

I hope this discussion doesn't divide us into the dress/pants groups...that we can continue to get along well with each other.

 

We have had this age-old discussion many times on this board and, as far as I know, we are still brothers and sisters in Christ and no one has been killed - yet...

 

Wow, 18 pages and still going!

 

This topic always does...

 

OK, so, what's the ladies fashion of earrings, now? Men are wearing studs, so we should go with danglies?

 

Hey! Don't push your luck! Next, someone will bring up the 'hair', 'headcovering', or 'submission' issue...

 

I'll bring up the tattoo issue if you want me too. It's always a hot topic.

 

Hey! Maybe if we tatoo hair on our heads, we won't need hair!

 

You're not to far off. Some ladies have tattooed permanent eyebrows to alleviate a lifetime of tweezing.

 

Ouch to BOTH!!!

 

At a multidenominational college, a female student spoke in class about her Pentecostal grandfather who was preaching about dress styles, particularly hip-hugger jeans and miniskirts. This strait laced preacher got on a roll and bellowed out "When the women's dresses went up, the men's pants went down!"

 

I'd've loved to've been there to hear the gasps in that crowd. LOL

I mentioned before that I began wearing dresses in 9th grade, but I didn't mention why I didn't wear them earlier. First, it was because my parents only bought me new clothes every other year (I got hand-me-downs from my sister every non-new-clothes year...or earlier when I "accidentally" overdried them in the dryer. Teee hee heee! But, boys were VERY imature in 7/8 grade (public school) and liked to lift girls' skirts/dresses...especially when they were going up the stairs. Girls didn't wear them much back then, and I didn't want to be a target.

If you know about the tatood eyebrows, I'm sure you know that you can also get make-up tatood on. I told my mother that I'd probably get that as soon as I'm diagnosed with alzheimers (It runs in our family, and I'm thin). I don't want to be one of these ladies who have lipstick smeared all the way to the corner of my eyes then forcing some shy person to tell me I'm pretty. But, I'd probably forget about the makeup tatoo, anyway.