It seemed important for me to include a short chapter on just what identifies a person as a Christian. The term Christian is only used three times in the Bible, but was used to identify those persons who believed in Jesus Christ as being the Messiah, the Son of God. The Bible doesn’t describe these Christians in any particular way, as dressing or looking different. It doesn’t describe them as wearing their hair longer or shorter than other persons, or identifying them as Christians because they assemble together to worship on a regular basis or at certain times. No outward characteristics were identified as the determining factors for calling these people Christians. These people were known as Christians because of what was in their heart and because of their public profession of faith in Christ.
Unfortunately, Christians are identified today by the outward standards that we have predetermined in our own minds that should be present for determining if a person is a Christian or not. We pre-judge other people on the basis of what we have been taught and not by what is in a person’s heart. That is just the reason the Lord said that we should not judge another person, we cannot see what is in another’s heart, only He can do that.
So many times in our lives, we make the statement that a certain person is not a very good Christian because they do something that we do not approve of. Or maybe because they do not dress according to the way we think they should or go to church as often as we feel they should.
Many sermons are preached in churches stressing how people should dress or wear their hair, or how they should do ‘this’, or not do ‘that’. Television, sports, tobacco, women wearing shorts and trousers or slacks, and many other outward subjects are used as the main topics in sermons and are influential in driving people away from the churches instead of into them. The ministers of today are heavy on preaching about the outward appearance and not on the inward condition of a person’s heart. You can change the outward appearance to make it look like a Christian, but with no change on the inside, it is just a hollow shell. However by teaching a person about what they need to change on the inside, and if they do it, the outside will take care of itself.
Just how much of what we are taught is actually scriptural? And what does the Lord expect of His disciples?
Take the subject of women wearing trousers or slacks. A lot of preaching is done on this subject and specifically what women should not wear was mentioned only one time in the Bible, as one of the Laws that Moses gave to the Israelites. Moses was very emphatic concerning this as he said: “it is an abomination unto the Lord,” so this would lead us to believing that it must be important.
Let us look at what the scripture actually says:
Deuteronomy 22:5 “The woman shall not wear that which pertains unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so <are> abomination unto the LORD your God.”
The scriptures do not go into any explanation as to why this would be an abomination in the sight of the Lord, nor does it need to, for the Lord doesn’t owe us an explanation for any of His Commandments; but let us look at this scripture from a different perspective.
Whatever the manner of dress was at that time, it is obvious that there must have been some difference between a man and a woman’s attire, but I doubt very seriously that either one of them wore slacks or trousers. The scripture does not identify a man’s garment as being slacks or trousers. Even today there are trousers that are made for a man and slacks that are made for a woman. But it is obvious that a man should look like a man and a woman should look like a woman in order to avoid any confusion, like we have today.
Nevertheless, no matter what the reason was for Moses to have this in the Law, we need to understand that this was a point of Law for the people of Israel
Rather than making the wearing of trousers or slacks by a woman an issue, Paul taught “women should adorn themselves in modest apparel.” There is no doubt that most of the trousers or slacks that women wear today are more modest than a lot of the dresses they wear.
Another one of the big issues for modern preachers to use to control their flocks is the issue of women cutting their hair. The whole issue is that a woman’s hair should be worn long and not short like a man’s, but some have pushed it to extremes so they believe that just trimming the hair or shaving the hair under the arms is against God’s will also.
Along with this is the practice of some women that will not shave the hair on their legs and it becomes so long that they wear dark stockings to cover it up because it’s so embarrassing for them.
All of this confusion and ridiculous behavior occurs because of improperly interpreting a portion of one of the epistles of the Apostle Paul.
The one mention of the length of a woman’s hair being an issue in the church is recorded in the 11th chapter of 1st Corinthians. In this passage it is obvious that Paul states that it is natural for a woman to maintain long hair, but does not state that it is wrong for women to cut their hair.
This subject will be covered in more detail in another article where we deal with additional scriptures in the Apostle Paul’s letters, but the point needs to be made here that this issue is just another example of man interpreting the scriptures in his own way to influence the people under his teaching and paint a picture of how he thinks a Christian should appear on the outside.
A lot of these types of issues that are taught from the pulpit are man made doctrines and have no foundation in the true Word of God. These types of issues have been taught in so many churches for so many years, that the people have just taken them for face value and accepted them as God’s Word, instead of trying to determine the true meaning with the help and revelation of the Holy Spirit.
A true Christian and born again believer cannot be determined by the outward appearance of one’s physical body, nor necessarily by a person’s actions; instead a true Christian believer can only be identified by the content of his heart, and his relationship with God. As a well-known preacher that I knew used to state so many times: “There are unbelievers, and believers, and make-believers in this world,” and only God can look into the heart and determine which is which.
One must decide what they are going to believe; the unscriptural doctrines that man teaches, or the true Word of the Living God. The time is now to choose who you will believe and serve.
THE DOCTRINE OF
WOMEN WEARING MAN’S CLOTHES
Many churches today teach certain doctrines that are intended to keep their women members ‘in line’ and in doing so, place a burden upon them which serves no useful purpose in God’s plan of redemption.
From the time Eve deviated from God’s Word in the Garden of Eden and contributed to the fall of mankind, the church has positioned women as being the cause of the moral decay of the world and targets them for criticism, while excluding those who are equally responsible; the men.
The church has developed several doctrines that specifically target the woman by misusing or misinterpreting the scriptures. Those are “women wearing trousers or slacks instead of dresses,” “women cutting their hair,” “women wearing high healed shoes,” and “women speaking in the church;” just to note a few examples. Each of these man-made doctrines is scripturally based, but do not reflect the true meaning of those referenced scriptures.
The subject we are going to study here is the doctrine of “women wearing trousers or slacks,” which is based upon the scripture of Deuteronomy 22:5. This scripture is quoted as saying:
“The woman shall not wear that which pertains unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so <are> abomination unto the LORD your God.”
With the exception of one other scripture that addresses how a woman should dress, the church uses this scripture to teach that it is wrong for a woman to wear any type of trousers or slacks, the other scripture which addresses the attire of women is 1st Timothy 2:9 which states:
“In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;”
When Deuteronomy 22:5 is used for the basis of a sermon, only the first part is usually quoted – the part that says, “ . . .the woman shall not wear that which pertains unto a man . . .” Very seldom is the remainder of that scripture quoted, which says, “ . . . neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment.”
Whenever someone is asked why God was against woman wearing trousers or slacks you always get the same answer, “God has His reason for it and since God said it, one should not question it.” Or, the reason might be given that “when a woman wears trousers or slacks, the shape of her body is revealed and this causes man to lust after her, thereby committing sin.”
Jesus said in Matthew “But I say unto you, that whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
Some of our preachers add to that by saying, “That if a woman causes a man to lust after her because of the way she dresses, she is responsible for that man sinning.” Instead of putting the blame on the man, where it should be, the teaching is turned around to blame the woman. Man needs no other reason to lust after a woman except the fact that she is of the opposite gender. It makes no difference whether she is wearing a dress, trousers or slacks or a potato sack. Everyone is always looking for someone else to blame for their sins, just like it was in the beginning when Adam tried to blame Eve and Eve tried to put the blame on the serpent.
Let’s go back to Deuteronomy 22:5 for just a minute and see what it says. First it states, “The woman shall not wear that which pertains unto a man.” It is taught that this means that a woman should not wear trousers or slacks because they are a man’s garments. This scripture was written several thousand years ago, when I doubt very much that trousers or slacks were a part of anyone’s attire. I do not know for sure what the people wore then, but I believe both men and women wore some kind of wrap around garment that was similar in nature. I’m sure that there was some difference between the attire for men and women; maybe it was the kind of material that was used or the way it was wrapped. Maybe one had some kind of lace border or fringes or something similar to distinguish the difference between a man and a woman’s garment. One thing of which I am fairly certain is that trousers or slacks had nothing to do with it.
As I look at exactly what the original scripture was saying, I noticed that the Hebrew word “kliy” which was translated “pertains,” means, “something prepared.” So in reading the scripture, as it was translated “pertains unto a man,” it actually means, “prepared for a man.” The scripture is actually saying that a woman shall not wear anything that was prepared for a man to wear, whether it is clothes, armor, or jewels. Something that was specifically made for a man to wear was forbidden for a woman to wear and those things that were specifically made for a woman to wear were forbidden for a man to wear. God said that all that do so are “an abomination.”
The word abomination means “disgusting.” So, God viewed it as being disgusting for a woman to wear a man’s clothes and for a man to wear women’s clothes. Why was this disgusting to God? I think we can understand why when we analyze why a woman would want to wear a man’s clothes and why a man would wear a woman’s garment. It is obvious to me that what we are seeing here is a result of homosexuality among the people. Women were wearing men’s clothing to attract other women and men were wearing women’s clothes to attract other men. God stated that this was an abomination to Him, a disgusting practice.
So God told Moses to make this one of the Laws by which to govern the people of Israel
Leviticus “You shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it <is> abomination.” Leviticus “If a man also lies with mankind, as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood <shall be> upon them.”
So, it is obvious to me that wearing trousers or slacks was not an issue in the camp of the Israelites, but homosexual behavior was. This same problem exists in society today as we see “cross-dressing” between the genders, with both men and women dressing to appear to be something they were not made to be.
Clothes today are specifically made for men as well as women. There are trousers as well as shirts, sweaters, coats and shoes that are specifically made for a man; as well as for women and, in some cases, are very similar in appearance. It should be obvious now that it is not important what we wear, but why we wear what we do. It is the intent of the heart that God looks at and which determines our future. Just as the Apostle Paul said in 1st Timothy 2:9, women should adorn themselves in modest apparel. Modest apparel is that which covers the body and is decent in nature, which could be slacks or trousers that are specifically made for a woman, as well as modest styles of dresses.
But if this examination of God’s intent with regard to Deuteronomy 22:5 isn’t convincing by itself, let’s look at another aspect of this from a different perspective. This scripture from Deuteronomy is just one of many of the Laws that were given to the Israelites. Yes that’s true. It was given to the Israelites, and not to the Gentile nations. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 2:14 that “the Gentiles were not under the Law” which God gave to Moses.
This practice of reaching back into the Law of Moses and bringing forth one scripture, and making a doctrine of it, should not be practiced. If the Law is to be practiced, then the whole Law must be observed.
Just as Paul told the other apostles, who were attempting to teach the Gentiles that they should be circumcised because of the Law, (Acts 15:10) “Now therefore why do you tempt God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” Paul said that circumcision will profit a person only if they keep the whole Law (Rom ). Paul told the Romans, (Rom ), they were not under the Law, but under grace, and today the same stands true, we are not under the Law.
Some today still respond saying, “God doesn’t change His mind; if women were forbidden to wear men’s clothes at that time, then for certain God doesn’t want them to do it now.” But, you see why it was necessary to understand why Deuteronomy 22:5 was written: It had absolutely nothing to do with wearing pants. Just as Paul addressed the length of hair for a man and a woman in First Corinthians chapter 11, a man should have short hair so he looks like a man and a woman should have long hair so she looks like a woman. Making yourself up to look like someone of the opposite gender causes confusion and shouldn’t be done. That’s why it is necessary to look at the intent of the heart. Why were these people cross-dressing in the Israeli camp? Why did God say that He viewed it as disgusting? It should be very obvious now.
The Law of Moses, of which Deuteronomy 22:5 is a part, was given under a covenant with the people of Israel
Because it is well known that many churches are against women wearing trousers or slacks, many women are reluctant to attend services in these churches and satan just loves this. For, if by this means of deception, which he has been practicing since the Garden of Eden, he can keep lost souls out of the church, he knows that many will never come to the truth of the gospel and be saved.
It’s past time for the church to start teaching that God expects change to come from the heart – from the inside first, and leave off these man-made doctrines that are the cause of many being kept from hearing the truth of God’s Word.
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