Friday, January 3, 2020

Worship and Physical Posture 2

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1 Timothy 2:9-10 (NET)
Likewise the women are to dress in suitable apparel, with modesty and self-control. Their adornment must not be with braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive clothing, but with good deeds, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God.

We saw previously that certain postures [of worship] that people of the world assume are meant to attract certain spirits. This is why religions in the world prescribe the posture a person must assume during worship and prayer if their prayer must be acceptable to their deity.
The reason God does not give instructions of the posture of worship to believers in Christ is that unlike other deities,  our God cannot be summoned. He is omnipresent and does not need us to assume any posture or position/way of bowing or kneeling in order for Him to hear us.

This same principle of posture also applies to dress and physical appearance. There is a way a person would dress and appear that will make the spirits of his religion more comfortable to fellowship with him. For this same reason,  other religions of the world have their prescribed ways of dressing (and shaving of hair, etc), without which their worship may not be acceptable. Again,  God does not give believers in Christ a prescribed way of appearance in order for our worship to be acceptable. The new covenant is not mediated by angels but by God Himself.  We have no prescriptions of dressing or color code, but we are to dress decently and in a dignified way as is proper for those who profess reverence to God.

God specifically instructed His people of old not to dress and appear in ways the pagans around them did(see Leviticus 19:27-28). I believe it was because God didn't want His people to unknowingly participate in Idol worship (since worship also involves the way a person appears) and inadvertently summon wicked spirits into their lives by the way they appeared.

I believe it is no coincidence that after Apostle Paul recommended the lifting up of hands as an acceptable posture of worship(1 Timothy 2:8), he goes on to the matter of dressing and appearance. The two matters of worship posture and physical appearance are somewhat related.

Human beings care about their physical appearance and naturally want to look good--it is more so with Women.

Christian women are to be dressed in suitable apparel with modesty and self-control.
Many have argued that the Bible verses above proscribe the use of jewelry and braiding (plating) of hair for Christian women. But that would be true if women can put on good deeds as they would hair, jewelry, and clothing because the verse says "[t]heir adornment must not be with braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive clothing, but with good deeds...". So women should put on good deeds instead of physical apparel? That is the logical inference one would arrive at if he insists that this verse means Christian women should not braid their hair or put on gold jewelry. This verse is clearly showing where the focus of a Christian woman should be. While the unbeliever woman spends her substance on what she would wear and is wholely preoccupied with her outward appearance,  a godly woman would rather spend her substance on good deeds- (helping the needy,  etc) and would be more preoccupied with how she looks inside--her character.

Go into today remembering that the people of this word inadvertently worship and invite the gods of the world by immodest appearances. In Christ, even though we do not have prescribed postures of worship or modes of dressing that are a prerequisite for acceptable worship, we are to assume worship postures and dress in ways that show reverence to our [omnipresent] God.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I renounce every way I may have unknowingly invited strange spirits into my life. Help me to be guided by your Spirit in all I do. Amen.
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