Nose piercing, Christian dress code, bible verses

senir

Hi everyone, wishing you all a happy and blessed Easter!

I was wondering what the Coptic / Orthodox view is on how Christians should dress both inside and outside the church. I’m increasingly seeing servants (girls) with nose piercings, lashes and eyebrows done both inside and outside of church. I am also seeing girls with ripped jeans and outfits that don’t look appropriate to me and so I’m curious to learn what the Bible and the Orthodox Church says about appropriate dress code especially for servants.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Please remember me in your prayers

ophadece

Great topic @senir - I am not worthy to give an opinion but as a Christian my firm belief is that the Bible's message (first and foremost God's) is to keep oneself away from the world which is ruled by the evil one.
Ⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ ϧⲉⲛ ⲡϭⲥ

senir

Thank you for your comment @ophadece

mabsoota

yes, ophadece, great!

the most important thing is for us to encourage others to have a close relationship with God.

we encourage this by basing all our activities on a spiritual foundation - e.g. every activity should be preceeded by prayer, and we should make time available in church for spiritual services (tasbeha praise and agpeya prayer as well as liturgy and Bible study).

then we should encourage people to be respectful by our own lifestyle and by our respectful clothes (this differs depending on your culture, so remember that egyptian culture is not universal).

then, only AFTER we do the first 2 things, we need to speak to abouna about any further concerns.

i have been dressing like a grandmother since i was young (still somehow managed to get married age 22) however i don't require the same from others. if we are all humble, then respectful clothes will come next.

what i don't like to see is when people who wear loose, respectful clothes (but have attitude problems and judge people and lack humility) tell other people with tight clothing and visible butt cracks (my personal dislike) what to wear, when those people who are wearing skimpy, fashionable clothing may have more humility and compassion than the people with granddad's clothing.

i have seen people (men and women) wearing dodgy (minimal) clothes in church, and then prayed about it, and God has shown me clearly that it is me who has issues that i need to work on and it is not my job to tell people what to wear.

i was recently in a youth meeting (gatecrashing as i am a middle aged woman - i had a free evening) and after the meeting (which was great, with prayers and a spiritual talk and then a break for food, then night praises) and the discussion turned to this topic.

what was interesting to me is that the (male) servant asked the group (around 30 young men and women) if they should have a meeting discussing 'modesty'. 

most people there did not agree to the suggestion, and when i asked if he linked 'modesty' to clothing, he admitted this is what he meant.

i explained that modesty of heart was more important, and that modesty in clothing would naturally follow that. i suggested that they have a talk about modesty generally (not having flashy cars, houses, attitudes etc) rather than clothes and that they leave an clothes issues for the priests to address directly when / if needed. 

this suggestion was popular with the group.

so in summary, while i share some of your concerns, i am not sure if talking about clothes and people's external appearance is the answer.

i am also sure that it is not for me to address this, but if you think you are different, ask your confession father first.

senir

Thank you @mabsoota for your comment and insightful stories. I completely agree that we should not judge the outside appearance and focus on spiritual growth when working with youth. I ask for the orthodox / view and bible references because youngsters who I am close to and who sound willing to change their dress code when approached in love are asking for bible references sometimes for why they are expected to dress modestly etc. Unties and uncles at church also seem to approach them and tell them off for having long nails, lashes etc and so I thought to address this with them so that they’re not ‘attacked’ by the elders at church and so that we don’t lose their presence at church due to comments made by elders.

I’ll go with the prayer approach and continue to pray for them

Deb

@senir : Deuteronomy 22:5 informs us - quite straightforwardly and unambiguously - that females "shall not wear that which pertains to males". To my dismay, even our presbytera wears tight, tailored jeans AT THE ALTAR, FRONT OF COMMUNION PROCESSION, STANDING BEFORE BISHOP DURING HIGH HOLY DAYS. And the youth choir directress wears tight, tailored slacks. This sideshow is accompanied by certain female ushers parading up-and-down the aisles wearing leggings/jeggings while displaying every crack, crease, and crevice of their female anatomy. Many wear jeans/hoodies as though they are attending football game. We have witnessed also certain male deacons within the sanctuary performing preparatory sacraments while wearing gym leggings with their bulging genitalia full front-and-centre. This is a parish whose priest also celebrates Halloween (!). In total, these congregants - clergy and lay - have created these (and other) stumbling blocks to such an extent that parishioners who though that the COC was the last bastion of sanctified life have almost given up hope - to the delight of the enemy of our souls. Satan will use whomever he chooses to thwart and divert the remnant- despite the politically-correct politesse  regarding "outward appearances". Orthodoxy prescribes and proscribes. We need to call a spade a spade - without apology or recrimination.

senir

Thank you @Deb for that reference and for sharing your views.