I’ve never been a latest-fashion-follower, though I confess, for a season I did wear a “leisure suit” and white suede shoes. I’m aware that many readers will have no knowledge of “leisure suits.” They were popular in the early 1970s but didn’t last long. I thought I’d better confess that since someone may find a book I wrote back then, and, on the back cover, a picture of me in a leisure suit.
There was a brief time when I was tempted to purchase some skinny jeans. They were showing up everywhere. I confess, my resistance to purchasing skinny jeans has nothing to do with looks or fashions. It has a little to do with the fact that my resistance to conformity is rather pronounced. The real reason is that I don’t want to spend the time and effort I perceive it must take to get them on and off.
I’ve observed how jeans is the dress of choice by musicians, male worship leaders, and many young clergy. Before skinny jeans emerged, torn or patched ones prevailed. I can’t believe it is simply the fabric, so I settle back into thinking it has to do with fad and the influence of style setters.
My ongoing interest in this issue and questions about jeans, especially skinny jeans, worn by musicians, worship leaders and young clergy, reached a new level with information coming out of North Korea. Kim Jong Un has banned men from wearing skinny jeans, and the state newspaper warned men against adopting “decadent” Western clothes.
Lest you stop reading now, thinking I’m hopelessly conservative, and seeking support for my curiosity about dress style, stay with me. Another story stimulated my reflection. On the day I learned of Kim Jong Un’s banning skinny jeans, an incident in the U.S. got my attention. Photos of 80 girls in the yearbook of Bartram Trail High School in St. Johns County, Florida, were digitally altered to hide bare shoulders and any hint of cleavage because school officials deemed them to be in violation of the dress code. Critics of the action were quick to note that no changes were made to photos of the Speedo-clad male swim team, and girls were being made to feel ashamed of their bodies.
You may think I am going to reflect now on the issue of sexuality that is certainly suggested. I’m confident Kim Jong Un was thinking that way in his considering skinny jeans decadent. Or, you may think I’m concerned about the prejudice in signaling out the girls’ dress and passing over the boys. Both those issues are worth our reflection, but I want to move to an issue overarching all that.
Too often we make how we dress and the brands we wear, where we live, the college we attended, and our economic resources the critical issue in our “judging” and valuing others.
Our unique value as persons should be our ultimate concern. Though we’re all human, each of us is unique. In his book, The Person in the Room, Dr. N.J. Barrell wrote, “every person needs to know and to know early on that he is the only one of his kind, and that other persons are different in ways of their own and demand respect for who they are. He needs to know that whether his gifts are large or small, they are his own. And that he sees the world around him in a different way than it has ever been seen before. Every person is a miracle of existence.”
Isn’t that beautiful? Every person is a miracle of existence. We may consider and accept that word because it comes from a doctor? (Another instance of valuing and judging) Jesus expressed that truth 2000 years before Dr. Barrell.
“Are not five sparrow sold for two pennies, and not one of them is forgotten by God. Fear not. You are of more value than sparrows, even the hairs on your head are numbered”
The marvelously liberating message of Christianity is that you are important within yourself. Wear your skinny jeans if you like, but not because others are doing it and you think it will make you worthy of their acceptance. Women, dress not to be sexually seductive, but as one who values her body, because it is the unique expression of God’s creation.
I’m not debating Kim Jong Un or the officials of Bartram Trail School; I’m affirming a core dimension of creation and the Christian faith: the spirit aspect of our being. Each of us is a unique, unrepeatable miracle of God.