Fashion trends come and go, and have seemingly always done so. Some of these trends may simply have to do with style and colors, while others may convey deeper messages about the attitudes and mores of society. Short skirts, short shorts, and pants closer to one’s knees than one’s waistline, certainly make a statement about one’s morality, or lack thereof. In a similar way, the gender confusion evident in current society is also being reflected in how one may dress. The growing trend of cross-dressing isn’t just about clothes, or what is appropriate or inappropriate, but rather reflects the lack of morality in society today. Cross-dressing is an abomination to God.
Our existence comes from God. "And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). As God is infinite in wisdom and understanding (Psalm 147:5), he doesn’t make mistakes in how he has created us, or in assigning gender roles based on his creation. "God is not a man, that he should lie, Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and will he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and will he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). So, in establishing his covenant with the Israelites, God unmistakably states, "A woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment; for whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto Jehovah thy God” (Deuteronomy 22:5). In other words, there was to be a clear distinction between the appearance of male and female, as is appropriate to both their gender and the lives they are to live. Appearance has much to do with attitudes of the heart, and to dress in a manner opposite of one’s gender reveals sin governing one’s life, not the will of God. The term "abomination,” used to describe God’s judgment on those who would practice such, is also used of child sacrifice (Deuteronomy 12:31). It speaks of the serious nature God views such behavior.
Some point out this specific prohibition is not found in the pages of the New Testament. However, the same principle is found in Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. In 1 Corinthians 11:14, Paul writes, "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a dishonor to him?” What Paul is emphasizing is that God wants each of us to fulfill the role he has created for us, whether as a man or a woman. For a man to act as a woman, or a woman as a man, is an abomination to God, displeasing to him, because it denies the role he has created for us to be. In this instance, the precept being taught is of the exact nature as that found in the Old Testament.
Paul reminded the church in Rome that "whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that through patience and through comfort of the scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). We also know that "no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation. For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21). Our sensibilities must be determined, not by human desires or current societal trends, but the revealed will of God. As those created in the image of God, may we manage ourselves to please God, to reflect how he created us. "For ye were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord: walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth), proving what is well-pleasing unto the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8-10).
Robert Johnson, Longview, TX
