Classy

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.  (Philippians 1:27)


It happened to me twice this past week.  I go to the store only to be confronted not only with immodesty, but immodesty that's not even pretty...
The first lady, who was not young, but looked to be close to 30, was in line next to me at the pharmacy, wearing a pair of spandex leggings and a sweatshirt that did not cover her behind.  Gravity had not been good to her, and I thought how much prettier she would look if she would just cover up a little more.  She was not unattractive but the outfit she chose to wear really took away from her prettiness.

Then a few days later, I was out again, this time at Walmart.  As I walked down the busy isle, two ladies, young ones this time, turned in front of me.  It was bitterly cold outside, but these two girls had on a sweatshirt and spandex leggings with very small shorts over them.  Across the back of the shorts on both girls, in big letters, were the words, "pink".  They were not slim girls, and I thought, "Good grief, let's bring attention to our.... ummm...less than trim fannies...

I thought about this, and I realize that not everyone is a Christian and will conduct themselves in a manner that would make other people mistake them for one.  But it seems to me like it goes beyond this. 

Whatever happened to being classy?

I looked classy in the online "urban dictionary" and here is the meaning I found:

classy 1. prestigious 2. high quality 3. elegant or stylis

How have so many beautiful women lost this?  Why do they consider going to the pharmacy or Walmart or any other public place, dressed in immodest clothes that accents the most unbecoming part of them?
So many times I wonder, "Do they not have a mirror?  Do they not realize what those clothes make them look like?  Or is fashion so important, that we will wear what's popular without a thought of how unattractive it makes us look?"

I am not a rich lady.  And I have a large family.  I sometimes buy clothes at Goodwill.  I love ebay.  Antique Alley here in our little town is one of my favorite places to shop.  But I do try (and I know I don't always succeed) to dress my children and myself in clean, nice clothes that fit and cover our bodies.  I think one of the nicest compliments I ever got on our family was when a young man asked my teenage daughter if we were rich.  She was surprised and said, "No!  Why would you think that?"  And he answered, "Because you always look so well taken care of!"

I learned long ago as a mother of a large family, that if I went out with my children and their hair was combed and their clothes were nice, strangers would comment positively on us.  But on the occasions when we might not have looked put together - those were the times I usually got negative comments.  As I grew in my Christian walk, I began to also see how the more neatly modest I dressed, the more likely someone was to listen to me when we talked about God.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20   Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,  for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Now, let's look at that definition of classy again:

classy 1. prestigious 2. high quality 3. elegant or stylis

And let's look at what the Bible says about Christians:

2 Peter 2:8-10  But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

Now, that sounds like a classy person to me.  We are a chosen people.  Royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. That makes us high quality people, right?  Doesn't that make us prestigious?  How does God's very own possession act and look?  Because if we look like what is just described in this passage, then a result of that is that we can show others the goodness of God!
How wonderful that is.

Now I know that not all classy, nicely and modestly dressed people who profess the name of the Lord are truly Godly.  Jesus addressed that himself when he told the Pharisees in Matthew 23:26-28  "“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean."
So we are deceived if we think what we do on the outside, always reflects what we are on the inside. But be assured that as we mature in our faith, what's on the outside WILL reflect what's on the inside.

This is a post where I feel like I have rambled.  And I know that if I write a post like this, the next time someone who reads this sees me is probably going to be one of those times when we go out in public and I have forgotten to comb Luke's hair, or Selah managed to get out without socks on, or Angel-Leah's fine hair is going to have fallen half out of her pony tail.  Tommy will have his shirt on backwards.  Or, as I did one Sunday morning, I will have dressed too quickly and put on one shoe each of two different pairs. 
Please have mercy!!  :o)
We do try.  We try because I feel like it's very important.

Be classy.  Look like one of those chosen people, God's very own possession.  Because nothing else is as important as letting your light shine so you can show others the goodness of God!!