Gym shorts, sweatpants and knee-high tube socks remind us to be Holy to God…

Plenty of past fashions make you wonder, “Where did that come from?” What was the thinking, for example, of the first person to wear gym shorts over their sweatpants like we did in high school? At least the sweatpants hid our knee-high white tube socks, though. Surely those socks aren’t on many “most missed 1970’s fashion trends” lists.

We do know how many styles began, like Jackie Kennedy and oversized sunglasses, Daisy Duke and short shorts, Madonna and ripped jeans, and more recent fads that don’t age me as much as those (or like saying “fads” does). Some are more obscure, like the high heels worn first by butchers in ancient Egypt when slaughtering animals to keep their feet clean. (At least those make more sense than tube socks.) Still, most trends start as a purposeful designs.

Did you know that God was also a fashion stylist? He gave detailed designs for the priests’ robes to set them apart in their role (Exodus 28 and 39). Though that design didn’t start a trend, as it was a sin for others to wear a priestly robe, He designed a style later that would become the ‘in thing.’ It’s right there in Numbers 15:38-39 where God told the Israelites, through Moses, to “make for (yourselves) tassels on the corners of (your) garments” and to attach them with “a cord of blue.”

Now before you start looking for “God-labeled” clothing, know that He wasn’t starting a product line. Like the tippy-toed Egyptian butcher shoes, the tassel accessories had a purpose. God said they were “for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes.” (Numbers 15:39) They were to be used like the proverbial string tied around a finger as a reminder of something important, which for them was to be in a mind of godly service, obedience and purity.

As I was reading that this morning, I thought of the crosses we wear around our necks and wondered if they put us in the same spirit of mind the tassels were designed to do. I decided that they might for some, but that they are also often worn merely as fashion accessories. (There may even be a reverse correlation between the size and prominence of the medallion and the influence it actually has on the wearer, but that’s another topic.)

When the cross is worn as a sort of religious badge, though, we run into a different problem. It’s a dangerous thing to want to show others, or even ourselves, how “religious” we are. It’s not the case every time someone wears a cross, but it occurs often enough to be a concern.

You see, our faith in God should honor and glorify Him, but desiring recognition for having a great faith is an honor-seeking, prideful thing. That’s not the same as wanting others to see Him in us by how we live, which is for His sake and is the opposite of self-pride. But wanting them to see our faith is also a desire to be seen as more worthy than others. It’s no different than the Pharisees of Jesus’ time (the strict, Law-observing Jewish leaders) who made their tassels larger to set themselves apart. (Do you see what they did? They took what God intended as a self-reminder and made it a badge for others to see.)

They do all their deeds to be noticed by men; they… lengthen the tassels of their garments. (Matthew 23:5)

How we wear our cross is personal, of course, but here’s one perspective. What if we let it work like the tassels God commanded the Israelites to wear? What if it reminds us of our brokenness, and that if Jesus had not carried His cross up the hill to His death, ours would be eternal? What if it reminds us to die to self each day so we can follow Him into eternal life? What if wearing it reminds us that we are bearing it?

Bearing our cross is a deeper topic than is sorted out here, but it begins with Jesus’ words below:

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:23-27)

See, God did start a fashion trend, but though He meant it as a reminder, it wasn’t His only purpose. He concluded the command about the tassels with, “and be holy to your God” (Numbers 15:40). What it means to “be holy” is another “deeper topic” to discuss elsewhere, but I can still envision a big question mark every time I put on my cross reminding me to ask, “am I being holy to my God?” and that’s sure to look better than knee high tube socks!