SCHOOL STYLES

 KEY VERSE:

Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. 1 Timothy 2:8-10

ESSAY:

Every morning I drop my son Parker off at his public school. Walking him to and from school and spending that conversational and quality time with him is my favorite part of the day. As I say, it is Bubba bonding time. However, when we arrive on campus, I observe two troubling things.

1) Many parents or guardians wear pajamas to drop off their child in the mornings or pick them up afters chool. Wearing pajamas, it seems, is becoming acceptable everywhere: Walmart, the bank and now even to school. It will signal the end of western civilization when people start wearing sleepwear to church. I suppose this is not that big of a deal, but it does bother me. If you want to teach your child to take their academics seriously and to be responsible and prepared to make it a great day, model that behavior for them by, at the very least, getting dressed and prepared for the day yourself. To me, adults wearing PJs at school symbolizes a lazy and sloppy approach to their child’s education.

2) Even more disturbing are the parents who dress like sluts (harsh word, I know, but I believe it is accurate) to drop their child off before or after school. My eight-year-old son does not need to see your cleavage. The other parents and I do not need to see where each of your 17 provocative tattoos are located on your body. Save it for the nightclub scene, or better yet, the privacy of your own bedroom.

APPLICATION:

            As Christians, we can venture into one of two dangerous categories regarding fashion. We can become so casual that we forget that certain occasions and atmospheres demand decorum and respect. Our clothing can help appropriately communicate that respect. The other dangerous category is when we become so fashion-conscious that it causes us to become materialistic or trendy. If you follow the fashion industry you can see that trendy fashions often blur the lines of modesty, gender and sexuality. For me, I think the casualness of clothing is at times too appealing. I forget to take business meetings, job interviews and even church seriously. I don’t come dressed in a way that communicates their importance in my life. For these moms and other women at my son’s school, their desire to look sexy sends the wrong message to my son and his schoolmates. Boys, even young boys, don’t need visual/sexual stimulation. Our children will model (an appropriate verb for an essay on clothing) what we model for them. My wife is helpful to remind me about my clothing choices. Find someone in your life who will hold you accountable to fashion emergencies caused by immodesty, materialism or messiness. If we don't practice these clothing clues around our children, they won't learn to practice them at all.

This essay is from my book More Autism and Awesometism: Devotionals From and About a Special Needs Family.