Dear Tad:
The "long hair" of I Cor. 11:14 is not speaking solely of "long" hair, but, tressed hair or tresses, ringlets of curled hair, or tufts.
It is much the same principle as with you question regarding women wearing jeans or pants. The Scriptures tell us that men should not wear "what pertains to a woman" and women should not wear "what pertains to a man." But what pertains to a woman and what pertains to a man? Are skirts solely a woman's apparel while long pants solely a man's apparel?
Women have worn "pants" for thousands of year and men have worn skirts (and still do in Scotland during festive occasions). It is not the item so much as the intent of the item. Mrs. Bush our First Lady wears long pants all the time and she looks quite nice and feminine. And I hardly think that anyone would consider the rough and tough firemen of New York to be feminine in their "skirts" when they perform as a bagpipe unit.
But one can wear long and curly tufted hair to APPEAR feminine as a woman, and that certain is not becoming a man. Likewise a woman can wear a crew cut which likewise is unbecoming.
Such articles as feminine makeup, panties, and high-heeled shoes are definitely feminine and should not be worn by men. Gays and queers dress in ways that SHAME their gender.
It may be proper for a church to have a "dress code" for different church functions. The problem could be, however, that these codes go to the extreme. Most men would agree that a woman is much more sexy in a short skirt and high heels than in jeans and tennies, wouldn't you agree? Maybe this thing of proper dress can be likened to the judge who said, "I don't know how to precisely define pornography, BUT I SURE KNOW IT WHEN I SEE IT"!
God be with you,
Ray
I wonder what year Ray wrote that!. I agree but personally with fashion these days I think woman look even better in Jeans or pants than skirts. But I guess that's just me.
TGN.
I don't particularly know when Ray wrote that response, but it would be wise, on a personal level to not get overly wise Or overly righteous Or overly Legalistic about such matters. And I'm not implying that Your asking for that reason or Your overly anything, but We had a thread last Fall or summer dealing with the Dress aspect part.
Let's emphasize the Spiritual aspect of other Humans, if they have any. What I mean by that. How other people treat us & how they act towards others in their daily lives is most important. As an an illustration: My Wife and I encountered a Bald Headed Woman wearing Pants with a genuine smile and a loving, caring helpful disposition and this was very attractive to Us. This experience was in a Hospital setting and upon leaving My Wife there, I thought to myself that She is in good hands with this bald headed, genuine smiling, very caring Woman with slacks & a okay type shirt.
This illustration is not meant to imply that We shouldn't wash Our hands, dress neatly when appropriate or be an unkempt slob, but the outside appearance can be misleading. Sales People, Managers, Television Evangelists, Politicians, etc USUALLY present a good exterior appearance, but USUALLY are trying to impress & deceive us to win Our favor and obtain Our Bucks. In My OPINION, only an opinion, If God permitted Satan to manifest himself in the Flesh, He would probably have an attractive suit, be extremely handsome, say the right things to Our face, but beneath the surface of that appealing physical image, He would mask Eyes Full of Adultery(Physical & Spiritual), Deception, Murder(Hate in His Heart) with the motive towards misleading us.
All of the above doesn't imply that everyone that has a clean & attractive appearance is out to mislead us or that someone who's dirty & has long hair should be trusted, but the above is meant to help Us appreciate not to get overly concerned or caught up with someone's appearance, ie- How many earings, length of Hair, wearing a beard, Pants or dresses, how much makeup or lipstick, etc.
Kind Regards, Samson.