Concern for grandson
My 23-year-old grandson wears Goth clothes, spikes, skulls, black fingernails and eyeliner but dresses more appropriately for church. How worried should I be about the message it sends to people he meets outside church?
Your grandson’s attitudes might differ from other people who dress like him, but people will not know that unless they speak with him. His outward appearance ties him to others who dress like him, and observers often identify those individuals with attitudes of anger and pessimism.
If your grandson does not wish to be misidentified from a distance, it would be in his best interests to disassociate himself from those who dress like him. Of course, if your grandson shares the attitudes of anger and pessimism of those who dress like him, that calls for a different approach: he would be served best by speaking to his pastor.
While the Bible does not lay out a particular dress code for worshipers, it is good to know that your grandson dresses “more appropriately for church.” Thinking of others (Philippians 2:4) finds application in our words, our actions, our demeanor and even in our appearance. And, finally, that is true whether we are in a church or outside a church. In daily life we want to display our faith and point others to our Lord (Matthew 5:16).