Sometimes I receive an inquiry like this, “I don’t think it’s wrong for a woman to wear pants, but I can’t even bring myself to consider going out in public with them. Why??”
Please don’t push yourself in this direction. Part of having the freedom to wear what you feel is permissible, is to not wear it if you don’t want to. One doesn’t have to wear pants simply because they left a UPC (United Pentecostal Church) church. If you wish to continue wearing skirts and dresses, that is perfectly fine.
I cut my hair before anything else. That was less than a month after I’d officially left the church. I had been studying the Bible long enough before then to see their teaching of uncut hair was nowhere to be found. For some time I still pretty much wore the same clothing. I remember wearing sweat pants during a short time I was going to the gym and then eased into it from there. I wore culottes a lot before leaving the church as I was working at the church daycare and continued to use them afterward.
Here is a thought as to why you may be having more difficulty with pants.
With all the UPC standards, which is taught as being an abomination to God?
Is it hair?
Is it make-up?
Is it jewelry?
Is it sleeve or dress length?
No. It is pants on women as they use Deuteronomy 22:5 as a proof text.
This could be why you are encountering more difficulties with pants. While all the others are taught as wrong, this one links you to doing something which is an abomination to God (so they teach). There is more fear involved and you may not want them looking at you in this way.
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At times a person who leaves will develop an attitude concerning standards and feel they “don’t want to look anything like them anymore!”
I must give a word of caution as this isn’t about striving to not look like people from your former church.
One thing that is important when a person leaves an unhealthy church is that they don’t develop a reverse bad attitude. Some of us learned to judge those who didn’t dress as we’d been taught. We need to be cautious when leaving that we don’t turn and then judge anyone who still dresses that way. There is nothing wrong with someone only wearing skirts or dresses.
When changing our manner of dress or other standards, it should be because we see that the doctrine that was taught is not biblical and it should never be to ‘get back’ at anyone or to flaunt your freedom in their face. In other words, be careful to not replace one bad attitude with another.
One book on outward holiness standards that I have recommended for years is Linda Hopper’s False Holiness Standards. Linda Hopper was a former UPC member and her husband was a licensed by them. The Hoppers are now retired from ministry. The book covers topics such as pants on women, jewelry, make-up, and women’s hair. “This book is a thorough and exhaustive research project that was inspired from Linda’s desire to know the complete truth about what the Bible really says regarding Christian adornment, especially in connection with women’s dress.” You can try watching for a copy on Amazon.
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I love this: Please don’t push yourself in this direction. Part of having the freedom to wear what you feel is permissible, is to not wear it if you don’t want to. One doesn’t have to wear pants simply because they left a UPC (United Pentecostal Church) church. If you wish to continue wearing skirts and dresses, that is perfectly fine.
This is so true. It is about learning who we are. Good article.
What I understood that it was a lot easier for me to tell a lie than to put on a pair of pants I knew that was a problem. It was about not being SEEN as sinful by others. As long as my sins were hidden – no problem. When you learn that God is looking at your heart not your outward appearance, it helps you to let go of external, self imposed holiness.
* When I understood.
exactly! 🙂 The entire message of Jesus is about being “pure” on the inside. John the Baptist had mangled hair …everyone Jesus surrounded himself were the outcasts, prostitutes, and cursing sailors. The over emphasis by the UPC on dress code just gives them something to make themselves feel important. This is coming from a 7 year devotee to the UPC. …and frankly speaking… it is just a way for the men to control the women …. almost like a mini version of Sharia Law.