controvQ-trouser.htm

Should women put on trousers being a man's wear?
I think we human beings are the ones defining what are men's clothes and what are not. I have seen men wearing skirts in Scotland and in Tonga. In Tonga they even put on chain belts, leaving it to droop just like women do here. So, you see it is human beings that define these things themselves. Were you aware that years ago T-shirts were only for men? Today it is a different story. My attitude is that if nothing is wrong with ladies wearing shirts, I find nothing wrong with trousers. They do wear shirts, don't they? Even as choir uniform. So I do not think we should bother ourselves with the "gender" of clothes. I guess that if the clothes themselves were living things, they would be laughing at us--saying, "see these ones dividing us into sexes!"

Let us look at the Deut. 22: 5 that is often quoted. See further down that passage. See verse 9. Are you aware that farmers plant yam and maize in the same farm? Is God against the practice? See verse 11. Does it not imply that you cannot wear something that is 65% cotton and 35% polyester? Why do we not observe these ones too? We should not be selective in interpreting scripture! We should learn to interpret scriptures in the spirit rather than in the letter. The bible says the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life (II Cor.3; 5.)

Really, I think the problem the brethren have is the effect of the general shape of the African lady on their looks when they put on trousers. Oh but you know us. We are often too "holy" to even use such words as "buttocks" or "hips". Hence they have to look for some religious way to make their point and they thereby resort to quoting what I term "innocent" scriptures.

The African curves seem to be accentuated by trousers. Period. However, the trousers are not the only type of clothes that do. There is something called "body hug" that people also put on and boy, real curves show!!! Which scriptures will the brethren use against body hug?
The point is, it is what is in the heart of the individual that matters. Some ladies just put on trousers because they look smart in it. Others want to "advertise". God knows what is in the heart of each person. Our job is to tell them the truth and let them decide on what to do. We do not need to push them into the bondage of do's and don'ts.

Then of course the issue of worldliness. When we say "worldly", we mean doing things in the way of the world, their values, etc. That has nothing to do with simple dressing. I can tell you that we have come a long way in Christendom. Do you perm your hair? Would you know that years ago it was considered a "worldly" thing to perm your hair? Do you wear tinted glasses? Would you know that years back it was considered "worldly" for Xtians to wear tinted glasses? Do you have friends who wear braids? It was considered "worldly" for Christians to wear braids. It was believed that it was an attempt to look like Bob Marley!!! Years back, it was considered "worldly" to aspire to be rich or to wear high quality dresses. One could go on and on. I can imagine that in ten years time all this talk about women and trousers will be a thing of the past. These things are small matters and our undue emphasis on them is keeping many people away from the kingdom. I met two ladies from Cameroon , with their Jeans trousers and all, I was humble enough to see that my spiritual experience was nothing compared to theirs. I found out that they virtually carried the presence of God with them!! My prejudices vanished immediately.

Minor as they are these issues are the things that divide us. Let us place less emphasis on them. Let us major in the majors and minor in the minors.