In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 1Timothy 2:9-10
Whose adorning let it not be that outward [adorning] of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But [let it be] the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, [even the ornament] of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. 1Peter 3:3-4
So the Bible makes it clear that humility and a humble nature are preferred by The Lord who looks to the heart before He looks to appearance.
The idea seems to be that the contents of the heart take priority over the contents of your wardrobe.
The reason, it seems, that The Lord doesn't so much disapprove of fine apparel and adornment as much as He teaches us to look to the contents of the character of others as well as ourselves because it is harder to look to the hearts of others or even ourselves if we train ourselves to look only at the superficial and the appearances of others. And we can't look into ourselves if we are obsessed with our own appearance.
The kingdom of God is within us, not in our wardrobe or in our lipstick case.
Obsession over the superficial and over appearances was never a feature of Jesus' ministry and teachings. It was, however, a key feature of the Pharisees teachings.
Outward signs of righteousness and piety, outward signs of wealth, outward signs of obedience were praised while the true nature, content of the heart, and the personal history and circumstances of the people were ignored in favor of outward appearances.
Jesus said in John 7:24
"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."
In the Hebrew context of His time and even now, righteous judgment means to judge favorably or to give the benefit of the doubt. It in no way allows for self righteous judgment or harsh judgment.Here's another scripture that emphasizes the point Jesus made about appearances being irrelevant;"4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Matthew 23:4-39
So in the Community of Christ the doctrine and covenants is different because it's considered to be living scripture; meaning that when new revelations are taken the are voted on according to the law of common consent and then added to the D&C.
There, in the added scripture, is a very striking an important teaching. Here it is:
c. It is not pleasing to God when any passage of scripture is used to diminish or oppress races, genders, or classes of human beings. Much physical and emotional violence has been done to some of God’s beloved children through the misuse of scripture. The church is called to confess and repent of such attitudes and practices.
d. Scripture, prophetic guidance, knowledge, and discernment in the faith community must walk hand in hand to reveal the true will of God. Follow this pathway, which is the way of the Living Christ, and you will discover more than sufficient light for the journey ahead.
Doctrine and Covenants 163:7c and d.
"4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers."
This is crucial, Jesus preaches against superficial thinking and people. But He points out that the Pharisees turned the word of God, an instrument of further light and knowledge into a weapon to be weirded against those who never quite measured up.
They turned a gift from God into a burden, they didn't celebrate their faith, they mourned it.
Works and their importance are discussed many times in scripture but only so far as to prove that one has been saved and transformed by Christ. One cannot be a disciple of Christ if one lives in direct opposition to His teachings. Or can they? If we must measure up to every teaching of Christ we will be damned because we will never truly measure up. This is why the concept of grace is so crucial.
If we believe in grace then we see the inherent value and worth of every soul. As God sees each of us. If we judge according to works we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God as Paul wrote.
I'm saying that if we judge based on grace we see the worth in others as God does but if we look at others as the Pharisees did then we see only inadequacy and sin.
The worth of every soul, including our own, is directly tied to how we value ourselves and others. Do we value others as God does, who gave His only begotten to die for us or do we value others as the Pharisees do who saw no value in Christ Himself?
"9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." Luke 18:9-14
The sinner, who by the way was welcome at the Temple, went away justified before God. Whereas the Pharisee who merely checked off his list of outward righteousness missed the entire point.
Sexism is based on the physical differences and also based on appearances.
Here is the definition of sexism:
:1prejudice or discrimination based on sex; especially :discrimination against women 2:behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex And here are examples of six its attitudes and statements:“Husbands, treasure your wives. They are your most valuable possessions” President Hinkley
You beautiful girls — don’t wander around looking like men. Put on a little lipstick now and then and look a little charming — it’s that simple. I don’t know why we make this whole process so hard.” Elder Ballard
These definitions are based on gender stereotypes and they foster continued sexism into the future. The definition of sexism may not be your own so whenever your definition makes it into a dictionary other than the urban dictionary you let me know in the comment section below.
Our church culture is extremely sexist. And that sexism, to me, smacks of the pharisaical mindset.
The LDS church leaders and much of the membership is has more in common with the ideologies of the Pharisees than with the ethos of Christ.
Because church leaders and many members put ideologies ahead of people. They divide families with rules rather than uniting them with the love of Christ. Families are forever unless your children are gay.
Jesus said the Pharisees not only failed to get to heaven themselves they hindered everyone else from entering as well.
In the modern church your haircut is a testament of your faith, as is shaving everyday. To conform to grooming standards that are in direct opposition to Biblical law. Your style of dress is proof of your faith. Wearing pants or wearing a skirt to church is the difference between righteousness or harlotry.
One of the key features of Jesus' ministry and teachings is that He always put people ahead of ideologies. He healed on the Sabbath to save the children of God. Yet the Pharisees only saw Him doing work when The Lord demanded all Jews to rest. They saw the healings on the sabbath as a violation of the law rather than its fulfillment.
We must put God's children above ideologies, we must fulfill the higher law rather than burden God's children with His word.
God's word is meant to free us, not oppress us.
