Cedric Fisher: "earnestly contending for the faith."

Identify Yourself: Fashion vs Passion

What if you bought a new car, a really expensive one, and a friend wanted to borrow it.  Oh yes, he or she would have to be a really good friend for you to consent.  So they borrow your car and when they bring it back you are devastated.  Not only did they paint elaborate graffiti all over it, but they also modified the inside.  It doesn’t look like the same car and its value has significantly lower.  Would you be happy?

“For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” – 1 Corinthians 6:20

I should probably stop right here and let people figure out what they should do, but I’ve never been an appeaser when it comes to truth.  Here is a fact that no true Christian can deny.  God is good and Satan is bad.  Here are some more facts.  God is Almighty, and Satan is merely the “god of this world.”  God’s enemy is Satan and the carnal mind.  God’s people live according to God’s will, Satan’s subjects live according to the world system.  God’s people identify by themselves by their surrender to God, and Satan’s people identify themselves by surrender to Satan.  That was really simple.

Now consider that the subjects of Satan love to wear his symbols.  They love to wear death and demons on their clothing and tattooed on their bodies. Some of them will even engage in image mutilation in order to honor their master.  Image mutilation is getting worse as the apostasy increases and the world system becomes more hedonistic.  It is a statement of self-possession, i.e. “It my body and I’ll do with it as I please.”  It is the same premise used by pro-abortion advocates.  However, to own oneself is not to be owned by God.

Clearly, God’s word declares that as Christians, we do not own our bodies.  Our bodies belong to God.  When He redeemed us with the blood of His Son, we became His possession.  Therefore, we should honor God with our bodies as we do with our spirits.

That being the case, why would someone who claims to be God’s property mutilate their body, which is created in God’s image?  If we belong to God, why should we be identified as the property of Satan?  Is that okay with God?

Most Christians do not seem to care what God thinks about their appearance.  It is as if they are making statements to the world system; “Okay, you’re stronger than us.  Your influence is more powerful.  We are terrified of being criticized by you.  We want what you have.  We want to identify with you.  It is embarrassing to be identified as a Christian.”

So we have this body that belongs to God, but we’re going to tattoo graffiti all over it, get all types of piercings, and wear the symbols of bondage and death on our bodies and clothing.  No, I’m not a legalist,  I don’t preach against women wearing jewelry, makeup, or pants.  I’m just saying that we should be conscientious about bringing glory and honor to God.

Why should free people headed to heaven be identified with bound people headed to hell?  Is there any spiritual benefit in it?  When our fashion to please the world negates our passion to please God, it’s time for change.  Confession is not possession.  If we claim the Name, we ought to want the same.  Is that too much Jesus?

“Holy Spirit search me.  Expose every unclean thing in me.  Make my heart pure.  Make me the same on the outside as I am on the inside.  I present myself as a living sacrifice.  Consume me with purging fire.  Help me bring honor and glory to God Almighty.  I surrender to the One who bought me with the life of His Son, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

 

 

 

 

 

5 Comments

  1. Diana

    AMMMMEN, Pastor! I once asked the wife of a head elder how his and his buddies’ smoking cigars together squared with the verse in Corinthians that says, “Because we have these promises, brethren, let us be diligent to purge ourselves from all defilement of body and soul, making holiness perfect in the fear of God.”

    The thing about tattooing that gets me is, it’s so much reminiscent of getting branded like some sort of steer or pig; basically communicating that the person is nothing but chattel (Yah! The adversary’s!). Our skin is not simply matter (altho of course the Darwinists—the enemy’s minions, his useful idiots, to use Lenin’s term—would have us believe it is), even if we’re not a believer yet. Even the unbeliever’s body is still created in His image, and therefore something much more significant and important than mere meat.

  2. Friend

    Thank you for teaching on this topic. I will be sure to share with others! What is more troubling is when it is a tattoo of scripture.

  3. Evangelina

    Amen! I cringe at all the things I see all around me, and in churches! You’d think you were in sodom & gomorrah! That anyone wants to look like that, let alone those who claim the Name. I see these people and they look sooo ridiculous, they don’t even know how much. God sculpted me to want to honor Him and that is what I do. I am a female, I dress modestly and discreetly. I don’t wear a lot of things like heels, bling and glitter, too much makeup or jewelry, I won’t wear designer clothes and avoid the latest fashions. I have natural hair that is grown to a variety of lengths and I do nothing to it to style it. I’m not saying all have to be cookie cutter types in the same mold, but there is a thing defined by the word ‘modesty’ and not seeking outward adornment. These things are in the bible and even the New Testament. Like I follow 1 Cor. 11 to a certain extent. I do it in a way that doesn’t cause confusion but I can just hear all the types coming and calling me ‘legalistic.’ My answer to them is: legalistic is the judaizers wanting to put the church under the yoke of the law, like keeping the sabbath on saturday, but these things are instructions to the church in the New Testament from an apostle about rules for the church. So, how is that legalistic? Also, Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. We are to be holy. None of that is being ‘legalistic’ and to say that it is is just to go along with the lie from the pit of hell.
    I am not intimidated by the world nor do I cower to their trends or conform to their image. I am called by His name and am priviledged as such and want to bring honor and glory to Him who bought me and freed me, not obey the one who didn’t buy me but wants to enslave me. I don’t give a flyin’ hoot what those lost conformists think! And they sure do look enslaved! I think of those captives being dragged off to Assyria and Babylon with the hooks in their noses and chains attached, branded as property.
    Blessings to you brother! ( :

  4. C.H. Fisher

    In reference to tattoos, I used two words, “tattoo” and “tattooed.” However, for some reason a number of people thought my article was only about tatoos. Actually, it was about more than that. It was concerning the display of one’s image as being in bondage to the world system. However, a number of people defended me. That’s okay. I do not back down from anything I wrote. There was time that no true Christian would have been offended by what I wrote. People decide to accept truth by whether or not it offends them. Truth does not owe its life and essence to popular vote, or being palatable. We must conform to it, not attempt to conform truth to our will. It’s just truth. One must take it or leave it.

  5. Pamela Haugen

    I do not think it is legalistic to preach against those things ..
    Legalism is when your doing those things in order to be saved .. but when a preacher against woman wearing pants or jewlery that is bibical i dont think it s legalistic to preach truth.

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