Each Monday, I have a podcast that relates a story about the British Monarchy to our lives as members of the royal family of God. Today, the episode focused on the way women of God dress, which is an important topic especially as the summer months approach. The following is a partial transcript of The Royal Family Podcast season 1 episode 13. Episodes of The Royal Family Podcast released each Monday by The Light Network. 

Last month, Canadian author Margaret Atwood was answering questions about fashion and fiction at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, when someone asked her a question regarding Princess Kate. Most people are huge fans of the Duchess’s wardrobe, so it made it all the more surprising that Atwood commented that she isn’t that impressed. Atwood said, “I think she dresses quite uneventfully” She later referenced the late Princess Diana, whose fashion risks were applauded throughout her lifetime, and even postmortem, she is regarded as a fashion icon. So Atwood assesses that Princess Kate is not in the same category. Her dress is usually simple, understated, classy, and repeated. Fashion editors across the board always remark about how often she wears and re-wears outfits, and just a couple of weeks ago, Kate was photographed wearing a very reasonably priced dress – sixty-three dollars to be exact! She clearly has her own taste and budget for clothing – which we “commoners” can really appreciate, can’t we?

But clearly not Ms. Atwood. She thinks the royal should be dressing differently, but I think Kate Middleton is right on target with royal dress.

Here’s the thing about being a child of God: we are called to be holy. God has said we are to be holy as He is holy, and to the Christians in Corinth, Paul admonished them to be separate from the world and culture around them. As women, one of the ways we can distinguish ourselves as Christ-followers is by dressing differently than the women around us. By dressing “uneventfully,” as Margaret Atwood says.

When we read through 1 Timothy 2, we see Paul addressing the way women were to dress for worship. The key word here is modesty – but that may not mean what you think it means. In our 21st century culture, we often hear modesty and ascribe the cover-up rule. However, in the 1st century, the term modesty referred more-so to not going overboard in our fashion. After all, the word modest means balanced. We are to have neither too little nor too much. We are to be women of balance, choosing to let Christ be seen in us.

 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. (1 Timothy 2:8-10)

Here, Paul is saying that just like the men are to be holy before they get up in front of the church and lead, women are to be holy and they can do that by what they wear. We are to be women who are – sure, fashionable – but not women who bare too much skin as to cause someone to lust, and not too much that we cause someone to be distracted. We are to be women whose clothing doesn’t go overboard on the budget – keeping us from being good stewards of what God has given us. Instead, we are to be thoughtful in our purchases, with an eye toward how much it costs as well as what image it portrays. If all of our clothing says “look at me look at me” it’s probably not appropriate for a woman of God. But if our clothing is uneventful – if it doesn’t cause men to lust or women to become envious, if it doesn’t really cause someone to give a second thought at all – it’s probably a great thing to be wearing.

Again I say, that doesn’t mean you can’t be fashionable. Princess Kate is ever on top of the latest fashions -and I’m sure her budget for clothing is a bit more than the rest of us could or should afford – but still, she dresses mostly in a covered-up, not overly extravagant way. She dresses in a way that shows she respects her body as well as her position in England. And that is how we should dress: in such a way that shows we respect the bodies God has given to us – that they’re only ours and our husbands or future husbands – not to be shared with the world. But also dressing in such a way that shows we respect the position we’re in as members of God’s royal family. It should never be said of a woman of God “I can’t believe she is wearing that!” Too short, too low, too tight, too expensive, too anything!. We shouldn’t be women consumed with what goes on our bodies. Instead, we should be women who are consumed with maintaining an inner beauty that God deems as incorruptible beauty. And when we are women who are seeking that kind of beauty – true beauty – we will be women dressing the part.