"following the customs of the natives in terms of clothing"

I personally feel that what matters most is if we dress the way God wants us to dress. Personally I think it is important to develop our own personal dress standard convictions. I believe we need to follow the Lamb wherever he leads us, instead of our peers. It often grieves my heart when I see sincere young people from plain conservative churches lay aside their modest clothing and attire simply because they because they marry into a more liberal congregation. I believe the deep root of the issue is a lack of personal conviction. I believe we need to be consistent in the way we live our lives. If our neighbors want to embrace our simple and modest lifestyle I believe we need to rejoice and praise God whether or not they join our church. If our neighbors never show any interest in following our example we need to be a bright light in this dark world around us. Well those are my thoughts. I hope it helps. By the way I came from a charismatic community Church. At one time I attended an UPC Pentecostal Church. As a young boy my Famliy and I had attended an Holiness Church of God group but after attending Public School for almost my entire school days I was quite liberal as a young teenager. Today I am a conservative modest Christian whom attends an Anabaptist Church. My personal convictions of a modest and simple dress standard were greatly impacted after studying the Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs by David Bercot. Well I am not sure how much more to say at this point. God bless you

I think the answer is: they don't have to answer to the epistle of Diognetes, because it's not Scripture; it's just a historical record that tells us how things looked then, which is interesting and valuable, but not inspired. I believe Anabaptists would make the case that it's a good thing and actually necessary for Christians to stand out as different in their appearance.

What was the customs of the native which these Christians were choosing to follow? I believe it is important to view the Ante Nicene Fathers in light of the New Testament Scriptures. Were they dressing immodestly? I do not believe so. Not on their life! I believe all they were trying to do was give us us an example of 1 Corinthians ch9 19-22 from the ASV “For though I was free from all men, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, not being myself under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, not being without law to God, but under law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak: I am become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.” I hope this helps.

I would like to consider where you left off on the quote which you shared. I believe its context shed much light on their lifestyle. If they were truly men-pleasers the offense of the cross would have ceased. Remember the words of Jesus . (John 15:19) If you were of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. With these thoughts in mind let’s continue reading .“they display to us a wonderful and undoubtedly striking way of life. They live in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, yet endure all things as if they were foreigners. Every foreign land is to them like their native country, and every land of their birth is like a land of strangers. They marry, like everyone else; they have children, but they do not destroy their offspring. They share a common table, but not a common bed. Though they are in the flesh, they do not live according to the flesh. They spend their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all people and are persecuted by all. They are unknown yet condemned; they are put to death and restored to life; they are poor yet make many rich; they lack all things yet abound in everything; they are dishonored yet in their very dishonor are glorified; they are spoken evil of yet they are justified; they are reviled and they bless; they are insulted and repay the insult with honor; they do good yet are punished as evildoers. When punished, they rejoice as if brought to life. They are attacked by the Jews as foreigners and persecuted by the Greeks, yet those who hate them cannot provide any reason for their hatred.”

I do not attend an Anabaptist Fellowship, but I listen to many of the Anabaptist Brothers on YouTube. I agree with so many things, but I was listening to one of the older brothers and it seemed that he was saying that wearing double knit fabric is sinful. I understand and agree in dressing modestly, not in expensive or flashy apparel but I do not understand where in Scripture we find that wearing anything other than 100% cotton/ linen can be construed as sinful. I know the Old Testament had a restriction against weaving wool and linen together, but in my mind, that OT scripture does not apply.Thank you in advance for your input. 

Hi Cody I will share my thoughts. From what I have experienced often times, it is not uncommon that opinions are simply based upon our personal feelings. And I feel that way too often opinions can turn into dogmatic ideas which we try to pressure others to accept as Law. I have found it valuable to ask myself “Why do I feel this way about a particular subject? What has lead me to this persuasion?” I’m not sure how much more to say right now.

I believe distinctive dress is not a religious proscription rather it is a part of the glue that keeps a community together.  I would think ancient Christians had some kind of identifying appearance that made them distinct from the world.  If conservative anabaptist women dressed in the same way as other women in the United States, then it would open a door to other practices that lead to an abandoment of other factors the define anabaptist living.  

Thank you for your responses. They shed some light on the subject for me. Blessings.

1Timothy 2:9 "Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive apparel,"I think this passage is pretty clear for dressing modest. I think Anabaptist women dress modest in general. On the other hand, there are other kinds of dresses that can qualify as modest that Anabaptist women may not wear for many reasons. I don't think conformity in dress is called for in the Scriptures, only that the clothing be modest. Having said that, if women in a particular community want to dress the same, there is no prohibition against that either in the Scriptures, we have freedom in Christ in things of this nature.

I want to thank everyone that responded. I agree that it is not Scripture, but it is a historical record of how the early church understood how the Scriptures called followers of Christ to live. I believe most of the people wore what we would consider modest clothing, unlike the half dressed people Hollywood portrays. In the writings we do have, it doesn’t mention that Christians were discovered by how they dressed, but by the way they acted/lived.

I also agree that part of the issue is the lack of personal conviction. I believe the Anabaptists spend so much time and effort making sure the outside is correct that they never take the time to train the inside, which would automatically take care of the outside. In other words, if they took more time and made more of an effort to make sure people understood what modest dress meant and why it was important they wouldn’t have to worry about how people dressed.

As it is now, based on my experience, there are people who do it because they belong to a congregation that demands it or they do it because they are trying to honor their mother and/or father. Those are not bad reasons, but they are wrong reasons. Personally I find it more important that people love God enough that they choose to obey Him. After all Jesus condemned the Pharisees because outwardly they looked the part, but inwardly their hearts did not love God.

Let me give a personal example. The very first men’s meeting I went to, one item for discussion was concerning black stockings. After some discussion I asked where this rule/standard came from. Nobody knew, it was just something they had always done and so had the congregations they came from. I’m not saying that congregations need to do away with standards, but they do need to go through them and know why they have them.

I would also suggest that they reevaluate them and decide whether they are mentioned in the Scriptures, then making sure everyone understands the Biblical calling behind them.

Having a congregation full of people that outwardly follow the rules/standards, but don’t do it because they love God is worse than having a congregation full of people that deny God, because they believe they are going to be welcomed into heaven for outward appearances.

I will close by stating that Anabaptists have many great things in their culture and I don’t have a problem with them keeping them or following them, as long as they know the Biblical reason(s) behind them. Tradition for tradition's sake is not only wrong, but eternally deadly.

Chris, it seems you have strong feelings about this, maybe justified in some cases. There is the other extreme too, where folks come dressed so sensual to church (outside the Anabaptist world) that they would not even be allowed at their pagan workplaces to dress that way. I'm talking women in miniskirts, heavy makeup, high heels, very tight fitting clothing, long painted nails, distracting hair styles, tattoos, etc. And some of these folks live like the pagans and yet are so convinced that Jesus is their Savior. At least, in the community dominated by Pharisees that look right on the outside, that make silly rules about black socks and cape dresses, there is a chance some of them dress modest for the right reasons. But with the crowd that is sensual and have no concept of modesty, yet call Jesus their own, it can be quite discouraging.

I agree Maria, my sister-in-law is a prime example of that. I have no problem with the cape dress or varieties of it, my wife wears one. One point of my post is to address those within the Anabaptist world that believe just because they follow the rules/standards their congregation demands, that they are saved. To me, this is no different than the example you give, which is very common in the Protestant churches. They both believe that since they profess the name of Jesus that they are saved, even though the scriptures clearly say it takes more. Another point is to address the reactionary rules/standards that exist to counter something the Protestants and/or Catholics said or did, with no scriptual basis for it... like the black stockings.

And the reason for modesty ties into the second commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. You cover your body in a modest way because you love your brother or sister and you don’t want them to stumble into immorality or fornication because of your way of dressing.

I appreciate your zeal towards teaching people the principle behind the action. If wearing modest clothes makes you stand out from the society around you, that is a valid reason to have distinctive dress that identifies you as separate from the world. But to wear clothes that are different from those around you just to identify you as a disciple of Christ… Where do you find that in the scriptures? I ask this because I have encountered teachings like that from the culture I grew up in, and I am not yet convinced that it is truth.