In Praise of Dignity

I have always had the belief that there exists a link between theology and dignity. Now for an old country boy to even entertain such a thought is almost in itself proof that the link does indeed exist. While the culture in which I was reared did not reach the highest levels of classical social refinement, it did accommodate those things which were respectable and dignified.

Today, I think that we would all agree that etiquette and things that relate to dignity and civility are dying a slow and painful death. However, I do not think that most people see the far reaching implications of letting these knights of the good and proper perish. Their death can be married to a whole host of modern day atrocities. So what do loose shirttails and crude behavior have to do with school shootings, postmodern moods and spiritual apathy? Much!

THE THEOLOGICAL BASIS FOR DIGNITY

Genesis wastes little time in telling us that God made man is His own image and in His likeness (Genesis 1:26). In a constitutional way, we are like God. God is a Person; we are persons. God thinks, feels and acts and so do we. The Godhead is also the ultimate embodiment of holiness, truth, beauty, love, goodness, justice, etc. God does not just possess these attributes, but is the source of these distinctive elements.

What does this theological truth mean? It means that there is a two pronged responsibility on our part. First, we should try, as much as possible, to recognize and  acknowledge God’s beauty, order and perfection. But secondly, intrinsic to this acknowledgment should be a mirroring of these attributes in ourselves. In other words, God, in making us in His image, designed us to reflect His nature, so we should purpose to be like Him as much as possible. By doing this we respect who God is by recognizing who we are and how He made us. That is at least one aspect of true worship. We seek to know Him in His beauty and holiness. We seek to live in such a way as to convey that beauty and holiness as His creation, since we are made in His image.

When we fail to recognize and reflect these elements there is a breakdown in the personality. We no longer function as we were designed and respect is lost for God, ourselves, others and creation in general. We have no authority to hold society together. This results in unpredictable outbreaks of transgression, anarchy, tragedy and chaos result. Tozer was right in telling us that all problems are theological.

THE PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR DIGNITY

Mr. Leroy Forlines tells us in his book Systematic Theology that life is made up of four basic relationships: man’s relationship to God, man’s relationship to himself, man’s relationship to others and man’s relationship to the created order. Man’s relationship to God has already been discussed. But how does dignity relate to the other relationships?

When we recognize that we are God’s creation and are made in His image, we recognize our worth in light of those facts. We also recognize that if this is true for us, then it is also true for other humans. They too were designed to reflect His attributes. Therefore, there should be a mutual sense of respect and worth in our relationships one to another. These realizations also influence our sense of how we relate to ourselves. When we realize that we are made in God’s image and were designed to mirror beauty, holiness, love wisdom, goodness, and so on, we suddenly realize that because we were created by this perfect God, we should have respect for ourselves. That realization also tells us that we have worth. This would apply to the created order (animals, environment, etc.).

THE PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF DIGNITY

Our deportment, dress and communication with God and others should be based on the dignity and worth of Who God is and who we are individually and collectively as those made in His image and after His likeness.

Therefore, when we go to church we should seek to recognize and acknowledge God’s attributes. The primary way in which we can do this is by seeking to reflect (not just reflect upon) these attributes while we worship. We can reflect His holiness by living in such a way as to be able to lift up holy hands unto the Lord through worship. But this concept must extend also to our deportment in worship. We should worship in a holy, reverent and dignified manner. This does not exclude spontaneity, but there must be dignity. Of course, this principle should be applied to how we dress for worship too.

In a broader way, how we dress and behave should reflect our quest to recognize and respect God and others. While everyone will not dress in a three-piece suit, we should seek to be reflective of the dignity and beauty that God has bestowed upon us as His creation. When we meet other people in social circumstances, we should respect them enough to dress in a neat, orderly manner whereas to reflect our respect for them and to elicit respect from them. Of course, postmodern ideas have broken down any standard for dress by promoting the question as to who can say what is good or what is appropriate. But I believe that the more we know about God, the more we will come to a consensus in our standards. The problem is that we don’t want to conform. We want to rebel in our individuality. We do not want to think on the things listed in Philippians 4:8. We want to identify with a world gone awry and be identified with the crowd.

How we dress and behave does matter. In dating, when young men meet their dates with unkept hair, shirt tails out and shirts unbuttoned, or with their pants pulled down so low that they show their underwear, they are saying that their individual desire to be “cool” and look like the crowd is of greater value than reflecting neatness, order and dignity to another person (their date). The other person is not worth their dressing up. When people belch out loud, they are telling others that their presence does not matter enough to refrain from crude behavior. Others are not worth the effort of curtailing behavior. A host of other gross actions of greater or lesser offence could be cited. By lowering the standard of dignity, we are devaluing ourselves, others and ultimately God. Of course, the same is true for the ladies.

Does this mean that people who don’t keep their shirt tails in will turn into serial killers? Perhaps not, but I can guarantee that when a society loses its hold on basic standards of appropriateness, civility and dignity, it will lose its respect for God, others, self, creation and life in general. When that happens, it is not long till the society crumbles. When men don’t open doors for women and women will not let them do so, does that mean that the world is going to pot? Perhaps not, but it does mean that values have been laid aside and there is little or no recognition of worth of other people. That is a dangerous situation.

CONCLUSION

The Oxford English Dictionary says that the root meaning for the word etiquette is a labeling or ticket. When we dress, behave and speak with dignity we label ourselves as trying to reflect all that is good and beautiful. We also tell others that they are worth our effort to dress, behave and speak properly because they too are made in the image of God. We label ourselves as living in such a way so as to reflect God’s image imprinted in us. We also label other people as having worth in our eyes and we acknowledge that worth. In doing these things we worship God through acknowledging His beauty and the beauty of His creation.

A note of caution must be sounded in all of this. Postmodern society does not value this virtue. Many people that we will reach for Christ will not even be aware of these matters. We must take people where they are and work with them to see these things accomplished in their lives. To do this, you need not let down your standard, but you must not have a proud attitude that we have arrived. All Christians are striving to be better, just on different levels. But the virtue must be held up.

It is time for Christians to stop extolling sloppy wear and ways. We need to start teaching even demanding, once again, especially in our homes and in our churches, the principles of appropriateness, respect, civility and etiquette. When that happens I think that we will see that when we seek to again praise dignity we will find that we are indeed praising God.  When we stand by and let civility spiral down the drain we will find that our ideas of God, others and ourselves will end up in the sewer. The absence of dignity and civility will lead to a debauched society of barbaric proportions.

No, societies do not crumble because of shirt tails and mussed or spiked hair. Societies are destroyed by a loss of respect, dignity and a regard for authority. Yet how we dress, behave and speak are direct indicators of our attitudes and what we value. From where I stand, we are in trouble. Things must be turned around.

As I look on my own life I see that I certainly have a long way to go. This might be true for you also. However, I believe that the human spirit can reflect either path. We can reflect the beauty of God or, in our selfish and fleshly want for individuality and/or integration with the age, we can reflect the ugliness and disorder of a world gone wanton. We can and should choose to praise dignity. If we do things will change. It will not happen until we label certain modes of dress, behaviors, and speech as right and proper in our homes and in our families.