Let’s Make Dignity Fashionable Again!
MAN MATTERS...
"Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor.” ~ Job 40:10 ESV
It does not matter how the times may have changed, dignity never goes out of style. There is perhaps nothing more masculine and emblematic of manhood than a man who wears his dignity well. The clothes that adorn the man will either compliment or detract from the dignity within him. But clothes don’t make the man, dignity does.
It is unfortunate, and so painfully obvious, that the fine gentlemanly art and science of dignified manhood has been lost on our contemporary generation. Witness the sagging pants to the revealing of underwear, profanity publicly proclaimed without discretion or shame, the blatant misogyny leveled at women, and the mindless disrespect shown one another using racial epithets as terms of endearment that once accompanied the lynching of our people not much more than a generation ago. It seems the more that dollars have increased among our people in recent years, dignity has decreased disproportionately. One might even declare the uncomfortable truth that dignity may have very well all but been dissolved from our midst today. Regarding our dignity as men, we have been slothful to our shame. And sadly, our women and children have followed our slothful example relinquishing their dignity as well.
In recent years our collective exodus from our once vaunted community churches has left us void of the intimate knowledge of and personal experience with God, who by His grace gives us knowledge concerning our very selves. What we have abandoned is not a false knowledge of our inauthentic contrived selves, but rather the knowledge and experience of our authentic, genuine selves: the work of our Creators hands, a people made in the image and likeness of God, who Himself is the very definition of divine dignity, glory and majesty.
His divine dignity is the majesty that God the Father wears in all His incomparable glory. It was seen in Jesus - Yeshua - the Son of God, in the meekness (meaning “power under control”) of His majestic humility that He wore all the way from the manger to the cross, all in order that we might be redeemed from our eternal death sentence on account of our sin and be saved. It is a divine dignity that can be fervently experienced by us and those who encounter us by way of the presence and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit residing in us who are born again. It is the Holy Spirit, the effervescent source of the divine dignity that never fails, no matter what duress it may be put under by the trials and troubles of this world. Oh, how we men so especially need to be reconciled to the divine dignity of the Lord again. Our times demand dignity.
Dignity itself will not necessarily eliminate altogether the oppressive injustices which seems to find its way to press upon us the duress we would welcome any relief from. But a dignity that can be seen, heard and felt will lessen the prevalence and preponderance of indignities prevailing against the bears of a dignity that is divinely inspired, sourced and supplied. I do personally believe with Christ-certainty, that such divine dignity is the fuel that makes us who God called us to be: more than conquerors, able to do all things through Christ who strengthens us. For it is the residing dignified presence of the Holy Spirit, the very same Spirit that resided in Christ, “who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Eph.3:20). It is not the frailty of human dignity that we should desire, but the divine dignity of God Himself.
We need more than a change of our wardrobe and personal style to resurrect the dignity that we ourselves put to death in favor of the adoption of an antichrist culture and spirit that has a long and pronounced history from biblical times to the present day of seeking to wipe out males, maleness and manhood. Pharaoh and King Herod were co-opted by this demonic spirit to wipe out the Hebrew males to prevent giving rise to the overwhelming power to be exemplified by the Son of Man who would come into the world to reveal the Son of God, the long awaited Messiah. In days of old, the devil took a more direct approach to wiping out males. Today he is exercising greater discretion, deception and stealth to accomplish his aims. Wherein he once attacked murderously using a direct approach, today the devil is attacking males by attacking their dignity through the seduction of the culture of hip-hop.
We who are Christ-conscious, blood of the Lamb bought, redeemed men of God are of His lineage, made in His image and likeness, having been saved to carry forward His legacy left to us to:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mat. 28:19-20).
“...destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
As godly men, we are explicitly called upon to imitate Christ, not the culture of this world and its kingdoms. To imitate Christ is to wear His divine dignity and majesty, forsaking the perverse culture of a world seeking to effeminate males or create societal menaces out of them in an effort to neuter their dignity. Christ adopted us for the express divine purpose of walking out His divine dignity and majesty on the earth as His ambassadors. We are emissaries of the King of kings and His kingdom in an alien land, a land where dignity has been alienated in favor of indignity, masculinity alienated in favor of femininity. Look around you... How distinctly would divine dignity stand out among all the indignity you see on display every day? Dignity is as distinctive as light in the midst of darkness, because light is precisely what divine dignity is. In a world full of darkness, dignity will cast its light and make you distinctive, giving you a distinguished distinction. Your dignity will easily cause you to stand out and stand apart for all the right reasons.
God requires of the leaders He calls that, “He must manage his own household well, with all dignity...” (1 Tim. 3:4). Dignity is the distinguishing characteristic found in the men that the Lord chooses to use for His divine purposes. The absence of noble and worthy leadership today, whether in God’s house, the White House or your house, is evidence of the dearth of dignity in our world. No question about it, dignity makes all the difference. Be different, a man of distinction. Be a man who distinguishes himself and makes a difference. Become a man who demonstrates divine dignity in each and every setting. Be dignified in your dress. Be dignified in your speech and vocabulary. Be dignified in the company you keep and in your choice of companions. Be dignified in your comportment, the respect that you show yourself and others. Be dignified in your work, work ethic and professionalism. Dignity is not determined by dollars. Dignity is determined by character. Let’s make a concerted effort to make dignity not only fashionable again but stylish as well, just as so many of our forefathers did. They might not have had much back then, but they had dignity and they wore it well. Perspective Matters...
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