BRANDING THE WIND
Unique religious clothing, buildings, speech and behaviors are strongly associated with particular religions. There is a curious disconnect in this practice, however, because religions which purport to be effective in communication with the spirit world commonly employ material, man-made artifacts (clothing, jewelry, buildings, symbols, names, etc.) to represent spiritual qualities or concepts. Thus, supposedly spiritual people always employ natural objects to make statements about their spiritual condition. The use of anything physical to represent something  spiritual is a practice that directly contradicts the claim to spirituality.

STUDY TIP: By definition, “spirit” has no form, and cannot be seen or touched. Spirit is like the wind which can only be heard. The works of the spirit of God are observable only in the hearts of New Covenant disciples who hear God’s voice.

In the case of Judaism and Christianity, it is absurd to try to demonstrate spirituality (god-likeness) through physical/material means. To do so is a clear indication of lack of understanding of what it really means to be created in God’s image. It is also contrary to God’s standards of faith.

While the Bible clearly says that we are created in God’s image (i.e. spirit), we cannot escape the fact that we also have material bodies and live in a material world. Exactly why God created a system with this tension is unclear. What is clear, however, is that Jesus is not of this world and that those who are truly spiritual should be only minimally in the world also. Therefore, God is constantly trying to wean his people off their affections for the material world and redirect them toward the truth of their spiritual reality. To affirm that direction and discourage his people from investing too heavily in worldly things, God has given ample warning about the future of all things material.

With these spiritual basics in mind, it is obvious that people who try to represent spirituality through anything worldly (i.e. physical or material) do not know that God has spoken specifically against representing holiness through clothing. Therefore, any person who attempts to outwardly represent a spiritual nature with material objects or behaviors provides clear evidence that the worldly (i.e. material) nature is still the predominant nature in that person’s life. And, contrary to their intent, such efforts make more of a statement about their worldly (i.e. fleshly/natural) nature than their spiritual nature.

That being the case, what are we to make of people who wear certain types of clothing or jewelry, and/or who engage in certain types of physical behaviors (words, postures, motions, etc.) to represent their spirituality? The first thing we know is that they do not know their Bible very well.

Next we see clearly that such people have a limited understanding of what it means to be spiritual. If the people who wear clothing or adornments that are commonly associated with religion were really spiritual they would understand that it is impossible to capture, contain or represent the Spirit of God by their own efforts or with anything material. They would also know that God is not fooled or influenced in a positive way by such adornments. If they understood these truths, they would also understand that efforts to represent spirituality with physical adornments of any kind are vain endeavors — at least as far as God is concerned. And yet, it is common among all religions, including Judaism and Christianity, to represent spirituality with clothing and behaviors that have cultural spiritual associations.

Taking a not-too-close look at the Bible we can see that Jews and Christians have no good excuse for their ignorance on this issue. For example, the Bible says clearly that we are made in God’s image. And yet people continue to try to embellish God’s glory in themselves with various kinds of physical adornments.