The issue of how a Christian is supposed to behave in society is a complex one. It becomes even more complex when the “born again” label is attached to the Christian and moral expectations rise. There is a global definition of “Christianity Reborn”, and then there is the Nigerian definition. As I always say in my treatises, Nigerian definitions of Christian principles are characterized by extremes fueled by ignorance. This is not meant to imply that ignorant Christianity is peculiar to Nigeria; no sir! Throughout the Christian world, people are seriously misinterpreting the Holy Bible and the teachings of Christ every day. However, my already established case study for the book I published on this subject is Nigeria. So, my interest is Nigeria’s brand of ignorant and misinformed Christianity.

Nigerians are committing all kinds of wicked or ignorant acts every day in the name of Christ. In certain matters, it is relatively easy for rational individuals to tell what is right from what is wrong. For example, most rational people around the world agree that taking human life in any way in the name of Christ is wrong. Very often, however, it is difficult to decide or conclude who is really on the right path of Christianity, and this has a lot to do with human imperfection in interpreting the Holy Bible, the teachings of Christ, and ultimately, the will. of God. What some of us (the human race) sincerely believe and affirm to be the will of God is not always true, and we have proof of this fact. A good one is that humanity once believed that the world was a flat object. In fact, the man who discovered that the world is actually spherical was hunted down and executed for “blasphemy.”

Aside from the question of the shape of the world, much of the confusion in the Christian belief system is most often generated by the fact that the Bible and the teachings of Christ are based on parables and proverbs, which breed ambiguity. With ambiguity, the understanding and interpretation of “The Message” often varies from one Christian or from one sect of Christians to another. Let’s relate this to the title of this treatise: how do we define the Christian fashion of being “born again”? I am talking about the general physical appearance of a born again Christian in Nigeria, and my focus is on women. I am singling out women because they are to blame for my observation that born again Christians in Nigeria go to two extremes in their physical expression.

At one extreme, we have women in Nigeria who see nothing wrong with looking good as Christians. Usually this is the view I subscribe to; God is never associated anywhere in the Bible with ugliness. Anyone who allows themselves to look bad or ugly is, in my opinion, not representing the will of God. Unfortunately, however, some of the “good looking” Christian women in Nigeria often look too hot to be Christian. They often look so “fine” that they look like hookers on the street to pull tricks. Now, to that I definitely say no!

Many Christian women expose too many parts of their bodies that should be covered in public. Worse yet, ‘irresponsible’ fashion isn’t limited to your secular world; they take you directly to church on Sundays. Humanity can fake it all we want, but the natural fact remains that most normal men, including pastors by the way, tend to be distracted by sinful thoughts and sexual imaginings in church when we see a woman dressed sexually. provocative. Women who dress “to kill” are also well aware of this fact; they know exactly what they are doing. They know the negative impact of her act on the men within the church. In fact, many of them purposefully dress so provocatively to make a ‘catch’ in church, if you catch my drift.

Then, we have women on the other end who believe that looking good is a sin. They think you’re only a born again Christian if you dress and look like a “plain Jane” nerd. I definitely, definitely say NO to this! I declare that Christ did not teach us to look bad to get to heaven. He couldn’t have done it, when there are passages in the Bible that talk about God and beauty. Don’t ask me to quote any of them verbatim, but we all know that God is associated with beauty and not ugliness. I really have a big problem with a woman who decides to throw away her God-given beauty in the ignorant belief that Christ wants her to look ugly and unenhanced.

It’s bad enough for ‘mature’ women to do it, and downright disastrous when young, unmarried girls allow their beauty to fade in the ignorant belief that it’s God’s will. Christian or not, every woman should polish and enhance herself to look attractive, to the glory of the God of beauty. This is more important for single women, who must always remember that they have to look good to attract husbands. They should keep in mind that most men, including born again Christians, would not marry physically unattractive women simply because they are born again Christians.

It is a Christian requirement that a woman get married one day, and to get married, a woman has to look attractive to men. We all know that the attractiveness of a woman (in fact, of men too) is most often based on the enhancement of the basic physique and not necessarily on inherent beauty. There are people who are naturally beautiful, but even they have to keep enhancing that beauty, or it will wither away. Sure, Jesus Christ himself would probably marry any woman just to her heart’s content, but unfortunately, Christ cannot come down from heaven and marry every Christian woman on earth. Therefore, my conclusion is that any single woman who intends to get married need not let her beauty fade away, in Christ’s name.

So as Christians, we must learn to strike a balance by looking good without looking too good. We must not despise our beauty in the name of Christ, but we must also desist from dressing in blatant impropriety in the name of beauty. Like I said, women who are guilty of looking too good know exactly what they’re doing when they dress so provocatively to church. I have seen some pastors openly rebuke them in church.

“They are the incarnations of the devil that he sends to destabilize the church,” a pastor once said in a sermon. He would say that he was probably taking it a little too far, but maybe not.

“Folks,” he continued, “I was a man before I became a pastor, and I have feelings too. Sure, I may be able to fight distraction spiritually better than any man, but I’m human all the time.” same.”

Now, that’s my kind of man; a pastor who does not unnecessarily claim to be holy than he thinks; one who admits that he is human, with weaknesses like the one next door. I’m going somewhere with this concluding comment, by the way! It brings me to the topic of my next blog: Sex and Hypocrisy in Christianity. Keep in touch with me.

Meanwhile, what do you think of Christian fashion?