I’ve never been one for fashion.
I suppose the only time in my life when I craved cool clothes was when I was a teenager. When I was 15, I was big into The Stranglers. I heard their first album in a long-forgotten record shop in Cork, named Kenny’s Corner. This was also where I bought a limited edition 12-inch of U2’s first EP.
Anyway, after going to see The Stranglers at the City Hall in November 1977, I would have liked to model myself on bassist, Jean Jacques Burnel. I did have a leather jacket around that time, but I always thought that kids who tried to look like rock stars were a bit pathetic. In reality, if someone forced me to wear certain clothing, a key consideration would be comfort. I’m always most comfortable in a T-shirt and jeans. If I need to wear a fancy suit, it’s always a joy to come home and change back into comfy clothes. And T-shirts and jeans can be somewhat cool.
You don’t see T-shirts much in pop videos, but look at Paul McCartney here. This is from the film Help, which was partly filmed in the Bahamas. It was actually quite cold at the time so maybe he wasn’t as comfortable as he looked.
Looking at the Bible, you do get clothing mentioned in passages about heaven, particularly white robes. Why would anyone want to wear a white robe? Well, to understand it, it helps to consider fashion and culture in Israel 2,000 years ago. People wore robes, but you wouldn’t get every Tom, Dick and Harry wearing a pure white robe.
Perhaps you could afford one if you were rich, but it symbolized purity, so it would more likely be used in religious contexts. I see such references as symbolic rather than literal. At the same time, I can’t see myself in a t-shirt and jeans in heaven 😀. But in many cultures, and even in my culture growing up, clothing said something about your status. But why is it so important to impress others? The one who ultimately counts is God. So externally, I like a T-shirt and jeans and spiritually, I think of myself in a white robe. So whatever I’d be forced to wear down here, what counts is my status before God.
A robe of while, a crown of gold,
A harp, a home, a mansion fair,
A victor’s palm, a joy untold,
Are mine when I get there.
When I was into the Stranglers, little did I know that in a couple of years, I’d be delighting in hymns. I still think it’s cool to be tough, but all my biblical heroes are probably tougher than the Stranglers were. You don’t get any “effeminate vicar” types in the New Testament, at least none that I can find 😀. The song Five Minutes that I mentioned above is all about executing justice. You see a lot of that in the Bible too, except ultimately there won’t be any revenge attacks hitting heaven.
Revelation 7:9-10
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
Hibernia Gospel 