Numbers 15:37-41
37 The LORD said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. 39 You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. 40 Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. 41 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD your God.’”
God commands Moses, in this excerpt from Numbers, to have the Israelites wear special tassels on their garments, which would move when they moved and be a visual reminder of their covenant with God.
As the rest of the Old Testament bears out, Israel has a hard time sticking to its promises, especially when the rest of the ancient world around it is worshipping other gods and doing things that God said He didn’t like, without any visible punishment. Especially in the book of Judges, Israel waffles back and forth between God and Ba’al (or between God and pretty much any other regional deity with purported powers).
God’s command, then, is not just a fashion statement but a way of setting apart the Israelites from the others. They would look slightly different from the Canaanites, and they would also (ideally) behave differently from neighboring nations as well because they would be daily reminded by the tassels on their clothes. Their tassels, much like their commandments, would mark them as God’s chosen people.
Our ‘Tassels’: Crosses and WWJD, Among Others
Today, Christians wear a variety of things that (supposedly) show their faith: crosses dangling from necklaces; WWJD bracelets; shirts with Bible verse references printed in grungy fonts; even Bible verse brooches and pins. We mark ourselves as different with fashion, and we’re not alone in that–across the world, different religions and different cultures have been using fashion as a symbol of their uniqueness for millennia.
But are we Christians using these symbols, these modern-day tassels, as visual reminders of our faith?
I would venture to say that much of Christian fashion symbolism is mainly worn for pretending or for boasting, and not much for reminding. We’re more concerned with what other people will think of us wearing these symbols (i.e., we’re “better people”) than really believing what they stand for. But other Christians and non-Christians who observe us will notice our behavior, whether good or bad, and compare it to that symbol we are wearing. When we sin, and someone else notices not only the sin but the religious symbols, they are more apt to think that Christianity is bogus.
Case in point: I knew plenty of “Christians” growing up who wore all the trappings of Christianity, all the shirts and bracelets, all the cross necklaces you could ever want…but they never really ACTED like Christians. Instead, they acted selfish, boorish, judgmental, self-righteous, childish, and/or reckless. This reflected badly not only on them, but on the faith their fashion professed. Their fashion choices claimed they were set apart from the world, but they acted like perfectly happy members of the world.
If we’re going to wear the fashions of Christianity, we should let those symbols remind us of our faith, and remind us to practice it every day, not just Wednesday night and Sunday morning. Wearing the cross doesn’t mean you’re saved, necessarily, but bending before the proverbial cross and accepting Jesus does. Wearing a WWJD bracelet doesn’t mean you’re trying to live as Jesus taught, but reading Jesus’ teachings and doing your best to follow them does. We just can’t fake being slightly set apart from the world.