Recently I have seen professing Christians dressed in cowboy-western clothes complete with boots, big belt buckle and even the big Stetson style Cowboy hats. It sadly reminded me of my youth before I was born again. It started me thinking. Why do I view that as wrong? What Biblical basis do I have for not approving of this type of clothes?

As an unconverted youth, my friends had this country-western music and I soon grew to love it. Looking back, it is shocking to me that I, a professing Christian, could sing along with songs of immorality without seeing how incongruous it was to the Biblical standards.

Through the years I have come to notice that If you tell me the type of songs that a person sings and the type of clothes that he wears, I have a fairly good picture of what his character is like. The Bible states that “by your fruits ye shall know them.” We must ask ourselves, is our life showing the fruit of the Spirit or unrighteousness!

Now, I am not saying that you can not wear a hat or boots and be a true disciple of God. I am sure that there are some born again, godly people who are wearing these clothes probably from little up. Perhaps your job requires you to wear boots. I am not against wearing things appropriate for the conditions you are in. I would just like to raise the concern and ask the question to make sure we are truly aware of what we are representing.

As a follower of Jesus Christ we will desire, as much as possible, to have the same meek and humble attitudes and display the same simple dress that He did. Someone who has the new nature of Christ would naturally not want to appear copying the influences and ways of the spirit of the world. For example, is another circle, a person who wants to be known as a “toughie” or “rebel” may wear leather clothes or have a Mohawk haircut.

Did you ever notice how quick people are to form friendships around the type of things that you wear or own? Two complete strangers can meet and know immediately by what they look like that this person has mutual interests! You notice two motorcyclists giving each other thumbs up as they pass one another on the road. Or two people who are driving Jeeps wave to each other even though one is out of state license plate! They don’t need to know each other; they have a common bond. It is the same with the cowboy clothes. They feel that they have common ground simply by the tastes that are portrayed.

Doesn’t that make us stop and think about what spirit we are portraying in how we dress? Should a Christian be portraying a cowboy spirit? Should we not rather be dressed in a way that shows a meek and humble spirit?

And that brings us to just what is a cowboy spirit? What comes to your mind when you see the cowboy hat, boots, etc.? The country-western music is closely attached to the spirit of cowboys and gives us many insights to what this clothing style is representing. Now, I am not saying that just because you wear a cowboy hat, etc., now suddenly you become a wild cowboy straight from the movies. But, please be mindful that you are in fact, portraying this attitude to people whether you intend to or not.

Here are a few things that come to my mind in connection to cowboys.

• A wanderer; someone with no place to call home, an unstable person.
• A loose immoral life, living with multiple partners.
• A “tough” person, one who is self-sufficient, even proud of himself. (I’m cool if I wear these clothes.)
• A “free” person with no strings attached to any place or person, irresponsible, a loner.
• A rebellious person, not wanting any authority over him, his own boss.
• A gun carrying, stand for your rights no matter what it costs the other person attitude, a criminal waiting to happen.
• A tobacco user. (Ever notice how the tobacco companies advertise to try to make the users appear macho?)