WHERE WILL IT END? by Dudley Marvin Canright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 15, 1877

WHERE WILL IT END?

By Dudley Marvin Canright

From my earliest recollection, Seventh-day Adventists have been a plain people in their manner of dress, and all the way along it has been a point upon which much has been said, as the tendency has ever been to conform more or less to the world, and to follow the fashions of the day. This is no less the tendency to-day; and as it ever has been, so now it is necessary to exhort to plainness. The adorning should not be of the outward person, in the plaiting of the hair or the wearing of costly apparel, but it should be of the inward man, the hidden man of the heart. 1 Pet. 3: 3, 4; 1 Tim. 2: 9, 10.

All through the Bible, God recognizes in terms of approbation, the humble person, a peculiar people, the meek of the earth, &c.; while the haughty one, the proud one, and the vain one, he is said to look upon with displeasure. Especially when light has come to individuals or to a people as it has to us, on this point, how exceedingly hateful it must look in the eyes of the great God, when these individuals or this people are found courting the world by conforming to its ways, or dressing so as to maintain a position among the proud.

It seems too late in the day for either old or young who profess to believe this message, and to be walking in its light, to be adorning themselves, to gain the favor of this one or that one, or by any means whatever seeking the honor of worldly men. On the contrary, we should all be studying to be a peculiar people, a plain people, a humble people, as we come down to the very last time, when we must soon, one and all, render an account for all pride of the heart, all vain desires, and every attempt we have made to get honor to ourselves, at the sacrifice of honoring our Creator, our Saviour, or his cause. Oh! then how mean our garments will appear if we have not heeded the counsel of the True Witness to buy of him gold tried in the fire, and white raiment, that we might be clothed. Rev. 3: 18.

But, say some, we must conform somewhat to the society we are in, or we shall have no influence among society; or, My influence will be greater if I conform to the customs of the world in a measure. Quite a plausible excuse for those who love their own ways. But by so doing, do we really honor Christ and gather with him? While order and neatness and a becoming apparel are everywhere commendable, a conformity to the world, by either people or individual, paves the way for more evil than good that can possibly come of it. Instead of reforming by our plain manners those who need reforming, we virtually consent to their style and manner of appearance. Instead of conforming to the Spirit of Christ, it is conforming to the spirit of the world, and encouraging others in that direction.

Our sisters should be slow to adopt the prevailing fashions, and unless they are in some way healthful, economical, or convenient, we should leave them for those who seek only for the perishable things of earth. Let us who believe in the soon coming of the Saviour, live reformatory lives, even though it subject us to unpopularity and derision, as it ever has those who have accepted the cross-bearing way.

“But,” said a lady to me not long since, in conversing upon the subject of plainness of dress, “I think there is no harm in adorning ourselves so as to look as pretty as possible, for nature itself teaches us to love the beautiful.” Said she, “We have a natural love for flowers, and hence there could be no harm in wearing them if one were so disposed.” But I thought I could see a difference between our love and admiration for God’s creation, and that of man’s work. In the beautiful flowers and vines of the field or garden, we behold the handiwork of God, and, through nature, look up to nature’s God, loving the bountiful Giver more for the workmanship displayed. But in the artificials and designs of man’s formation, instead of turning our minds to the Creator, we are led to admire the work of the creature and the creature itself; and in wearing such adorning, we invite our fellow creatures to look upon and admire a body of corruption and decay. It must appear very sinful in the sight of God for us to be thus diverted from the great object of our love. Does not this adorning all come from a desire to exalt ourselves before the God who made us? No wonder God hates the proud heart; and we should be alarmed whenever we find ourselves building ourselves up by excuses for wearing this and that article of finery or fashion.

Another point in this connection. Parents cannot be too guarded over their children in respect to the natural inclination to pride, especially in their daughters. I have often been pained to see our people who have long known the truth and trained their children along with them, indulging them in all the fashions of youth. They desire a flower or a ruffle, and the parents reason that because they are young they must be indulged a little; and so, without teaching them the sinfulness of vanity, they yield a little here and a little there, till before they are aware of it, their little daughters have grown with a desire to imitate the dress of fashionable young ladies around them. What a mistake! Why not on the start teach them the folly of all these things, and instill within them right principles, a love for better and more sensible things? Mothers, it can be done if the favorable opportunity of infancy and childhood is not let slip.

Mrs. D. M. CANRIGHT.