THE HIDDEN MAN OF THE HEART

THE HIDDEN MAN OF THE HEART

by Alan Adams

The beautiful thought expressed in this title is couched within a section of scripture which deals with the question of Christian wives trying to win their non-Christian husbands (1 Peter 3:1-7). First, the wife must not try to "talk" her husband into the church. There is a far more convincing method. Read verse one. The phrase, "the word," is used two times. Peter speaks of husbands who "obey not the word." This WORD is the word of God and the meaning is, these are people who have yet to obey the "word," they are not Christians. However, in the second case, for some reason unbeknownst to me, translators have added the definite article, "the," so, it reads: "they ...may without the word be won." Actually, that is quite impossible. Nobody can be WON without the word of God. The passage literally says, "they ... may without a word be won by the conversation of the wives." WORD, in this case, refers to speech coming from the mouth of the wife.
 
BEHAVIOR EVANGELISM

Peter says it is far more effective to win the husband by "conversation," and, no, this is not a contradiction of his just having said, "without a word." CONVERSATION is an old English word which, in 1611, meant "behavior," not dialogue. He says that for the husband to HEAR the words of the wife is not nearly as powerful a force as letting him "behold your chaste behavior coupled with fear" (1 Pet 3:2). This is a perfect example of that old saying: It is better to SEE a sermon than to HEAR it. Obviously, we do need to hear the Word of God preached, but that becomes a vain gesture if the sermon spoken is not, in turn, lived by the one so speaking.

Now, from verses, 1 Peter 3:3-7, notice the words "adorning," "wearing," and "apparel." Please take note that the way people ADORN themselves, what type of APPAREL they WEAR, is directly linked to the concept of "chaste behavior." Verse five says that the "holy women...who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands." In other words, their ADORNING was designed to reflect their SUBJECTION; but, the whole matter was grounded in the fact that they "trusted (hoped, ASV) in God."

GROOMING AND ATTITUDE

I know a lot of brethren would like to think that we can separate spirituality from style, godliness from garb, decency from dress, righteousness from ribbons, and holiness from hemlines, but, the Bible says otherwise. And, as noted above, it is clear that Inspiration linked the wife's manner of dress to her attitude about her husband and subjection to him.

Does it do violence to this passage to ask, “Does the way we dress reflect our attitude toward God and subjection to Him?” And here, I specifically have in mind those occasions when we gather publicly to worship God. Does it matter on such occasions how we dress? Whereas I am not one who thinks a coat and tie is the exclusive means of decorum and respect, it does, however, grate my sensibilities to see people come into public assemblies dressed in such ways as to show that they have given no thought whatsoever to discretion and modesty. Their body language and dress say it loud and clear, “This is no special occasion, I'm just here.”

Am I just a hopeless old fuddy-duddy? It is a timeless and historical fact that dress and demeanor are directly connected to such ideas as respect, dignity, honor, authority, and sub-ordination. Moses was told to respect "holy ground" (Ex 3:5). Will someone honestly argue that "the whole church be assembled together" (1 Cor. 14:23), a place where "God is among you indeed" (1 Cor. 14:25), does not, in some sense constitute "holy ground"? The long and short of the matter is: There is no place in public assemblies for sloppy and thoughtless attire. There is no place in public assemblies for disrespectful, Ho-Hum-Let's-Get-It-Over-With attitudes and demeanors.

IT'S A MATTER OF EMPHASIS

This is, in a way, the flip side of the point just made; yet, both points flow from the same principle. Does Peter say that it is wrong to "plait ... the hair," or to "wear ...gold"? No. For then, he would also be saying that it is wrong to "put...on apparel," and that would make no sense at all. It's a matter of emphasis or priority. Do we devote ourselves to the "outward adorning...," or "the hidden man of the heart"?

You see, the "hidden man of the heart" is "not corruptible." this means that the "hidden man" is not subject to decay: It doesn't get old and gray; it doesn't wrinkle and wear out. In contrast, this "outward" thing, the body, that we spend so much time and money on, DOES decay: It is ever marching toward its final demise, dust (Gen 3:19). Imagine: Decorating and displaying dust. People, now so dedicated to this "earthly tabernacle" (2 Cor. 5:1), this domicile of dirt, are headed for despair and depression. One day they will not be able to deny what the mirror and time are telling them. "The hidden man of the heart...the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price" (1 Pet 3:4). This is what keeps us young, vital, and vigorous. It is for this "cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day" (2 Cor. 4:16).

WHAT WE SAY BY OUR DRESS

When we dress so as to draw attention to, to cause others to be attracted by, our physical selves: either by way of ostentatious decoration, or by way of the alluring and provocative display of our bodies, we are saying, Hey, look at me, that is, look at this physical frame I inhabit. The Bible says, however, that we are to attract the attention of people by our "good works" (Matthew 5:16; 1 Tim 2:10).

Physical intimacy is a beautiful blessing given by God to a man and woman who have been "joined together" by God (Mat 19:6). To publicly DISPLAY those parts of our bodies which are uniquely involved in marital intimacy is shameful. Men and women who dress for public consumption in ways reserved for their mates in marriage are selfish, vain, and do dishonor to the one to whom they've pledged themselves, and more importantly, God.

MODESTY IS THE RULE OF THE DAY

Peter speaks of "adorning" oneself with "the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit" (1 Pet 3:4), and Paul of "adorn[ing oneself] in modest apparel, with shamedfacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array" (1 Tim 2:9). There is simply too much said in the Bible about this matter of modesty for us to ignore it; particularly as it relates to the way we dress. Christians are to be a discreet and modest people. Let us not violate this Divine precept either by under-or over-dressing. If discretion is the better part of valor, it is also the better part of honor, respect, and dignity.