Do Clothes Make the Man?

I guess the suit makes up for the horns?

     The clothes make the man. That's the phrase that popped into my head during the Gospel this past Sunday.  The Gospel was a very compelling one, not for reason of shock value, but rather the hidden complexity of its structure. 

     In the passage, the three main sticking points are: not being able to serve both God and mammon, the lilies of the field, and serve first God and His righteousness. As it was read, I was honestly trying to analyze the progression of these three main topics and the correlation between them. The main point is the first: you cannot serve both God and mammon. You cannot serve good while retaining evil as evil is itself the absence of good. The second point is the longer one. It is the parable part of the reading. I find it interesting in two main ways: how its subject matter is seemingly disconnected from the point the parable is trying to reinforce (inability to serve God and mammon), and the weight given to clothes within the parable.

       

Got a Brand-New Bag?

     If Jesus is trying to explain how you can't serve good and evil, why does he start going on about food and clothes??? Is he just setting up material objects as subconscious false idols? The format of the parable is thus: First, the main point (do not worry about your life) and its particulars (food and drink and clothing). Second, the expansion of the particulars and how they pertain to God's care of the human person. Third, moral contrast used as a method of exposition. I suppose if you wanted a fourth you could look at the parable as a chiasm, which uses symmetry as both a pneumatic device and a way to lend importance to one key element. In this case that one important line would be "Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?" It's very interesting to look at this passage in this light, but in the interest of time I am getting off-topic.

     The first and third points I won't touch on, but for purpose of this post the second point is very interesting. This wasn't the only time the bible spoke of setting up false idols, even idols out of everyday possessions, but what is unique is the stress He puts on clothing versus food and drink. He gives two examples to show why clothing is unimportant, but only one for food and drink. So why is clothing so important in terms of morality?

The Man makes the clothes

     Took me multiple paragraphs, but here's my reference to my first picture: "Why is the devil commonly pictured as dressing really well?!" If the clothes make the man, and the devil is dressed well, what is the syllogism to be drawn? It honestly makes no sense. Being dressed well is important for what reason? Doesn't it just matter how a man lives? Why, though, is it important to be dressed to the nines at mass? These are questions that I won't weigh in on because I've ranted on for awhile now and am losing focus. Sorry for leaving more questions than answers. We need the questions before we get to the answers, though. Just don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself. 

~Worley