so that people will know you're a Christian?
I think I've disproved that theory.
I recently got a new job. I no longer follow the Pentecostal 'dress code' and haven't since I've worked there. I honestly was curious if it would prove to be true that no one would know I was a Christian, or "different", without the "separateness" of the dress code.
I'm not the preachy type. I'm not the type to go around telling everyone I'm a Christian. I just try to be friendly, courteous, considerate and do a good job. If asked what I'm doing this weekend I might say something like - "Oh, we have a carnival at church we're working on", or something like that, but other than that the subject of whether or not I'm a Christian hasn't come up.
A few weeks ago, one of the ladies I work with stopped mid-sentence and apologized to me for saying a curse word. I probably looked at her funny because it surprised me. She said - "I'm so sorry, I try not to cuss around you, but it keeps slipping out!" She said - "I know you're a church-goer, and I don't mean to talk like that around you." I was actually quite stunned because most of the people we work with go to church... and most of them cuss.
About a week later I was in the file room and another woman dropped a box and said something under her breath. She popped up and said - "I didn't cuss!! I'd be so embarrassed if I cussed around you!"
Again I was surprised. I really had not known at all that anyone noticed anything different about me.
Apparently a light can shine through even without the dress code.
And I don't say that arrogantly, I say it very humbly and gratefully. Grateful that God lets his light shine through me. Grateful that his Spirit is strong enough to shine through even through our fumbling and stumbling.
I'm just posting this because it's something I honestly wondered about, and was a little concerned about. I'd heard it so often that the dress code was necessary so that people would know you were different. I am truly grateful to learn that that wasn't true.
It's a relief, really, to find that simply being His is all it takes. People will wonder, notice and desire what you have. I am a proponent of conservative dress (although not to the extent that any manual puts it forth), but I do think it often creates a barrier between us and the world rather than enhancing our "attraction." In some cases, I believe it makes us unapproachable. That's not to say that people might admire from afar; perhaps they do. I know that in some cases it's been stated that they do, though whether or not such comments were patronizing rather than honest, I don't know for sure. A very conservative and distinct dress code can also make a Christian woman in particular feel unapproachable and that is conveyed subconsciously to those around her--including some who might actually want to know more about what she believes. 
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