I have one sibling, a sister five years older than me. All of my life, I’ve looked up to her fashion choices. She chose a financial career in the city that required a fashionable wardrobe, while I mothered in a small mountain village in tee shirts and jeans. So whenever I had an event that required something special, I would ask her for help.

Never were our fashion differences more pronounced than the year she entered high school. I watched in awe as she brought home a pair of shiny white knee-high boots. Soft white hip-hugger bell bottoms. Mini skirts and paisley shirts. I watched my mother pack each item away in a box as she grew out of them, awaiting the day when I would finally be big enough to wear them myself.

After she left for college I inherited that box, and a few years after that the day finally arrived where I could fit her stylish clothes. I eagerly opened the flaps and pulled out the treasures inside, excited that I could finally wear the outfits that my fashionable sister had worn proudly years before.

But there was a problem. While late 60’s fashion dictated “hip hugger” corduroy pants with large bell bottoms, by the time I opened the box in the mid 70’s, fashion had changed to high-waisted jeans. Where brightly patterned shirts had once skimmed her stomach, now girls wore plain body suits and turtlenecks. Mini skirts had been replaced by maxi skirts. And the shiny white go-go boots were now laughable. Instead, platform shoes ruled the high school hallways.

There is a lot of discussion these days about Christian children “deconstructing” the faith they had thrived in growing up. I’ve read plenty of scathing remarks about “purity culture” and awkward youth group activities. Like the items in my sister’s box, the efforts of the past generations’ parents to transmit the faith have become dated, and when held up to the scrutiny of current culture they seem laughable at best, and damaging at worst.

I’m a product of the Jesus movement, a revival driven by young people rebelling against the stodgy, rule-driven faith of the prior generation. We gloried in the freedom from old-time religion and created new kinds of music to worship with. Our faith was vibrant and alive, and we reveled in this new way of doing church. In doing so, though, too often we looked down our noses at those of deep faith who were uncomfortable with the new styles coming into fashion.

Now we are the older generation, and our job is to encourage the next generations as they bring new vibrancy to the church.

Unfortunately, though, instead of nurturing a healthy renewal of life-giving faith, we see more and more young people cutting ties with church altogether through the acidic aid of social media. Instead of revitalizing the faith for a new era, some are bent on tearing it down for the self-righteous pleasure of watching it burn.

And if religion is really what this is all about, then it deserves to burn.

But is it?

Here’s the thing: pride is the darkness that blinds all of us. Those who think they are above the rules, and those who destroy them in fits of self-righteous anger, are both trapped in this original sin. It is the bottom-line condition of the religious, as well as those who would destroy religion. We all refuse to bow the knee to anyone but ourselves—we, who have lived a mere few decades on this ancient planet.

In times like these, we don’t need another movement of people breaking free of the old styles of church and worship because they, finally, have gotten it right. They will have their own reckoning a few decades from now.

What we need instead is an outpouring of humility. Gospel humility truly is the only thing that can save us from ourselves. “I am gentle, and humble in heart” Jesus said and He is the one we follow, not religion.

No, the old clothes won’t work anymore. And today’s fashions will also join them in a box one day. What we need are new garments altogether. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved,” Paul wrote the Colossian church, “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬)

It’s not the style of worship that matters, but the hearts of the worshippers. God Almighty is pleased to live with those who are humble. Who recognize their dependence. Their need.

For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Isaiah 57:15

I wish I had kept my sister’s box of clothes. My own box would have held my paisley poncho and macrame belt, which would give my children a good laugh. And I’m thinking that this generation can start packing up their ripped jeans, leggings and puffer vests pretty soon. But one thing never passes out of fashion: the power and beauty of the Gospel. It will always stand above our passing fancies, and survive our sins and hypocrisy; it remains the one true thing we can cling to in an angry and chaotic world. Let us humble ourselves enough to admit that we need it in every generation.

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble”.
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1 Peter 5:5