I go to a Christian college currently, and for some reason, one of the most talked about topics is yoga pants or leggings. Should girls wear them? Should they not? Should they be banned? Are they...appropriate? These questions seem to follow me everywhere, so it's forced me to sit and think about this whole "yoga pants" or "leggings" epidemic. Apparently, this is a big topic we should all be concerned with, since it is making such a huge impact upon our planet (insert sarcasm here). Here at my school, half the school is pro-yoga pants and the other half is anti-yoga pants; there are even young men on this campus that tell the girls that if they are going to wear yoga pants over to the boys' dorm, to just not come at all because it's "too much of a struggle". Like I said - it's constant. And while this is continually a topic, I can't help but want to slap someone in the face every time it comes up, mostly because those conversations are absolutely ridiculous. Now don't get me wrong, I am all about modesty. I think a woman's body should be treasured and looked upon with beauty and not lust, but I don't believe that we should suddenly try and hide a woman's body just because it can be a struggle not to look at it. And deep down, I think most men generally know that it doesn't matter what a girl is wearing - they are still going to look. But here is what really aggravates me about this topic...it's not in the Bible. Yoga pants are not mentioned anywhere in the Bible.
I went on a missions trip to Haiti last February, and I got to see what life was like in a third world country. And just last night I watched a film titled the Boys of Baraka, all about boys in Baltimore, Maryland that had the chance to go to Africa for a boarding school to help them get into high school. An estimated 44 children every hour die in Haiti, and 1 in 10 children in Haiti will die before the age of 5. In Baltimore, Maryland, a group of about twenty or thirty boys attended a school meeting and were asked if they had ever been suspended - everyone raised their hand. One young man said he had been suspended 8 times - that year. One of the parents in the movie Boys of Baraka said: "When you send your kid to a Baltimore school, you send them to jail." They basically think that jail is the kids' only option because that's how bad their situation is. When the kids in Baltimore see a fire happening down the street or there is a huge group of cops gathered around people, they don't bat an eye. "Oh, it's normal to see a person's house being burned to the ground." "Oh last week we saw a 17 year old kid get shot in front of our apartment." "My dad shot my mom in the leg so he can't take care of me because he's got 13 years in jail." "My mom is addicted to cocaine." In Haiti there are swollen bellies from lack of food, moms crying because their babies are dead, children dying of starvation and diseases. In Baltimore, Maryland kids are getting shot and getting into drugs early and most of them may not even make it out of middle school - for the majority, high school is unlikely.
And here we are, discussing yoga pants.
Is yoga pants biblical, or is it biblical to be taking care of widows and orphans? To be taking care of the people I have just described above?
And yet, here we are, discussing yoga pants.
Because suddenly, yoga pants and modesty is a bigger issue then dying kids and struggling parents.
James 2:14-17 says, "What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless." This is a call to action - do not sit idly by and discuss yoga pants, when you could be doing something that actually changes the world - something that could change a person's life forever.
Matthew 5:42 says, "Give to those who ask, and don't turn away from those who want to borrow." We are asked constantly by our churches and the people around us to help the poor and needy, but we turn our noses up and say we "don't have time". Except we do have time; we just choose to not use it wisely. Your "time" could save someone's life if you allowed it to.
Romans 15:1 says, "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves." We need to come alongside the people that surround us, the people like the Haitians I encountered and the young people in Baltimore, Maryland. There are people everywhere in need; there are orphans and widows wherever we turn; there are struggling families and starvation no matter where we are.
And yet, here we are, talking about yoga pants.
So my proposition for you is next time you are debating yoga pants or leggings, perhaps it's time to put off that conversation and deal with more biblical issues.
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