JEWELRY, THE BIBLE,
AND CHRISTIANS
All That Glitters
September 5, 2009
1
PREPARING
A. THE SOURCE
1 Peter 3:3, 4 (NIV) • “Your beauty should not
come from outward adornment, such as braided
hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine
clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner
self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet
spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”
Isaiah 3:15-17 (NIV) • “‘What do you mean by
crushing my people and grinding the faces of
the poor?’ declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.
The Lord says, ‘The women of Zion are haughty,
walking along with outstretched necks, flirting
with their eyes, tripping along with mincing
steps, with ornaments jingling on their ankles.
Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads
of the women of Zion; the Lord will make their
scalps bald.’”
robe and stepped down from His royal throne,
and clothed His divinity with the habiliments of
humanity, and for our sakes became poor, that
we through His poverty might come into possession of eternal riches, and yet the very ones for
whom Christ has done everything that was possible to do to save the perishing souls from eternal ruin feel so little disposition to deny themselves anything they have money to buy.”
This Day With God, p. 139 • “If we are
Christians, we shall follow Christ, even though
the path in which we are to walk cuts right
across our natural inclinations. There is no use in
telling you that you must not wear this or that,
for if the love of these vain things is in your heart,
your laying off your adornments will only be like
cutting the foliage off a tree. The inclinations of
the natural heart would again assert themselves.
You must have a conscience of your own.”
B. WHAT’S TO BE SAID ABOUT
“JEWELRY, THE BIBLE, AND
(See additional passages in student material.)
CHRISTIANS”
Manuscript Releases, vol. 9, p. 117 • “Those
who have bracelets, and wear gold and ornaments, had better take these idols from their
persons and sell them, even if it should be for
much less than they gave for them, and thus
practice self-denial. Time is too short to adorn
the body with gold or silver or costly apparel. I
know a good work can be done in this line.
Jesus, the Commander in the heavenly courts,
laid aside His crown of royalty and His royal
LESSON 10 •
Of all the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s
traditional lifestyle standards, probably none is
more openly questioned and widely disregarded
today than the standard against wearing jewelry.
How do we make Biblical guidelines meaningful
to twenty-first century teens? A simple
“Adventists don’t wear jewelry!” hasn’t been
effective for at least a generation. This lesson
encourages both students and teachers to dig
behind the rules to the principles underneath—
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and see how those principles may be applied to
far more than just earrings and necklaces.
C. WHERE WE’RE GOING WITH
“JEWELRY, THE BIBLE, AND
from last week’s What’s to Be Said About
. . . in the teacher lesson.
If you have a very large group, have adults
available to process this section with smaller
groups of students.
CHRISTIANS”
B. OTHER SABBATH SCHOOL
As a result of this lesson we would like the
students to be able to:
1. Understand the reasons for biblical and
church warnings against jewelry.
2. Articulate the values that support those
reasons.
3. Apply those values to all their choices
about clothes, jewelry, and other forms of
decoration.
COMPONENTS
>> Song service
>> Mission emphasis (find a link for
Adventist Mission for Youth and Adult
at www.realtimefaith.net)
>> Service projects reports
3
BEGINNING
D. MATERIALS NEEDED
Beginning • (Activity A) cutout magazine
pictures, paper, and pencil; (Activity B) paper,
pencil, chalkboard, whiteboard or flipchart.
Connecting • Bibles, student lessons.
Applying • Handout, colored pencils.
2
BRIDGING
A. WHERE WE’VE BEEN BEFORE
Allow 10 minutes as students are arriving to:
1. Ask them which verse they chose to learn
from Wednesday’s portion of their lesson.
Give them opportunity to say their verses
from memory.
2. Give the students opportunity to “quote”
themselves, using what they wrote in the
Monday portion of their lesson. Be sure to
debrief them about any quotations that
might not reflect the Christian life accurately. However, quotations of this nature
do not occur in every lesson.
3. Review responses that they and others
made to the scenario that was posed in the
Sunday portion of their lesson. Discuss the
variety of responses, ending with thoughts
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NOTE TO TEACHER: Put together your own program with options from the categories below—
Beginning, Connecting, Applying, and Closing.
Please keep in mind, however, that the students
need to have an opportunity to be interactive
(participate actively and and with one another)
and to study from the Word. At some point you
should distribute or call their attention to their
student lesson for this week.
A. BEGINNING ACTIVITY
Get ready • Cut out several (at least 20) pictures
of people from magazines and catalogs. Go for a
variety—young and old, different races, and particularly, different styles of dress, jewelry, etc.
Use full-length pictures rather than just head
shots where possible.
Get set • Stick the pictures on a poster board or
pin them to a bulletin board in your classroom.
Place numbers next to each one. When students
come to class, distribute paper and pencils and
ask them to number their papers 1-20 (or however many pictures you have). Ask them to look
at the pictures and write a few words next to
each number that describe the type of person
they think the person in the picture is.
Go • When everyone has had time to make a
September 5, 2009 - Jewelry, the Bible, and Christians
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LESSON 10
list, point to each picture and ask class members to share what they wrote down about that
person. Ask: What was it about this person
that made you think that? How did the
clothes or jewelry they wore contribute to
your image of them?
Debriefing • Ask: Do people make assumptions
about us based on how we look? Do we “make
a statement” with what we choose to wear,
both clothing and accessories? What statement
do we want to make? What statement does
someone make when they wear jewelry?
Whatever you believe that statement is, how
does it correspond to the statement: “I’m a
Seventh-day Adventist Christian”? Can those
statements be compatible? If so, how? If not,
what incompatibilities might there be?
B. BEGINNING ACTIVITY
Get ready • Divide your class into groups of
three or four.
Get set • Ask students to brainstorm in their
groups every reason they’ve ever heard given
for why Seventh-day Adventists shouldn’t wear
jewelry. They can include Bible texts if they
know any.
Go • Allow 5 to 10 minutes for brainstorming.
When everyone is back in the main group, ask
each group to share their list. Write responses
on a chalkboard or flipchart at the front of the
room. As the groups continue to share, add any
new responses and put check marks next to the
responses given more than once.
Debriefing • Ask: Which of these reasons is
convincing to you as a young Adventist in
the year 2005? Are there reasons here that,
if we took them seriously, would apply to
more things in our lives than just jewelry?
Do any of the reasons seem unconvincing?
Why or why not?
C. BEGINNING ILLUSTRATION
LESSON 10 •
In your own words, tell the following story:
Dr. Jones is a wealthy woman in your congregation who comes to church every week wearing her very finest clothes, including an expensive fur coat in winter. One day you overhear
her making comments about Ms. Smith, who
teaches in the children’s Sabbath School department and has her ears pierced. “She’s not setting a good example, wearing her earrings to
church,” Dr. Jones says. “The Bible says we
shouldn’t wear gold or jewels or costly apparel.
She needs to get rid of that jewelry.”
Debriefing • Ask: What is faulty about this
argument? What principles, based on God’s
Word, are involved in our choice of what to
wear? What point might someone make to
Dr. Jones? We can probably all agree that
it’s wrong to be judgmental, but what standards do we use for deciding what’s appropriate for a Christian to wear? How does
this scenario relate to the first lesson of the
quarter about specks and planks?
4
CONNECTING
A. CONNECTING TO THE
KINGDOM
Present the following ideas in your own
words:
If we’re God’s agents in this world, what’s our
uniform? Is there a certain way a Christian
should look or dress? Some Christians would
definitely say yes. Many older, more traditional
Seventh-day Adventists are shocked when they
see younger Adventists in church wearing jewelry, makeup, or clothes they consider inappropriate. Is there a certain “look” that Christians
need to uphold? Biblical standards tell us that
Christians should be modest and simple in their
dress and appearance. But what do “modest”
and “simple” really mean? We’re also warned
against spending our money foolishly, and making an idol out of anything—including our own
appearance. With these standards in mind, what
can we say about how God’s kingdom agents
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upper arm would look really nice, but your
parents are freaking out at the very idea.
should appear in the eyes of the world? How
does a dedicated kingdom agent look?
B. CONNECTING TO THE LESSON
ILLUSTRATION
Read or ask someone to read the story from
Sabbath’s portion of the lesson.
Say: This story is fiction, but it makes a
point. What can we learn from this story
about the value we place on things? The
story is about a necklace, but it doesn’t
have to be—Madame Loisel could have lost
an expensive-looking suit or pair of shoes
that belonged to her friend and had a similar outcome. But in the light of this week’s
lesson on jewelry, can the point of this
story relate? Are there material things—
clothes, jewelry, etc.—that are really quite
“worthless,” but that we value so highly
they become the most important thing in
our lives? Challenge students to think about
how jewelry or other elements of fashion and
style can become idols in our lives.
C. CONNECTING TO LIFE
Read aloud together 1 Peter 3:3, 4 and 1
Timothy 2:9. Pose the following scenarios for
discussion, asking about each one: What do
these texts have to say that’s relevant to
the decision that you would have to make in
each scenario?
• Your best friend is getting her navel
pierced and wants you to do it, too.
• The person you’re dating gives you a gold
chain and pendant to wear “to remind you
of how much I love you.” Do you wear it?
• Your mom gives you some money to buy
back-to-school clothes. She wants you to
buy the less-expensive, no-name-brand
jeans and have more money left over to
buy other things. You want the name-brand
jeans that all your friends have, which will
take almost all the money Mom gave you.
• You think a small, tasteful tattoo on your
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APPLYING
A. APPLICATION ACTIVITY
Give each student a copy of the handout on
p. 100, with an outline of a human body on it,
and several colored pencils. Say: The figure
on the page in front of you represents the
“ideal Christian.” Draw the kind of clothes,
hairstyle, accessories, etc., that you think
fit with the Bible texts we read and discussed during the last activity (1 Peter 3:3, 4
and 1 Timothy 2:9). Allow a few minutes for
the students to work on the drawings, then
ask each person to show their picture and
explain why they have outfitted the “Christian”
as they have.
Debriefing • Discuss the drawings and the concept of dressing and accessorizing in a way
that’s consistent with these Bible texts. Ask:
What are the positives and negatives of
looking like an “ideal Christian”?
B. APPLICATION QUESTIONS
September 5, 2009 - Jewelry, the Bible, and Christians
1. A friend says to you, “Why does it matter if
I wear jewelry? Would God keep me out of
heaven just because I’ve got a ring on my
pinkie finger?” What do you say?
2. When you decide whether or not to buy a
piece of jewelry, a piece of clothing, or
anything else you put on your body, what’s
the most important factor in making your
decision? What should be the most important factor?
3. How can we make idols out of jewelry?
What other things can be idols in our lives?
4. Do people have the right to draw a conclusion about you from your clothes, jewelry,
or hairstyle? Why or why not? Are you trying to make any kind of a statement with
your appearance?
•
LESSON 10
6
CLOSING
SUMMARY
In your own words, conclude with the
following ideas:
Whether we like it or not, our personal style
makes a statement. As Christians, that statement should be one that clearly points to Jesus.
LESSON 10 •
Deciding how to make that statement in our
dress and accessories isn’t always easy. For
some people it’s as simple as “Don’t wear jewelry or makeup or immodest clothes.” But we
need to remember that there’s a bigger picture.
Every choice we make should be centered on
the reality of God in our lives—no matter if that
choice involves a $15 pair of earrings or a $1,000
fur coat. Every aspect of our personal style
should reflect our role as agents of His kingdom.
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FOR LESSON TEN:
THIS HANDOUT IS FOR THE APPLICATION ACTIVITY
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LESSON 10
STUDENT LESSON
JEWELRY, THE BIBLE,
AND CHRISTIANS
All That Glitters
September 5, 2009
>>KEY
TEXT: Choose one of the texts
from Wednesday’s portion of the lesson. Write it
here and memorize it this week.
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
____________________________________________
ALL THAT GLITTERS
(This is an illustration. It is only an illustration.
What connection do you think it has with the
Bible texts on the other page?)
A famous short story by French writer Guy
de Maupassant raises some interesting questions about values and what a piece of jewelry
is really worth.
Madame Loisel was the wife of a hardworking
middle-class office worker, but she dreamed of
being rich. All she wanted was to have beautiful
dresses and lovely jewelry. When her husband
got an invitation for them to go to a fancy ball at
the government department where he worked,
Madame Loisel was unhappy because she had
nothing to wear. Her husband gave up some
money he’d been saving for a trip so that she
could buy an expensive dress, but then she got
upset because she didn’t have any jewelry to
wear with the dress.
Finally she decided to borrow some jewelry
from a rich friend. Madame Loisel picked out just
LESSON 10 •
one thing from her friend’s collection—a beautiful diamond necklace. She wore it to the ball and
felt like the most beautiful woman there.
But on the way home, a terrible thing happened. The necklace was lost. Madame Loisel
and her husband searched for it for days, but it
never turned up. They were able to find another
one exactly like it in a jewelry store—but it cost
more than they could ever afford to pay.
They spent their life’s savings and borrowed
the rest of the money from loan sharks to purchase the priceless necklace and return it to
Madame Loisel’s friend. She didn’t notice the
difference. But now the Loisels had to pay back
that terrible debt.
Their lives were ruined. Monsieur Loisel had
to work extra hours at a second job. They gave
up their apartment and fired their servant. They
lived like poor people; Madame Loisel’s pretty
hands were ruined from scrubbing floors and
washing laundry by hand. But after 10 years of
poverty and hard work, they repaid the money.
One day Madame Loisel was walking in the
park. The years of suffering had aged her: she
looked like a poor old woman now. But when
she saw the rich friend who had lent her the
necklace, she went over and said hello. Her
friend, shocked, asked what had happened to
change her so much, and Madame Loisel told
her the whole story.
Her friend looked at her with shock and pity in
her eyes. “You should have told me!” she said.
“My necklace wasn’t real—it was an imitation diamond necklace, worth only a few hundred dollars!”—Adapted from “The Necklace,” by Guy de Maupassant.
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Sunday
HERE’S WHAT I THINK
Your sister has just gotten her nose pierced
and is showing off her new jewelry. “That’s
gross,” you say, “and besides, Mom and Dad
will kill you. You know they don’t believe in
wearing jewelry.”
Your sis rolls her eyes. “Right,” she says. “I
just spent $10 on this nose ring. You just spent
$150 on a pair of new athletic shoes—just
because you had to have the right brand label.
Who’s the one putting on ‘costly apparel,’ huh?”
How is wearing jewelry or “bling” the same as
or different from wearing expensive clothes?
Log on to www.guidemagazine.org/rtf to post
your responses. Be up-front and honest. Say
what you think.
start the day by tying a little noose around your
neck?”—Linda Ellerbee, current U.S. journalist.
>>“Style is not neutral; it gives moral directions.”—Martin Amis, current English novelist.
>>“Outside show is a poor substitute for inner
worth.”—Aesop, 6th-century B.C. Greek storyteller.
Write your own quotation.
WHAT I SAY IS . . .
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
____________________________________________
Tuesday
Monday
SO WHAT?
WHAT ARE THEY
TRYING TO SAY?
Different people, different opinions. Some of
the quotations below represent the views of
true kingdom citizens; others may not. Can
you tell the difference? How do these statements compare with what God is saying in
His Word? After reviewing the texts in the
God Says . . . portion of the lesson, write a
statement that captures your belief. Be prepared to quote yourself at Sabbath School.
>>“Loveliness needs not the foreign aid of ornament, / But is, when unadorn’d, adorn’d the
most.”—Thales of Miletus, 6th-century B.C. Greek philosopher.
>>“Know, first, who you are, and then adorn
yourself accordingly.”—Epictetus, 1st-century B.C. Roman
philosopher.
>>“If people turn to look at you on the street,
you are not well dressed.”—Beau Brummell, 19th-century
Englishman noted for fashion and style.
>>“If men can run the world, why can’t they
stop wearing neckties? How intelligent is it to
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Does what you wear on the outside say anything about who you are inside? If you wear a
cross necklace, are you publicly declaring you’re
a Christian—or are you wasting your money
with gaudy self-decoration or following a fad?
Do the Bible’s statements about jewelry apply to
us today?
It’s a tough one. The biblical principle is that
Christians are to be simple and modest, drawing
attention to Jesus rather than to themselves. It
is sad but true that many times wearing jewelry
leads to spiritual decline. Also we’re to spend
our money wisely. Going without earrings, necklaces, chains, and piercings certainly does present a simpler image to the world.
But let’s not forget the clothes and shoes we
wear, and other things we choose to spend our
money on. What about tattoos and hairstyles? If
the Bible doesn’t mention a tattoo or a pair of
Nike shoes, does that mean they don’t matter?
If we’re going to look like Christians—
presenting a consistent message, inside and
out, then we have to look at the big picture.
Everything about you—from the clothes you
wear to the money in your pocket—belongs to
Jesus. What kind of look most honors Him?
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LESSON 10
Wednesday
GOD SAYS . . .
>> Peter 3:3, 4 (NIV)
“Your beauty should not come from outward
adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it
should be that of your inner self, the unfading
beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of
great worth in God’s sight.”
>>1 Timothy 2:9 (CEV)
“I would like for women to wear modest and
sensible clothes. They should not have fancy
hairdos, or wear expensive clothes, or put on
jewelry made of gold or pearls.”
>>Exodus 32:1-4 (CEV)
“After the people saw that Moses had been
on the mountain for a long time, they went to
Aaron and said, ‘Make us an image of a god
who will lead and protect us. Moses brought
us out of Egypt, but nobody knows what has
happened to him.’ Aaron told them, ‘Bring me
the gold earrings that your wives and sons and
daughters are wearing.’ Everybody took off
their earrings and brought them to Aaron, then
he melted them and made an idol in the shape
of a young bull. All the people said to one
another, ‘This is the god who brought us out
of Egypt!’”
>>Deuteronomy 7:25, 26 (CEV)
“After you conquer a nation, burn their idols.
Don’t get trapped into wanting the silver or gold
on an idol. Even the metal on an idol is disgusting
to the Lord, so destroy it. If you bring it home with
you, both you and your house will be destroyed.
Stay away from those disgusting idols!”
Thursday
make a golden calf. Madame Loisel, in this
week’s story, discovered that when she made
her personal appearance more important than
anything else, even her family’s happiness and
prosperity.
How we look is an expression of who we
are. Because of that, our style is tied to our
pride. Everyone has their own individual “look,”
and God doesn’t ask His people to give up individuality or wear uniforms. But He asks that we
keep Him at the center of all our choices—and
that includes our style and fashion choices.
What’s the message on your T-shirt? How
much did you pay for those shoes? Are your
rings and chains drawing attention to you, or to
the Jesus who lives inside you? All of these are
valid questions. They’re things we have to think
about as Christians. Nothing is insignificant—
everything we wear, say, and do makes a
statement. Is your statement “I love Jesus, and
I’m letting Him transform me into His image”?
Friday
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Look around your room and choose five
things that you wear that you think define your
“personal style” (they could be jewelry, clothes,
hats, shoes, whatever). List each one below,
and in the space next to it write what message
you think people get from that item (e.g., does
your black shirt say “I’m depressed”? Does
your solid gold chain say “I’m rich”? Does your
muscle shirt say “I have a great body, and I
know it”?) Then look down through the messages. How do these messages reflect or not
reflect the statements you want to make to the
world? What messages that you are sending
might you want to adapt or change, if any? Do
you agree or disagree that your personal style
is a message?
WHAT DOES THIS
HAVE TO DO WITH ME?
Jewelry—or anything we wear—can become
a form of idolatry. The Israelites discovered
that when they melted down their earrings to
LESSON 10 •
Item 1:_____________________________________
Message:___________________________________
____________________________________________
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Item 2:______________________________________
Item 4:______________________________________
Message:____________________________________
Message:____________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Item 3:______________________________________
Item 5:______________________________________
Message:____________________________________
Message:____________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
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LESSON 10