Is it just me or is comparing the two passages a bit like comparing apples to oranges?

1 Cor 4 is Paul talking about the those who are working toward positions of power in the church, rather than living as servants for Christ. In verse 17 he says that he sent them Timothy “to remind you of my ways in Christ… But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power.”

Paul and the apostles do not use the gospel as a way to seek positions of power, because they have given up everything for the sake of the gospel. I think the the quote “We are poorly dressed… Be imitators of me” accurately reflects the big idea of the passage; maybe “We are fools for Christ… Be imitators of me” would be a better reflection of Paul’s argument.

Proverbs 31, on the other hand, is talking about a woman’s service to her household. It is calling for the “excellent wife” to put in all of her efforts for the sake of her family. Once again the argument doesn’t appear to be that they should be dressed in any fancy sense… indeed the alternate translation for “dressed in scarlet” (see the footnote) is dressed “in double thickness” to stave away the “snow” mentioned in the first half of the verse. Indeed, in verse 25 “Strength and dignity are her clothing”.

Now should we seek to be respected or looked down upon? Maybe a bit of both. For those who hate the gospel will always look down on those who live for the gospel, but I think there is always respect for those who give their lives for the sake of their family and the gospel. I believe it’s possible that people can dislike your belief while at the same time respecting the strength of your convictions.

Welcome to the Sola Panel Nicole.

A couple of thoughts:

1) Since we are going for interpreting Scripture according to Scripture, can I encourage us to consider that the Proverbs 31 woman is saved by grace? as a result, I imagine she would be discouraged if she heard that women the world over turned her into ‘law’!

2) Is the apostle saying that he deliberately chose cheap clothes? Or is it rather one of the consequences of his ministry?

“I’m not sure I like this idea! I think there is a certain degree of legitimacy in the notion that we can compare what God says in one place to what he says in another. The situation may vary by a thousand years or so, but it is the same God doing the speaking. “

Gordon: I don’t deny that we can compare passages (the unity of scripture is a wonderful thing!), but I was pointing out that the context of the two passages seems to be different (as David Juniper says in his comment).

Think of it as taking the creation account, where God says his creation is good, and comparing it with Ecclesiastes 1, “everything is meaningless.” Taking these two quotes out of context, I could ask whether this is saying that God’s Creation is meaningless. Of course, it isn’t, because I have completely missed the context of the quotes and what point they are making.

In the same way, the context of the 1 Cor passage seems to be Paul giving up all for the sake of the Gospel, whereas the Proverbs passage is the woman serving her family.

... I forgot to say ... I’m in the arena and I’ve got no armour on.

Nicole, if my interpretation is right, it still doesn’t deny the question and the tension you raise.  I’m looking forward to part deux.

I’m reminded of a great passage of Augustine’s confessions:
Such is the case with those who cannot endure to hear that something was lawful for righteous men in former times that is not so now; or that God, for certain temporal reasons, commanded then one thing to them and another now to these: yet both would be serving the same righteous will… Is justice, then, variable and changeable? No, but the times over which she presides are not all alike because they are different times.

Just to throw up another hypothesis, could this be a temporal difference?
The one is commanded to dress in a manner which shows God’s providence for his chosen people, the other commanded to live as in a war (a la the ’wartime lifestyle‘ advocated by John Piper, Ralph Winters, Randy Alcorn etc)

The excellent wife of Proverbs 31 also “opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy” (v20 ESV). Her generosity is on view as much as her clothing.

Juliette, the quote about a wartime mentality is mentioned by John Piper in his book “Don’t Waste Your Life”.

He emphasizes, not so much “sacrificing the comforts of our lifestyle so that we can give more generously” but “using our money to show that God, not possessions, is our treasure” which is, of course, very similar but not the same.

Great tip about the op shop.

My initial thoughts are that we don’t need to polarise them (which I suspect you won’t do Nicole!).

I think that the part of salvation history that we live in (ie. after the resurrection of Jesus and awaiting his return), there is a priority of the principles behind the Pauline example. I wouldn’t want it exclude the principles behind the the Proverbs 31 example though.

The impact that the gospel has on our lives will be pretty obvious in the ordinary life decisions that we make (which will one way or another impact on what we wear!)