What is spiritually criminal in wearing trousers?

Q: I am from an African Christian denomination where church leaders frown at women wearing trousers. Of course, I have read it in the Bible that women should not wear men’s apparel and vice versa. But churches do not seem to agree on what is the right interpretation of the verse. I was shocked recently when I saw pictures of a preacher’s wife. While in Nigeria, she chided us not to wear trousers but now that she is in Europe, she wears one and was bold to send those pictures home. Had she forgotten she forbad it while in Africa? What is spiritually criminal in wearing trousers? [First published on 11 January 2009]

The most often quoted scripture by those who insist women must not wear trousers is Deuteronomy 22:5. It’s crucial to understand that the Law as a unified system covers moral, dietary, sanitary and environmental issues. Some of which might not directly apply today. For example, Deut. 23:12-13 (NCV): Choose a place outside the camp where people may go to relieve themselves. Carry a tent peg with you, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your dung. Today we use toilet system that might even be next to your kitchen. With plumbing, it gets “outside the camp”.

Deuteronomy 22:8 (NLT) when you build a new house, you must build a railing around the edge of its flat roof. That way you will not be considered guilty of murder if someone falls from the roof. Houses in the East are in general built with flat roofs, and on them men walk to enjoy the fresh air, converse together, sleep, etc.; it was therefore necessary to have a sort of balustrade to prevent persons from falling off. If a man neglected to make a sufficient defence against such accidents, and the death of another was occasioned by it, the owner of the house must be considered in the light of a murderer. It does not apply when there is no flat roof or if there is a flat roof with no access.

It is also important to consider the beliefs and practices of the surrounding nations at the time. God did not want His people to copy and imbibe these pagan practices. With this background, what then does Deuteronomy 22:5 mean? There is no scriptural definition of what pertains to a man or woman. It is cultural. Culture varies from place to place and secondly it changes within a people. God does not want us to deliberately pass out to be a member of the opposite sex. A classical example was Boy George, who wanted to pass out as a lady- his voice inflexion, mannerism and carriage etc. it is along the line of sexual perversion – in the group of lesbianism and homosexualism. The Contemporary English Version (CEV) of Deuteronomy 22:5 is very helpful: Moses said to Israel: Women must not pretend to be men, and men must not pretend to be women. The Lord your God is disgusted with people who do that. It was also evidently associated with or promoted homosexuality. The same Hebrew word translated detests literally, “a detestable thing”; KJV, “an abomination”) is used to describe God’s view of homosexuality (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13). Evidence exists of the connection between transvestism and the worship of pagan deities. This is reiterated in the New Testament. 1Corinthians 6:9 (NLT) Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality.