Costly Apparel

One of the actions that the Book of Mormon seems to frown upon is the wearing of expensive clothing.  The wicked were repeatedly described as wearing costly apparel.  The first was Nehor who “began to be lifted up in the pride of his heart, and to wear very costly apparel.”  He seemed to have had an influence on many others for after telling his story Mormon described also those who “did not belong to their church did indulge themselves in sorceries, and in idolatry or idleness, and in babblings, and in envyings and strife; wearing costly apparel; being lifted up in the pride of their own eyes.”  On the contrary, those who were humble and righteous “did impart of their substance, every man according to that which he had, to the poor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; and they did not wear costly apparel” (Alma 1:6, 27, 32).  Not too long later many of those righteous Nephites fell into the same problem: “The people of the church began to wax proud, because of their exceeding riches, and their fine silks, and their fine-twined linen… and in all these things were they lifted up in the pride of their eyes, for they began to wear very costly apparel” (Alma 4:6).  Here the singular indication that the people were lifted up in pride was that they wore costly apparel.  Alma denounced this in his sermon to the people at Zarahemla: “Can ye be puffed up in the pride of your hearts; yea, will ye still persist in the wearing of costly apparel and setting your hearts upon the vain things of the world, upon your riches?” (Alma 5:53)  For the Book of Mormon prophets, the wearing of costly apparel was a problem because it was a sign of the people turning their hearts away from the Lord.

               There are a few other references to the wearing of costly apparel which show that it was seen as a continual problem for the Nephites.  When Alma went to the Zoramites he lamented, “Behold, O my God, their costly apparel, and their ringlets, and their bracelets, and their ornaments of gold, and all their precious things which they are ornamented with; and behold, their hearts are set upon them” (Alma 31:28).  Again here Alma was concerned with the hearts of the people, and the wearing of expensive clothing and jewelry was a sign that God was not the focus of their hearts.  Samuel the Lamanite later condemned the Nephites because of how they treated false prophets by focusing on riches and extravagant apparel: “Ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel” (Helaman 13:28).  One of the signs that the years of peace after the Savior’s visit among the people had ended was the same issue: “And now, in this two hundred and first year there began to be among them those who were lifted up in pride, such as the wearing of costly apparel, and all manner of fine pearls, and of the fine things of the world” (4 Nephi 1:24).  This was the point at which the people stopped sharing their goods and having all things in common.  When they chose to spend money for their own unneeded wants instead of sharing their goods with others, they lost their unity. 

            Do we have the same problem today?  Moroni thought we did when he wrote to those in our day: “For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted….  Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?” (Mormon 8:37, 39)  To see if Moroni’s condemnation is valid for us, perhaps we have to ask ourselves whether we would rather give to those in need or adorn ourselves with things we don’t really need.  If having the most expensive gadgets or fanciest cars or biggest houses or high end clothes is our pursuit, then we indeed “walk in the pride of [our] hearts” as Moroni saw.