The human existence is characterized by freedom. And here, we are talking about two kinds of freedom – transcendental and categorical. Transcendental freedom is the kind of freedom that allows the human person to choose what direction in life he or she is willing to take. Simply put, he or she is given the chance to say yes or no to love, to say yes or no to God; to live a loving life or to live a sinful life. Categorical freedom is the kind of freedom that allows the human person to choose among the possible choices or options. Some examples are what Christian clothing design to choose, when and where to wear these clothing, and what type of clothing to wear. This freedom is what we use when we decide on simple things or acts. These two kinds of freedom are certainly different but interrelated.
The small choices we do in life accumulate to the point that every single one of them becomes a deciding factor in our lives. Choosing to do what is good instead of what is bad leads us to a good life, and eventually makes us a good person. Everything that we do now affects our growth as a person, our becoming. For example, if we wish to wear Christian clothing every day, we will certainly live a life dedicated to gentle conversion. If we wish to wear clothing to share our faith with people, we will certainly have a rich, fruitful religious life in the future. Or if we wish to further extend clothing to shoes or whatever, we will certainly be devoted to this life-changing movement.
As mentioned above, categorical freedom includes choosing the types of clothes to wear. Even this simple decision can reflect what kind of person we are. Are we the conservative ones that always wear long sleeved clothing? Are we the daring ones that always wear sleeveless hanging shirts? The repeated wearing of certain types of clothes affects our becoming for it helps us develop an image. With this image, our second nature is determined. And with this second nature, we become defined by the clothes we wear. That is, if we repeatedly wear clothing, we develop an image of devoted Christians. And thus, Christian clothing helps us make the life direction we want to take.
Knowing these, our fellow Christians develop a way to help us follow a good life by expanding our categorical freedom especially in the clothing we wear and the accessories we put on. By wearing Christian clothing, we are making a decision of being and becoming a child of God. It’s as if we are making the world a witness of our devotion to a good and loving life. And by constantly wearing clothing, we are reminding ourselves of what image we want to develop, and certainly what kind of life we want to lead.