Define "plain"

[steve-in-kville]

Some recent threads got me thinking about this.... its a term we throw around here on the forums and also here locally. So what's your definition of the term 'plain"? Personally, I think it has a lot to do with where you place yourself on the *liberal/conservative* scale. There will always be people who are plainer than my wife and I. There will be people not as plain.

My wife has a few aunts and uncles that have been faithful members of the various brethren circles over the years. Some aunts wear their hair up in a covering 24/7. Some only wear them for church, hair down. The uncles range from plain suits to lapel suits and ties. I have a sister-in-law that ties her covering strings under her chin. I have a brother-in-law that wears suspenders.

So, define plain.

[Wade]

These are the things I thought it meant and still think it should:
Nothing extra.
Straight forward.
Basic.
Simple.
Transparent and true.
What most would say boring in many respects.
Not complex and with fewer words.
Content.
Taking scripture at face value.
Modest.
Humble.
Not selfish.
Not attention drawing.

[Ernie]

So, define plain.

Wade has a good list for "plain".

Dark or white suspenders, unadorned straight cut suits, and covering strings tied under the chin as part of a church order would in my mind fit the definition of "Plain" as a proper noun.

[Heirbyadoption]

Not attention drawing.

That one there requires a bit of qualification, I reckon, and once given any specific form, is by definition no long synonymous with plain... I'm assuming the post references (little p) plain here at this point.

Three questions come to mind for those of you wishing to define "plain" who might agree that "not drawing attention" should be a distinct aspect of "plain":

1. Not drawing attention from who?
2. Not drawing attention how?
3. Not drawing attention why?

[lesterb]

So, define plain.

Wade has a good list for "plain".

Dark or white suspenders, unadorned straight cut suits, and covering strings tied under the chin as part of a church order would in my mind fit the definition of "Plain" as a proper noun.

It's in the eyes of the beholder, somewhat. I said something to a leader about the form fitting dresses that a certain mother in church wore. He looked at me a bit blankly and said, but she uses plain material. In other words, no pattern. He noticed print patterns, and that was what made a dress plain or not plain. In my eyes, the cut of the dress has more to do with it than if it has a pattern or not.

[Wade]

Not attention drawing.

That one there requires a bit of qualification, I reckon, and once given any specific form, is by definition no long synonymous with plain... I'm assuming the post references (little p) plain here at this point.

Three questions come to mind for those of you wishing to define "plain" who might agree that "not drawing attention" should be a distinct aspect of "plain":

1. Not drawing attention from who?
2. Not drawing attention how?
3. Not drawing attention why?

The problem is that two people can wear the same thing or say the same words but have opposite motives and opposite results.

One child cries because they are hurt while another cries so mommy comes running and coddles them.

Because no aspect of plain omits or overrides another and a plain person is going look at things at face value they will want to define things like modesty by His terms. So they are going to wear things according to His standard of modesty, which may set them apart enough to draw attention from others in the world. If there intent is to draw attention then they have also mistaken all the other aspects of being plain but if not then they really just want to honour God with every aspect of their life.

[Heirbyadoption]

Not attention drawing.

That one there requires a bit of qualification, I reckon, and once given any specific form, is by definition no long synonymous with plain... I'm assuming the post references (little p) plain here at this point.

Three questions come to mind for those of you wishing to define "plain" who might agree that "not drawing attention" should be a distinct aspect of "plain":

1. Not drawing attention from who?
2. Not drawing attention how?
3. Not drawing attention why?

The problem is that two people can wear the same thing or say the same words but have opposite motives and opposite results.

One child cries because they are hurt while another cries so mommy comes running and coddles them.

Because no aspect of plain omits or overrides another and a plain person is going look at things at face value they will want to define things like modesty by His terms. So they are going to wear things according to His standard of modesty, which may set them apart enough to draw attention from others in the world. If there intent is to draw attention then they have also mistaken all the other aspects of being plain but if not then they really just want to honour God with every aspect of their life.

And yet, if not drawing attention is their desire, but they go ahead and embrace certain plain things knowing full well that make them stand out, then the question becomes whether maybe its ok after all to embrace things that draw attention to us, so long as they are good things? Where my mind is going with all this - plain lifestyles, plain clothing, etc all draw visible attention to us from the world, and in many respects, even from our brethren (by virtue of blending in with them, or not blending in well enough with them, perhaps). Am just thinking aloud here. But the "plainer" we get, the more attention is drawn to us, whether we intend/desire it or not.

[MaxPC]

These are the things I thought it meant and still think it should:
Nothing extra.
Straight forward.
Basic.
Simple.
Transparent and true.
What most would say boring in many respects.
Not complex and with fewer words.
Content.
Taking scripture at face value.
Modest.
Humble.
Not selfish.
Not attention drawing.

When I think of "not drawing attention" I think of the media's cult of celebrity. Those involved in entertainment are trying to be the most recognized. Or the sports world: who has the best team. Or the Olympics: who has the most medals. In short, I see "not drawing attention" as meaning avoiding the temptation to place oneself above others.

[appleman2006]

If not drawing attention is part of what we consider to be plain and there is a degree to where I think it should be then I think we need a major culture shift in our thinking of what plain is.

To me simplicity and simple modest living that through it's very nature, points to God rather than myself, is what we should be striving for. And for myself I am not too concerned about where others fit into that spectrum. I try to be more focused on where I am at in all of that. After all it will only be myself that has to answer for me.

Someday when I have time I may have to write a paraphrased version of the "Well done you good and faithful servant " passage to fit with the way many "plain" people seem to read it.

[Josh]

I go with the definition of "Plain" found here:

https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/handle/1811/54897

I define the plain Anabaptists by answering two essential questions: “Who are the plain Anabaptists” and “What are the plain Anabaptists?” In asking “Who are the plain Anabaptists?” I investigate several dimensions of identity. First, I trace the history of seven religious traditions within Anabaptism: the Swiss Brethren/Mennonites, the Low German/Russian Mennonites, the Hutterites, the Amish, the Brethren, the Apostolic Christian Churches, and the Bruderhof. Second, I explore three categories of people in each group—mainline, conservative, and Old Order—describing the last two as “plain.” Third, I explore scales and indices on which plainness is measured, as well as other measures of who the plain Anabaptist people are. In asking “What are the plain Anabaptists?” I define several ways social scientists conceptualize and describe the plain Anabaptists. I organize the sundry definitions and frames under three categories: the plain Anabaptists as a religious group, as an ethnicity, and as a social system.