Articles
A Plea For Modesty
Sisters in Christ, I humbly urge you to pay close attention to the photos you put on Facebook. I understand that the subject of modesty is a controversial topic amongst us and that some will disagree with the conclusions I draw. However we cannot throw in the towel and ignore this issue if we’re to help one another be what Christ created us to be.
Ladies, if you choose to wear short shorts that reveal your thighs and low-cut tops that expose the tops of the breast, there are 3 things you need to understand:
1) First, you are exposing parts of your body that the bible reveals as “nakedness” and “shameful”.
We first read about the concept of nakedness in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve became aware of their nakedness after eating the forbidden fruit, they fashioned aprons of fig leaves for themselves. It was after this that the Lord called to Adam, to which he responded: “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself”. Notice that it was after Adam made his covering that he still considered himself naked. The Lord confirmed Adam's words in the next verse, saying, “Who told you that you were naked?” In other words, Adam had covered the bare essentials but still needed to be properly clothed. So in Gen 3:21, the Lord made for them “coats of skins, and clothed them”. Adam and Eve’s aprons, from the Hebrew “chagora”, were loin cloths or hip clothing that covered what the modern swim suit would cover. God then clothed them further with “coats of skins” implying they were not adequately or decently clothed with only their aprons. This garment, according to the Hebrew word “kethoneth”, was a long shirt-like garment that covered from their shoulders to the knee. This was God's definition of being clothed and stands in sharp contrast to the state of nakedness Adam and Eve were in when they merely wore their aprons.
This is collaborated further in Ex 28 when God reveals that a person’s nakedness is exposed when the thigh is uncovered. In Exodus 28:42, the priests were told to “make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs shall they reach.” “From...even unto...” is a common Hebrew idiom of the Old Testament. It is from the Hebrew words “min…veh ad”. It means that both classes of objects and all that lies between them are included in the pronouncement. In the KJV, this expression is sometimes translated literally “from...even unto” as in Exodus 28:42, while in other passages it is translated idiomatically “both...and”. Thus, “from the loins even unto the thighs” means that both parts are to be clothed. God viewed the non-compliance of this act very seriously because in the next verse He said, “that they bear not iniquity and die” (Exod. 28:43).
This is collaborated yet again in Isa 47:2-3. Isaiah prophesied that the Babylonians would flee as a daughter would flee the land and cross the rivers in exile. Isaiah said, “Remove your veil, strip off the skirt, uncover the leg, cross the rivers. Your nakedness will be uncovered, your shame also will be exposed”. Isaiah speaks about the leg being bare and the thigh uncovered. Since the foot and lower part of the leg were exposed with common dress, the woman's nakedness was shown in the revealing of her thigh. In picking up her dress to “pass over the rivers” her thigh would be shown, and consequently, her nakedness would be uncovered.
2) Second, you are making it harder for your brothers to keep their thoughts pure.
While some men simply have dirty minds, others are trying their best to guard their thoughts in keeping with Matt 5:28. Ladies, it does not take much visually to arouse a man’s sexual interest in you by the way you dress in his presence. Mary Quant, the designer of the miniskirt, understood this when she said, “Mini-clothes are symbolic of those women who want to seduce a man.” Ladies, again, it doesn’t take much – low cut tops that reveal the tops of the breast, skirts or shorts that give a man even a glimpse of your thigh, form fitting clothing that enhances the form of the breast and/or buttocks, etc. It’s not just full nudity that is alluring to men, but even when the slightest bit of a certain area is revealed, it can strike the imagination.
Even if you cannot understand this, part of loving your brother in Christ is the willingness to sacrifice perceived liberties for the sake of their weaknesses. Paul taught in 1 Cor 8:9, “But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.” Also in 1 Cor 8:13, Paul says, “Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.” Ladies, your brothers have a hard enough time staying pure in mind and heart just by being in the world and exposed to its lascivious ways. But when they see you, a sister in Christ, whether in person or in a Facebook photo, they should not have to “bounce their eyes”. Even if you cannot understand the struggle we men go through, please take our word for it – immodest clothing on your part hinders our ability to attain holiness and purity.
3) Finally, you are letting the world influence your thinking and not the word of God.
One of the greatest challenges we have as Christians is not allowing the world to desensitize us concerning sin. Remember the uproar in the 1930s over the movie “Gone with the Wind” because of one cuss word? Fast forward 75 years...how many cuss words have to be in a movie today before we deem it inappropriate? This is true in many areas of life especially as it pertains to clothing. No matter what the world dictates as fashionable, God wants women to “adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly” (1 Tim 2:9). The KJV uses the words “modest”, “shamefacedness”, and “sobriety”. Ladies, Paul is saying that when you are choosing what to wear, it must be orderly, it must portray a sense of bashfulness on your part, and it must be done so with foresight and proper judgment. This does not mean you have to dress like Taliban women, but it does mean whatever you adorn yourself with must be in keeping with godly principles and not worldly principles.
Brethren, when it comes to the subject of modesty, we are drifting (Heb 2:1). We are drifting so subtly that we seldom notice it. Let us resolve to take a stand for what is pure and holy and refuse to let the world’s sense of fashion dictate God’s sense of fashion. Let’s refuse to let what the world finds attractive supersede what God finds attractive. We are better than this and Christ created us to stand above the standards of the world.
My prayer is that this message will fall upon open and honest hearts.
