Modesty

by Micky Galloway

In case you missed this article in March, please consider it now! Now is the time when warmer temperatures are upon us. It is the season for swimming and other water sports. It is also the season for bare or nearly bare bodies to be exposed in the name of summer temperatures. Please be assured, it is not the act of swimming that is a problem. Christians must give thought to how we should dress. All need to guard carefully against being seen in public in the immodest, unchaste, ungodly, revealing attire of the season. As you consider again this material, please ask yourself, “Do my clothes send the wrong message?”

Please be reminded, our clothes do send a message. The promiscuous woman who set a trap for the "simple" young man "void of understanding" knew what kind of clothing would entice her victim. She met him wearing "the attire of a harlot" (Proverbs 7:10). Is it any wonder that we have been influenced by the humanistic philosophy that so dominates our society? Everything from toothpaste to cereal, health-spa membership to an automobile is sold with lewd, sexually enticing commercials. Displays of near nudity have become so common place that kids view it as a normal part of life. Ever hear the argument when you oppose what your kids want to wear, "Well, I don't see anything wrong with it?" Parents, take heed, this is a problem Christians must address if we are concerned about our children, modesty issues, preserving our influence for good and pleasing the Lord.

When God had finished His creation He said it was "very good" (Genesis 1:27-31). Remember, God made the bodies of man and woman attractive to each other. He also created within each a desire for the other sexually. However, from the beginning, God placed boundaries on man and woman, limiting their desires for one another and permitting the fulfillment of those desires only in marriage. "Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge" (Hebrews 13:4). Only in marriage can they become "one flesh"; only there is the "bed undefiled"; only there shall a man "looketh upon a woman to lust after her" (cf Genesis 2:18-25; Hebrews 13:4; Matthew 5:27-28).

God has made us responsible. When men and women dress and behave in such a way as promotes inordinate and unlawful urges, they promote lasciviousness. On almost every TV program there is vulgar and lurid filth that is designed to condition our thinking to accept without offense that which we ought to find shocking. One can hardly go to Wal-Mart or the grocery store without being faced with women whose apparel (or lack of it) is immodest and unblushingly scanty and revealing. We are expected to behold without shock near nudity. Much of today’s music is designed to produce lewd, foul and dirty thoughts in the minds of the listeners. And who would deny that the modern dance is intended to promote such lewd and lustful thoughts? Careless display of affection (petting) is also lasciviousness! The apostle Paul said, "They who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19-21). The term "lasciviousness" is found in the following passages: Mark 7:22, II Corinthians 12:21, Galatians 5:19, Ephesians 4:19, I Peter 4:3, and Jude 4. Lasciviousness “denotes excesses, licentiousness, absence of restraint, indecency, wantonness … The prominent idea is shameless conduct” (Vine). When one either carelessly or callously displays their body in such a way to invite and provoke lasciviousness, they commit sin and share a responsibility in sin committed by others. No Christian who is interested in his or her soul's welfare or the welfare of others would jeopardize that soul.

What should a Christian do? Rather than become upset, think soberly and righteously. When Adam and Eve committed sin in the garden of Eden they sowed fig leaves together to make for themselves aprons (hagorah). Meaning they made themselves loin coverings. Adam was then as well attired as many today would consider themselves in their swimming attire. Yet, when God approached them in the garden, they hid themselves because as Adam said, "I was naked." Adam was not totally unclothed for he wore the apron he had made, but God, not denying that he was naked, said, "Who told thee that thou wast naked…?" (Genesis 3:10) The Lord made for Adam and his wife "coats of skins and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21). God did not do this to protect them from thorns and elements, but rather to cover their nakedness.

These principles are timeless and we need to be taught that human attraction is a powerful thing and the appeal generated must be respected and treated carefully. When women adorn themselves in clothing that reveals the most alluring parts of the body or when men dress so as to provoke impure thoughts, surely we are not thinking and living soberly (cf Romans 12:3; Titus 2:12). The control that one is to exercise over his thoughts and intents, the keeping of one’s heart with all diligence (Proverbs 4:23), is essential as a safeguard against degenerating into the state of lasciviousness. We must bring our thoughts into captivity unto obedience to Christ (II Corinthians 10:5), that is, think like Christ wants us to think.

Paul wept over those whose God was their belly, whose glory was their shame, and who minded earthly things (Philippians 3:19). Their end was their destruction. He wrote, "I want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety … appropriate for women who profess to worship God" (I Timothy 2:9-10 NIV). Let us give appropriate attention to how we dress. Indeed, our clothes do send a message.