The Value of
Modesty
The churches of
Christ
Greet You (Romans 16:16)
Text: Genesis 3:6-7
Loved ones, due to
the serious nature of this lesson, I’ve decided to begin it with a few
passages
of Scripture to refocus and direct your attention to the POWER and
PURPOSE of
God’s Word.
The Bible says, “If
anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone
ministers, let
him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all
things God
may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the
dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Pet. 4:11).
Again, the Holy
Spirit says, “So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the
gospel to
you…as I teach everywhere in every church… For I
am not
ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to
salvation for
everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:15-16; 1 Cor. 4:17).
“For the love of
Christ compels us… that those
who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him
[Jesus] who
died for them and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:14-15).
For this reason I am
“serving the Lord with all humility of mind”… I’m striving to keep
“back
nothing that (is) profitably unto you, but proclaiming it to you
publicly and
from house to house” (Acts 20:19-20).
“For the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men
(and women), who suppress (hold down) the truth in unrighteousness”
(Rom.
1:18).
Read Eph. 5:1-8, 17.
So then, my beloved
brothers and sisters, since “the wrath of man does not produce the
righteousness of God” (James 1:20), we want to encourage you to “lay
aside all
filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the
implanted
word, which is able to save [y]our souls” (James 1:21).
Louis L’Amour was a premier
novelist. His fascinating stories of the old west have been
bestsellers. L’Amour had a vast personal
library dealing with American
frontier lore, and he was meticulous in producing works that are
extremely
accurate in terms of the culture of the 1800s.
Some years ago a national magazine published an article by L’Amour which addressed the manner in which
women were
viewed in the Old West. He observed that almost uniformly they were
treated
with great respect, even by the roughest of men. He noted that, as a
rule,
females could travel alone hundreds of miles by stagecoach and feel
quite
secure, because men regarded them so highly, and were extremely
protective of
the “fairer” sex.
Those days are gone—and have been for quite a while.
Nowadays, a woman can hardly walk unescorted down a crowded street
without
being verbally assaulted or in some fashion sexually harassed. Most men
in
sizable cities do not want their wives driving alone at night. One
recent
author believes she knows, at least in part, a cause for this dramatic
shift in
attitude toward women. She says it involves the “loss of modesty.”
Wendy Shalit, a young Jewish
writer, is creating a considerable stir in the media with the
publication of
her new book, A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue.
This
volume has been hailed by some as a work that will “change society”;
others—especially feminists—vehemently denounce it; even suggesting it
should
be banned.
Ms. Shalit says that her initial
exposure to our grossly “immodest” culture commenced when she was in
the fourth
grade. She was introduced to a “sex education” course (it should be
spelled
“coarse”), from which her parents presently removed her. She argues
that such
classes should be “completely abolished” because they erode one’s
natural sense
of modesty. Modesty, she contends, is an innate, psychological barrier
which
protects youngsters as their personalities are developing.
Later, as a student at Williams College in Massachusetts, Shalit was appalled by coed restrooms and other
on-campus,
sex-related problems. She wrote a piece about these
practices
which was eventually published in Reader’s Digest.
The thesis of A Return to Modesty is that the
so-called “sexual revolution” has robbed society of many of its most
valuable
virtues; for one thing, a sense of self-worth. She contends
that the
breakdown of modesty among young girls has led to an exploding level of
promiscuity, and that “every single study” of this moral degeneracy has
revealed
that “low self-esteem is correlated with early intercourse for girls.”
Shalit
argues that the modern loss of modesty has spawned a host of serious
problems
that have robbed women of genuine happiness. She cites early feminists
who
believed that if women abandoned their natural instincts toward
modesty,
devastating consequences would eventually result.
The author unhesitatingly charges that modern feminists,
together with women’s magazines, and the so-called “mental health
industry,”
have, in concert, contributed to the numerous difficulties women now
are
encountering. She cites, for example, feminists like Naomi Wolf, who
has
suggested that there is a “shadow slut” lurking somewhere in every
woman’s
personality, just waiting to be liberated.
Ms. Shalit contends that modesty
is not a disease of which women need to be cured! “It is high time
sexual
modesty came out of the closet,” she writes. “Not only can you not get
AIDS
from it, not only is it morally right, but . . . modesty is really much
more
exciting than promiscuity.”
Her book, A Return to Modesty is a
valuable resource for analyzing the decline of the feminine mystique in
modern
society.
My own conviction is this. If women would learn to be women
again, instead of trying to emulate the conduct of crude and profane
men; if
they would learn to speak, dress, and act like ladies again, instead of
portraying the image of foul-mouthed, street-corner prostitutes; if
they would
return to the biblical norm of femininity, whole new vistas
would open
to them, which they would discover as wonderful, exciting, and
fulfilling.
Modern immodesty has not liberated women; rather, it has
enslaved them to lifestyles that have only degraded them, and marred
the
glorious image their Creator intended them to enjoy.
All mature women can
envision certain fashions they loathe to the point of saying with
hyperbole,
"I wouldn't be caught dead in that." There is nothing wrong with
admiring a certain style (as long as it is not ungodly) and we all have
to
learn to tolerate others whose taste in fashion differs widely from our
own.
However, the truth
is, there are a lot of bodies roaming America in various stages of
UNDRESS
which indicates they are spiritual corpses. In the discerning eyes of
faithful
Christians (Heb. 5:14), these who shamelessly show their skin are seen
for what
they really are: spiritually dead and in need of the Gospel to save
their souls
and instill godly standards of dress.
Every time they
venture into public in their short skirts, short shorts, thong
swimsuits, skin
tight clothes, revealing dresses, low cut blouses, see through fabric,
midriff-revealing tops, etc., they are, literally, "caught dead" in
them. They are like those whom Jesus described as, "...whited
sepulchers, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of
dead
people's bones and all uncleanness" (Matt. 23:27).
When it comes
to nakedness, society's definition and God's are not synonymous.
Society tells
us a woman (or man) with a few inches of fabric barely covering the
barest
essentials is clothed - especially if he or she is on the beach. God's
concept
is quite to the contrary.
As read in our text,
from the third chapter of Genesis, we noticed that after Adam and Eve
ate the
forbidden fruit, their eyes were opened and they saw they were naked.
So, they
sewed fig leaves together to make loincloths. Surely this leafy
loincloth
covered at least as much as today’s modern swim-wear. But it is very
revealing
(pardon the pun) that later, when God came to the garden, they hid.
Why? Adam said
they hid because they were naked - even though they had on the fig
leaves (vs.
10). God seems to concur when, in verse 11, He asked Adam, "Who told
you
that you were naked?"
Later, God made them
both garments ("coats" of animal skins) covering enough so that they
were no longer naked. Interestingly, the word for the garments God made
Adam
and Eve is the same Hebrew word (ketonet)
used
for the coat of many colors which Jacob made for Joseph (Gen. 37:3).
God did
not give Eve a mini-skirt.
Later, in giving
instructions for what the priests were to wear, God told Moses “And you
shall
make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach
from
the waist to the thighs” (Ex. 28:42). The thigh is everything between
the waist
and the knee. Thus, for God's priests to expose anything above the knee
would
be to expose nakedness (and these were all men!). It goes without
saying that
godly Israelite women were not parading their thighs in public, either.
Isaiah prophesied of
Babylon's destruction, describing it as a virgin trying to escape
through a
river: 1 “Come down
and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; Sit on the ground
without a
throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called
Tender and
delicate. 2 Take the millstones and grind meal.
Remove your
veil, Take off the skirt, Uncover the thigh, Pass through the rivers. 3
Your nakedness shall be uncovered, Yes,
your shame
will be seen” (Isa. 47:1-3).
In this passage God
tells Babylon that her nakedness would be uncovered (v. 3). How? Verse
2
indicates (1) her veil would be removed; (2) her skirt would be
removed; and
(3) her thighs would be uncovered. Result: her nakedness would be
exposed.
There seems to
emerge a consistent biblical concept that uncovered legs - at least
anything
above the knee (i.e. the thigh) - are viewed by God as nakedness. In
light of
several Bible passages, God expects men and women to be clothed in
something
that - at a minimum - reaches down to the knees. If someone wants to
take issue
with that conclusion, let him or her produce the Scripture that teaches
you can
be modest while revealing your thighs.
The brothers are
passing out a handout written by a godly sister in Christ, Mary
Martini. She has
compiled several helpful questions to determine what is proper to wear.
I
highly commend these questions for your consideration.
And remember,
concerning any fashion not up to God's standard of decency, let us all
say,
"I wouldn't be caught dead in that."
THE DRESS TEST
FOR WOMEN
PROFESSING
GODLINESS
Look at yourself in
a full length mirror - front, back and side. Ask yourself:
Will what I'm
wearing bring God glory (1 Cor. 10:31; Ex. 28:40, 43; Isa. 61:3) and
portray me
as a godly woman (1 Tim. 2:9-10)?
Does what I'm
wearing meet or exceed God's standard for being modest (Gen. 3:21; Ex.
20:26;
28:40-43)? Will my clothing help or hurt my influence for Christ (Rom.
13:10;
15:3; Phil. 2:3-4)?
Is it too short? Sit
down, cross your legs, reach up, bend over and squat down. At any time,
does
the garment reveal any of your leg above your knees (Ex. 28:42)? Does
it
emphasize my sexuality, thus tantalizing, enticing or tempting men to
have
impure thoughts (Matt. 18:7; Gal. 5:19 - lasciviousness)? Will
it encourage
a man to lust after me, thus causing him to stumble and sin (Rom.
14:13; 1 Cor.
8:9; Matt. 5:27-28)?
Is the neckline too
low? Bend over - what can you see? Sit. Have another female tell you
what they
can see while looking down at you (men serving the Lord's Supper say
this is a
problem).
Is it too sheer? Can
I see my skin or undergarments through the material (With tops and
blouses, is
your midriff showing at any time (Gen. 3:21)? Is it too tight? Am I
revealing
my body form - undergarments exposed - naked in God's eyes – John
21:7)? If
sleeveless, are my undergarments visible (John 21:7)? Is it appropriate
and
respectful (Gen. 41:14; Matt. 22:11-14)?
When I come to
worship, would someone think I was going to a picnic or other social
activity,
or can they tell I'm giving my best in my worship to God (Ex. 20:26)?
Because of how I'm
dressed, would someone mistake me for a worldly woman (a harlot - Prov.
7:10;
Gen. 38:15)? Is what I'm wearing stating that I'm dressed to be chaste
(pure
and holy) or chased (by men)?
Remember---God may
hold me responsible for wrong reactions if I dress inappropriately (Matt. 5:27-28; 14:1-12). - -
Mary Martini
Loved ones let us
dress properly as spiritual children of God, "that you may be clothed,
that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed" (Rev. 3:18). Let
us
be in appearance what/who we claim to be, CHRISTIANS ONLY! (Acts
11:26;
Jam 2:7; 1 Pet. 4:16; Phil. 3:20-21). Set your mind on things above,
not on
things on the earth, for your life is hidden with Christ in
God (Col. 3:2,
3; Eph. 1:3; see Phi. 4:8, 13).