Why I Should Reject ImmodestyBy John R. Gentry |
What should we wear or not wear as Christians? Is modesty (or immodesty) determined by the styles of the day? Can we know what constitutes the sin of immodesty? Does the Bible define modesty for us? All of these are important questions, the answers to which are found in the Bible. I should reject immodesty because in the Bible… Immodesty is equated with nakedness and shame. Before sin, man was naked and without shame (Gen. 2.25). However, after Adam and Eve ate of that forbidden fruit and sinned we read that their nakedness equaled shame (Gen. 3.7-10). Unless we have become desensitized, our nakedness should also cause equal shame (Isa. 47.3; Nah. 3.5; Rev. 3.18) and we should reject immodesty. Before you assume that you reject immodesty because you don’t run around naked, consider what the Bible defines as nakedness. Besides complete nudity, God’s Word defines nakedness as being covered only by underwear or undergarments (Gen. 3.10; John 21.7), exposing portions of the thigh (Exo. 20.26; 28.42; Isa. 47.2-3), exposing portions of the buttocks (Isa. 20.4), and exposing portions of the breast (Eze. 16.7-8). In other words, if you run around in clothes that allow others to see portions of your thighs, buttocks, breasts or other parts of the body that should be concealed, either by not covering these parts or wearing tight fitting or other types of accentuating clothing, you are running around naked and are not rejecting immodesty. God’s design of clothes completely covers up nakedness. Have you ever given thought to what sort of clothes God would design for you? Did you know in the Bible we can read of several occasions where God designed clothes? Before Adam and Eve sinned they did not wear clothes, but after they sinned God gave them clothes (Gen. 2.25). When the Lord was giving Moses the pattern for the tabernacle and the worship to take place therein, he gave the pattern for the clothes to be worn by the priests (Exo. 28.3-4). We also see the clothes that God gives to saints in heaven (Rev. 6.11; 7.9, 13-14). And looking back in history we can determine the sort of clothes Jesus himself wore while walking this earth (John 1.14). Did you know that in every “line of clothes” designed by God the people were covered from at least neck to below the knee?1 Can it truly be said of us that we reject immodesty if we fail to dress in clothes that match God’s design? Conclusion. We should reject immodesty because we want to go to heaven. We reject immodesty by not wearing anything that exposes our nakedness (as defined by God and not man) and by not subjecting ourselves to the immodesty of others such as at the beach or water parks, on TV or the internet, in magazines, or any other place where immodesty is exposed. For further study regarding the subject of modesty read and study 1 Tim. 2.8-10 and 1 Pet. 3.1-6.
1 For more information read Jeff Pollard’s Christian Modesty And The Public Undressing of America
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Blessed is the man who listens to me, |
