Women in the church: What does God want? Part 3 of 6 · How Does God Want Females to Dress?
The "upward call" of "excelling more" in manifesting the Spirit in Christ-like love when it comes to clothing is to seek modesty in a) not wearing too much (ostentatiousness); b) not wearing too little (eroticness); and c) not wearing a degrading body banner (wrong identity).
Women in the church: What does God want? Part 3 of 6
How Does God Want Females to Dress?
1 Timothy 2:9-10
(Children's Sheet for Sermon Interaction is at bottom. Notes are throughout sermon)
Please turn to 1 Timothy 2:9-10. We are in Part 3 of the sermon series, "Women in the church: What does God want?" As I proceed, I want to point out that people operate in society according to various codes of conduct. The overarching code of the lost is the sin of Secular Humanism and various false religions. The overarching code of Christians, is God's revealed will from His word. We think about these categories, and we realize that there are also sub-codes for pockets of life that involve everyone. Dress codes are just one example. Both Christians and the lost have dress codes. Our dress codes may share some of the same features. Certainly, various elements have been laid down for us by others through culture. Call it fashion; call it utility; call it style; or, just call it "what you wear"--whatever you call it, the dress code that you choose for how you clothe your body is not something that spontaneously popped into existence as part of you. Attitudes, customs, and preferences for clothing, are assimilated as we grow. As Christians, we want our body covering choices to be godly. To achieve our godly ambition, we need Biblical principles to help us. If we go the way of worldly principles and philosophies, we will fail in our upward calling. So, we want to base our reasoning upon God's word. This is how we know we are "truly" led by God's Spirit in real love. With this in mind, let's prepare our hearts to grow from the preaching of God's word. The theme is,
Women in the church: What does God want? Part 3
How Does God Want Females to Dress?
[prayer]
After studying this issue, I have found certain things to be true. I have found that God wants females to dress as a manifestation of the Spirit in godly wisdom. I have also found that when it comes to clothing problems, in terms of inhibiting the manifestation of the indwelling Spirit, and practicing God's wisdom, it comes down to symptoms that are expressed from hearts being influenced and driven by the lost-world-culture. This diminishes being Christ-exhaltation-driven in what to wear. The manifestation is seen in three primary areas:
a) wearing too much (ostentatiousness);
in
b) wearing too little (eroticness);
and in
c) wearing a degrading body banner (wrong identity).
-a-
What I mean by the problem of wearing too much; is to dress from a carnal desire to appease your vanity in soliciting the adoring attention of others. When this is done strategically, from your heart, then you are not purposing to suppress your pride.
-b-
What I mean by the problem of wearing too little, is not wearing enough to safeguard yourself; And strategically, from your heart, not purposing to safeguard others from thinking of you in such a way as an erotic object of desire to lust after sexually. It is where you make yourself into soft-p0rn by what you wear.
-c-
What I mean by the problem of wearing the wrong body banner, is wearing clothes that are associated with a degrading cultural movement, people, and affinity, or something that is foolish and ungodly; and along with this, strategically from your heart, not seeking to wear clothes that are associated with godliness, purity minded people, humble Christlike people, and those who posses godly wisdom.
Such body banners influence people to think that your uniform means that you are part of those degraded affinity groups, or that you want to be part of them. With these dress code areas in mind:
/1/
The First Principle that I will cover to help us fight this trend in our own lives, is to recognize that God's view of nakedness, and clothing, is important to Him, and further, we must learn about clothing from God to properly understand it, and then use what we learn in wisdom.
In the beginning, God made the first man and the first woman in such a way that,
"25 the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed." Genesis 2:25
Coming into the world unclothed was God's original design. In the pre-fall existence, there was no shame in such a state. But, the first man, and woman, sinned. Something new resulted,
"7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings." Genesis 3:7
A realization had come to them because of their sin. Now they knew that they were naked. Something about this state was different from God's original design. Even knowing that they were naked is a result of sin. Part of this realization gave them a sense that they were in shame, and so they tried to cover their nakedness. They both covered their loin areas with leaves. The man said,
"10 ... I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself." Genesis 3:10
We notice that though hanging leaves on the area of his loins, he was still considered to be naked. God's word demonstrates to us that the continued state of being naked, even with leaves on loins, is why Adam was afraid. God said,
"11 ... Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" Genesis 3:11
Nobody told Adam and Eve that they were naked. Sin entered in, and so did the realization. Sin was the main problem of the fall, but there was also the manifestations of the sin. Before the fall, nakedness was no big deal. After the fall, nakedness is a big deal--even with leaves on your loins. Immersed in sin, their personal remedy for nakedness failed. Notice what God did next,
"21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them." Genesis 3:21
In killing animals and providing their skins for actual garments, God demonstrates that blood sacrifices are required to cover sin (at least this is a theological suggestion that is read back into the text inductively). God also demonstrates (clearly in the immediate context) that the garments that He made for clothes sufficiently covered the nakedness of the man and woman. The two important words here are "garments" and "clothed." God did more than cover their loins with some leaves. God clothed them fully, and this is the point for wisdom. God's view of nakedness and clothing has shown a consistency throughout Scripture in respect to exhibition. Later, with Noah and his sons, the world, in a sense, starts all over again. One night Noah got drunk and was exposed. In modesty, two of his sons (Shem and Japheth) would not look at him. They backed up to him with a garment on their shoulders and dropped it over him to cover his nakedness. Their brother, Ham, on the other hand, looked at his naked father. When Noah had awaken, he cursed Ham for what he had done. Noah and his sons apparantly learned from the legacy of Adam and Eve about the apparant importance of exposure and covering. In wisdom, Shem and Japheth sought a high godly standard. The wisdom standard is to seek a high standard in covering nakedness from public view. In Isaiah 47, the principle of shamefulness for uncovered women is demonstrated. We read of Babylon as a cursed woman who becomes a slave in a propecy that came by the Holy Spirit,
"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 47:2-3
Being uncovered, she is exposed for public display. The Holy Spirit says it is her shame. Later, in the New Testament, we see that the demons delight in the shame of public exposure. There was a man,
"... who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, ..." Luke 8:27
The man was completely nude. After Jesus cast out the demons, people came and found the man,
"... sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind;" Luke 8:35
@1 After Jesus delivered a man from demon possession, he put on clothes and was in his right _______________________. (Luke 8:35)
Being naked was part of the horror of demon possession. Being clothed was part of the blessing of being saved.
On the other hand, all through God's word, marriage is held in honor, where a man and woman become one flesh and enjoy each other's naked bodies, (cf. Proverbs 5:19, 1 Corinthians 7:2-4 etc.).
So, the Holy Spirit reveals to us that there is nakedness, and it is shameful to expose it for general public display, and though one may have a small item on a part of their body, one can still be in a state of being naked and exposed as was demonstrated in Adam and Eve's leaves.
Christ, Who was sinless, wore clothes in His pre-cross ministry. He wore a seamless tunic John 19:23, which he wore while wearing layers of garments with it, Matthew 27:35. When males labored, they would take off outer layers of their garments and leave on the under layers. Peter was fishing in these under layers, and when he left his boat to see Jesus, he put on the rest of the layers of his outfit to go to shore. When Jesus humbled Himself like a foot washing house slave, He took off his outer garments, and then he wrapped a linen cloth around Himself in the manner of the lowest house slave. In purposeful humility He dressed like a foot washing slave to wash the disciple's feet. He dried their feet with the same linen cloth. This was a supreme act of humbleness from the King of kings and Lord of lords. When finished, Christ put the layers of His garments back on. Other than these kinds of work instances with males, where the torso was probably exposed, we can never find, in the Bible, that women are depicted in a positive way as exhibiting their torsos in public. Historically, the Israelite practice was that while in public, a female's torso must always be covered with layers of loose fitting fabric. According to the Jews, the torso is defined as from the collar bone area down the body, and to the knee. The shoulders and upper arms were also covered. In the New Testament period, and through church history, a similar standard of covering continued, with slight deviations at times around the collar bone area, and with sleeve length. A radical departure occurred in the church in the last few generations after the advent of feminism, humanism, post modernism, and other humanistic philosophies.
We must also consider that God recognizes that clothes can be categorized. For example, God thinks that clothes can be defined as those that are a female's, and those that are a male's. We see God referring to the two categories,
"5 A woman shall not wear man's clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman's clothing;" Deuteronomy 22:5
This Deuteronomic passage is expressing the affinity action of when a man purposely tries to look like a woman, or for a woman to try and look like a man. It is called transvestism, or transvestitism, which is a word that comes from transfer, and vestment, or vest. Transvestism is literally the practice of adopting the clothes, manner, and the sexual role, of the opposite sex. There are clothes that God recognizes, in His word, as clothes of slaves, as clothes of Kings, as clothes of virtuous women, and as clothes of sexually immoral women. There are wedding clothes. There are soldier's clothes. There are clothes of priests, and so forth. They are body banners, and God recognizes that body banners have distinct meanings. In the resurrection, God describes our Christian body banners to be bright white robes. These are the body banners that reflect our oneness with the Spotless Lamb, where we are His spotless bride, made by Him to be white as snow in reflecting the light of His sinless glory. So, the first principle is that God's view of nakedness, and clothing, is important to Him, and further, we must learn about clothing from God to properly understand it and apply what we know in wisdom.
/2/
This leads me to the second point I want to make this morning to help us fight the problem of wrong dress trends. It is the examination of our main passage (1 Timothy 2:9-10) to get direct teaching for Christian females on how to determine what God wants them to wear. Paul writes concerning proper conduct in the church of God,
"9 I want women to adorn [kosmeo] themselves with proper [kosmios] clothing [katastole], modestly [aidos] and in self control [sophrosune], not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, 10 but rather by means of good deeds, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness." 1 Timothy 2:9-10
@2 There is a proper way that woman should dress who make a claim to __________________________. (1 Timothy 2:9-10)
From this passage alone, we notice that clothing is not neutral. According to God, there is befittingly correct clothing for a female to wear, which necessarily means that there is improper clothing that she should avoid. This makes sense, because from the garden of Eden, through the rest of the history of God's people, God has demonstrated this. Here, God instructs Christian females through Paul. He says that woman should adorn themselves modestly in self control in proper clothing. Paul is apparently making a play on words in the Greek by saying, kosmein heautas ... en katastole kosmio. The verb kosmeo means to put in order, to adorn, or adornment, and has the sense of dressing up with an ornamental connotation of what you display when you exhibit yourself. Peter uses this same word to describe how a woman's
"adornment must ... be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. 5 For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves," 1 Peter 3:3-5
In 1 Timothy, Paul goes on and begins to bring out the core principle. The next adjective, kosmios, means here, orderly, properly, seemly, and as alluded to in the statement by Paul, incorporates being modest. This is part of the foundation of the important clothing ambition for females to follow in godly wisdom. We also see that Paul is talking about attire, and so he uses the word, katastole, which is used only here in the New Testament. It is accurately translated as attire, apparel, garment, and clothing. This word has the literalized sense of a garment being "let down." The full expression is simple and straightforward. It signifies that women should "dress themselves in proper clothes;" and the proper clothes are those that are orderly, decent, and modest. Next, Paul goes on and uses the very important Greek word aidos. It is used only here in the New Testament too. This word is defined in most Greek lexicons as meaning modesty. In its full sense, it is a deep word. It is a word that has to do with modesty as an inner heart attitude (the source mindset). Think of the Christ centered attribute of having modesty of mind for attaining modesty that results from the mind. It has the definitive meaning of acting in the opposite of pride through a sense of a kind of conscientious sense of strategic bashfulness, in the sense of "innate moral repugnance to doing a dishonorable act," (NET). The actual word particle metaphor is of having downcast eyes which is conveyed in archaic language as having an attitude of a sense of shame about dressing immodestly. This heart attitude, is our starting point that we can call "point A." The careful, humble, modesty mindset principle is what godly females need to get them to discerning the proper clothes to cover their bodies, which is "point Z." Point Z is the godly female's goal as she exercises wisdom in her godly ambition. Z is modesty in dress, which is based upon A, which is the expression of the inner godly humble person of the modest heart. Without the right heart attitude of godly humbleness, discernment of one's godly self awareness, and a Holy Spirit led modesty-wisdom-sense that understands the high responsibility of manifesting outwardly what is inward in authentic love for God and others, then biblical modesty will not be manifested.
But there is more. Without the Holy Spirit's leading according to the Bible, people who merely mimic the manifestation of modest women, are just doing religious, or cultural, things that Mormons, Muslims, apostate Jews, Hindus, people born into an Amish culture-community, or anyone, can do. The point is that godly self control of modesty is a Holy Spirit mindset. This fruit of the Spirit is the "self control" that Paul means in 1 Timothy 2:9 concerning dress. We see it in Galatians,
"the fruit of the Spirit is ... self-control;" Galatians 5:22-23
Self control fruit of the Spirit, is Spirit control fruit in how you clothe your self. With a humble heart, and Biblically spiritual sensitivity, this should be an easy matter for any Christian female to seek to achieve. If not, then there is an issue of the heart that must be worked on.
Remember: Modesty of mind attains modesty manifestations that result from the mind.
When you see a female who is not demonstrating a sense of modesty in dress, then you know that it is a deeper problem than the clothing alone--there is something going on in her heart that motivates her to downgrade the wisdom of modesty. It may be from bad discipleship, or from the influence of a compromising church culture, or simply pure rebellion and foolishness. The outward is simply a manifestation of the inward. When Paul uses the word, self control (Gk. sophrosune), we must understand that this word is also defined as temperance. It literally means to be sound in your thinking, sober, and to have personal control in good sense. Paul's concern is that women do all of this when it comes to anything they put on their body.
Paul goes on and brings out a contrast of various elements of vanity of outward show, versus the inner beauty of the inner heart being manifested. He does not want woman to adorn themselves with the costuming of braided hair, gold, pearls, or costly garments as the focus of the presentation of themselves. These are vainty things in an abbreviated list. This same principle applies to purses, shoes, tatoos, peircings, makeup, etc. Paul is not saying to put aside wedding rings, or neglect your hair, or never purchase a subjectively defined "costly" garment, or anything like this. This concern is with what you think is important in displaying your saved self, and what others see when you display yourself, which is the same concern of 1 Peter,
"Your adornment must not be merely external--braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God." 1 Peter 3:3-4
The point of both Paul and Peter is that the premier presentation that trumps all those outward things, is your good deeds. Holy Spirit led good deeds are more valuable, more enduring, and more beautiful than any of those other vanity things. Deeds from the Holy Spirit in you, are the character clothes that God wants all Christian females to have who claim to be godly. It is the beautiful action adornment that comes out of your inner person. What we are seeing is that God wants Christian women to submit to the Spirit's leading as directed in the Scriptures and to seek to dress modestly as a good deed.
People who are driven by culture, instead of by Christ, show that they have a spiritual heart issue when they defend immodesty, or mock those who seek to manifest it. In fact, they will not call immodesty what it is. They will vainly wear too much in ostentatious self glory, or they will lasciviously wear too little, or they will wear a self-degrading body banner. In so doing, they are mocking the Spirit's urging to be modest. They dim the inner Light of the beauty of Christ that God has imparted to them by the Spirit. They are like the Proverb,
"Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion." Proverbs 11:22
@3 A beautiful woman who lacks discretion, is like a gold ring in a ____________ _____________. (Proverbs 11:22)
All Christian women are beautiful to God spiritually in Christ. Why? Because they have been recreated into a spotless bride without blemish. The pig's snout that hides that beauty is lack of discretion and its accomplice; lack of modesty. The woman in Proverbs 11, is a radical departure from the woman that God praises at the end of Proverbs. Her worth is described as being far above rubies;
"Strength and dignity are her clothing, ..." Proverbs 31:25
This principle is important, because 1 Timothy teaches us to understand how to think in our clothing choices. Females manifest weak and undignified spirituality when they purposely dress immodestly. This leads us to consider the next point for helping us fight the problem of worldly dress trends.
/3/
It is vital that you recognize that clothing really matters in respect to your spiritual character. You must understand that your outward uniform reflects what is going on inside you. Outward clothing affinities reflect what is going on inside a person in respect to pride, or humbleness; in respect to scruples concerning propriety, or erotic indiscretion; or in respect to self-oriented stubborness, or humble love for others--in respect to foolishness, or wisdom. The point is that if someone is dressing vainly, they are doing it because they are trying to attract attention to themselves. This is the definition of ostentatious:
"wanting to attract attention to one's self."
They either want to be known for having the latest fashion trend on, or they want to be known for dressing better than others, or they want be noticed as something special, or they want to be erotically attractive and alluring. Whenever someone dresses in a body banner, they are wanting to be associated, in some way, with the cultural affinity they are mimicking. There is something going on inside the person that motivates them to seek this avenue of appearance. If they are trying to emulate godliness, then their clothing will reflect a heart attitude by seeking God's will from His Scriptures like 1 Timothy, where modesty in heart comes out in covering of body. If the person is wearing erotic, sexually enticing clothing, then it reflects the person's character. Someone may say,
"That does not apply to me. My inner self is different than the image I am conveying in my clothes."
If this is true, then why are you content with advertising that image? Your contentment reflects your inward person. So the big take home point on this one is that godly modesty begins with spiritual character. Then the maturity of our spiritual character is manifested in our dress choices, and if someone denies this fact, then they are actually demonstrating the fact's truthfulness by demonstrating their immature spiritual character in respect to Scripture. This does not mean that your clothes are who you are. Your clothes are not who you are. What this means, though, is that your clothes are reflections of where you are in your spiritual growth, and godly wisdom.
This reminds me of a time when I asked a Christian girl who was dressed immodestly, why she was dressed that way. She did not answer from the propriety of inner modesty, and godly wisdom. Immediately her inner pride and world-culture-love, exposed her inner self, in much the same manner as her immodest clothing was already doing, and she retorted,
"Because this is who I am!"
The sad part about this incident is that this girl, who was dressed as if she had a thin layer of paint on, with everything else exposed, is "on staff" with a culture-driven church. My main point is that she is not her clothes. Nobody is their clothes. Yet, through her clothes, she was projecting the way she thinks, her philosophies of life; whether she is foolish, or wise, discerning or not, sensitive to the Spirit, or sensually in the flesh. She, like all Christian woman, was exposing whether she is immodest, or modest, p0rnish, or prudent, loving other Christians more, or loving herself more. Body banners are signs that are mirrors of what is going on in the soul. As Christians, our bodies do not belong to us. They belong to God. We are His temples. The way you dress your body reflects how you view the temple's sacredness, value, and reputation. So this third principle is that your outward choices reflect the maturity of your inner spiritual character. To deny it, is to demonstrate it as true by demonstrating immature spirituality in respect to the teachings of the Bible. This leads to the next point for helping us fight the problem of worldly dress trends.
/4/
It is vital to recognize that a female's personal clothing choice is her own influence on the way others think of her. Because she is a willing influence, then she shares the responsibility for her impression she conveys. The principle of the vainly dressed female is real. The principle of the body banner is real. The principle of the erotic, scantily clad, female in fabric paint being thought of by others as an object for sexual gratification, and as a spiritually immature person, is real. The principle that the way she dresses can either edify others, or put an obstacle for stumbling in their way, is also very real.
Think of the woman in Proverbs 7. When we read of her, she is described as a wife, 7:19. So there is this married woman in Proverbs 7. Think about that. She is also a devoutly religious Israelite. She has made her Old Covenant peace offerings and paid her vows like a pious religious practitioner according to Leviticus 7 (cf. Proverbs 7:17). But this devoutly religious wife wants to sin and seduce a young man that she sees coming down the road. So what does she do? She changes her clothes. She dresses like a whore, Proverbs 7:10. God shows us here that He recognizes that there is a kind of way to dress that reflects being an immoral woman. It is not that the immoral woman wears a sign that says,
"I'm a whore."
The sign is the way she dresses. The married woman in Proverbs 7 knows what it is. She dresses that way because it is sexy. It is enticing. She knows that when dressed that way, it will be easier to seduce a male by inciting lust in him. She does not lie, and pretendingly attempt to deny the influence of her clothes. She recognizes the truth, and uses it to her advantage. Such a woman is more wise than the spiritually dull naive Christian female who dresses this way and expects there to be no erotic influence, no personal responsibility, and no judgment of her character. This woman is wiser in the respect that she knows that the influence works what it naturally works. The compromising Christian, (who happens to carry the Holy Spirit with her everywhere she goes), on the other hand, acts like she is surprised concerning all of these facts.
In Genesis 38, the principle is illustrated well in the life of a woman named Tamar. Tamar was a widow. As a widow she wore what God's word describes as "widow's clothes." This is just another example that demonstrates that God recognizes body banners and uses them as illustrations for our instruction. Tamar's body banner worked. It conveyed what it is supposed to convey:
"I am a widow."
But the widow, Tamar, wanted to get pregnant. Her plan was to sin and seduce a man. She did not pretendingly deny the principle that there is an immodest way that women dress that is their banner that advertises that they are not prudent and are not being safe in conveying a chaste and pure inner person. She did not smugly attempt to argue against this fact out of some kind of compromising philosophy that seeks to justify her actions as some kind of "grace" license. So Tamar took off her widow's clothes according to verse 14, wrapped herself, and hid her face with a veil. Her wrapping was the body banner of prostitutes. She did this to disguise herself from her father in law. Her father in law is who she wanted to have sex with. She changed her clothing style to seduce him. The principle is that harlot's clothes logically work better for this than widow's clothes. The principle is so strong, that when she changed her clothes, her father in law had no idea who she was. Her clothes were the banner that advertised to the world what the world should think of her, and so her father in law was influenced by her clothing. To Him, she went from being his daughter in law, to a sex object. This fourth principle is that modesty recognizes that a female's personal clothing choice is her own influence on the way others think of her, and that because she is a willing influence, then she shares the responsibility for her impression she conveys.
This leads me to mention the next important point that helps us battle the trend to blend with the godless dress patterns being laid down for us by the world.
/5/
Modesty truthfully acknowledges that the body is a sexual creation (rather than compromising by pretending that it is not), and then reflects this fact in covering choices. To demonstrate why this principle is so important in the current state of the church, let me give you an illustration from Pastor Douglas Wilson, He says with piercing candor,
"This has not yet occurred, but I have thought about it a few times. Suppose there is some kind of Christian gathering, and a woman comes to it dressed like she really shouldn't be. She arrives in a tight top, and proceeds to headlight everyone. What would happen if, after the pastor greeted her, he commented on the size of her breasts? She would be horrified, the people standing nearby would all turn white, someone would bring charges against the pastor before the elders, and so forth. And all because he commented on the two most obvious objets d'art in the room. In this scenario, the one guilty of a breach of decorum would be the one who said something about them, and not the person intent upon displaying them to a bemused public. We are afflicted with a real problem of schizophrenia. We are playing show and tell, but aren't allowed to tell." Douglas Wilson in Credenda/Agenda P.O. Box 8741 Moscow, ID 83843 Copyright © 2000 Credenda/Agenda. All rights reserved.
Mr. Wilson's point, about playing show and tell, is that we all know it is not okay for a pastor to make such a remark, yet the woman, many like her, and multitudes of onlookers, act as if it is okay that she advertise aspects of her sexuality in such a way as to compromise by pretending like her exhibition is not what it is, and then reflecting such denial in covering. The problem is magnified because it is not relegated to being a "headlight" problem. It is also a taillight problem, and a trunklight problem too. The spiritual schizophrenia that Wilson is describing is the insane double standard that the church has today. It is supposed to be okay for a female to show off her private parts, but it is not supposed to be okay to point them out to her. This is not schizophrenia. This is the hypocrisy of the compromising church of our age. The point is that both showing and telling are immodest and wrong--but both should be equally acknowledged as immodest and wrong. Men and women; husbands and wives; fathers, and mothers; and young single girls, must not feign this pretendedly naive act of our age of trying to lie to themselves and everyone else in attempting to diminish the fact that the human body is a sexual creation that arouses which is manifested in personal clothing, or lack thereof. With this kind of personal acknowledgment, we must pursue modesty in a godly Christ minded manner. This is spiritual wisdom.
This also means that we must also recognize that modesty is not an attempt to hide the body because God wants a female to be disgusted with herself. Modesty is meant to be a manifestation of care for the body, which is care for the temple of the Holy Spirit. As a sexual creation, the body is a wonderful masterpiece of God that He is happy with. But, the sexual, sensual, erotic delight of your body is meant for a spouse, and not for the rest of the people who see you, and are enticed by your soft-p0rnishness. When we think about this clearly, which is modestly, we realize that when Bathsheeba was bathing on the roof in broad daylight, in plain view of David, that the acknowledgment that her body is a strong sexual creation which should not be exposed to men other than her spouse to see, and then taking modest actions to hide herself from view, would have altered the subsequent events. Jesus said that if a man looks upon a woman to lust after her, then he has committed adultery already in his heart. If a woman does not admit that the body is a sexual creation, and then acknowledge that her body, as a sexual creation, really does have a powerful influence on others, and then based upon these honest considerations, in the wisdom of modesty, make covering adjustments, then she becomes a seductress who participates in the heart adultery of all the males she is seducing. Yes, the man is responsible for his lust, but the willing accomplice also bears the responsibility of the willing accomplice. Our influence upon others is behind the true Christian love principle in Romans,
"... determine this--not to put an obstacle, or a stumbling block in a brother's way. ... It is good not ... to do anything by which your brother stumbles." Romans 14:13-21
@4 It is good not to do ______________________ that can make your brother stumble. (Romans 14:13-21)
God says you are the one who is responsible for putting, or not putting, a stumbling block in a brother's way. Job said,
"I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl." Job 31:1
It is hard enough for males to keep a covenant with their eyes. It is even harder when females, in lack of modesty, are actively helping them to break it. God wants Christian females, of our day, to truthfully acknowledge that their body is a sexual creation that can manipulate and influence the minds of others, and then do their clothing part, in Christian love, to pursue spiritual safety in not tempting males to look upon them lustfully to stumble. This leads to the next principle in the battle in swimming against the sinful tide of our lost culture in respect to clothing.
/6/
It is the high standard principle of not seeking to find ways to compromise God's word about thinking modestly concerning what you wear, but rather, looking to find ways to excel still more and more. In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul says,
"1 ... we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God ... that you excel still more." 1 Thessalonians 4:1
The principle in this passage is the "excel still more" principle. It is where you make love for God, and love for others, such a high priority in your Christian walk, that you do everything you can to be modest in consistent analyzation to excel to higher heights, instead of allowing yourself to settle for anything less. Paul says it again,
"9 Now as to the love of the brothers, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; 10 for indeed you do practice it toward all ... But we urge you ... to excel still more," 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10
Yes, a Christian female may be expressing that she has been taught by God to have Christian love for others, but the urging is that she go further and express it to the utmost. To go further, is to hone modesty. It is to make it your high ambition to perfect it. Paul calls this same principle the "upward call" of God in Philippians 3:14. God's call is to press diligently toward it. The upward call of God is the "much more," where we strive to be modest and self controlled to the highest extent of godly attainment. Keep this principle in mind, because when it comes to wearing clothing, even after a biblical teaching on modesty principles, there is still a realm of the subjective to deal with. This is the area that your inner heart will get tested as to whether you want to hunger for the safety, love, and virtuousness of the upward call, or whether you want to settle for the danger zone of compromise of downwardness that transforms you into a stumbling block. The heart-test comes in because we all know we are Christians saved by grace. We also know that one person's standard of what is appropriate may be another person's standard of immodesty. This is why the subjective must be dealt with according to a comprehensive gathering of objective Scriptural principles, and continued to be governed by such passages as 1 Timothy 2, Philippians 3 and 1 Thessalonians 4, and others in authentic Holy Spirit leading, or it becomes purely philosophical. For example, someone may say,
"Clothing is relative. I hear what you say about wearing too much; but who is to say what ostentatious, attention getting clothing, really is?"
Such a question seeks to render the Bible's teachings as nebulous, meaningless, and irrelevant. To attempt to do so, is the lower call of sin and foolishness, instead of the upward call of excelling much more. Such a question is in the same category as asking, after a diabetics seminar on eating healthy, wholesome, foods,
"Who is to say what junk food really is anyway?"
Such a question serves no high purpose in seeking to combat diabetes.
Someone may ask,
"What are body banners anyway? There is nothing wrong with wearing clothes that make me look like an ungodly, sleazy, or downgrade affinity group if I am not actually any of those."
Again, such a question, in attempting to be academically wise, is the practical foolishness that expresses a lower pull, instead of the upward call of excelling much more for God and others. Then finally, someone may say similar things about modesty in respect to erotic elements of covering, or lack of covering. They will attempt to dismiss their responsibility before God by attempting to appeal to lower call standards, instead of the upward call of excelling much more. In all the examples I have just given, the person with the heart bent downward is asking the wrong questions. Another example is when someone may ask,
"Well, if we are going to be truly modest, then shouldn't all women wear burkas--you know, the tent drapes that smother heads and bodies in Muslim Afghanistan?"
It is a wrong question because it is cleverly meant to force you downward to be frozen in a fearful state that refuses to try and discern a sense of modesty, thus sidetracking you from recognizing that modesty is a real spiritual Biblical principle that God wants godly women to act out. It is a question that is cunningly meant to nullify you in much the same way as asking,
"Well, if we are going to be truly modest, then shouldn't all women be locked away in rooms, out of view of men?"
It is the wrong kind of question. The same downgrade question does not seek the higher call when it asks,
"How do you define cover anyway? Isn't a thong a cover? Aren't pasties covers? If I am only wearing a bracelet on my waist, then I am wearing something, right?"
Someone who defends other versions of the lower call may answer my example with,
"But that is an extreme example you just gave, Kerry. I would never go that far."
But in saying such a thing, they betray the fact that they do actually believe there is a modest standard. If they really did not believe there is a standard of modesty, they would not say the example I just gave is extreme, or that it has gone too far. Wisdom comes in when we recognize that the philosophical questions are shrewdly designed downgrades from a heart that wants to go downward and try to justify immodesty, which is further manifested in comparison with the right questions that reflect the upward call of excelling more and more in respect to what we already know from God's word. When it comes to the immodest female mindset, this lower call thinking moves through the mind in ways like this,
I am not really sure what all this Biblical teaching is supposed to mean. I personally have a right to showcase my body with any body banner I like. I can do this with tightness that colors my curves and crevices, or with lack of covering, if I want to, because I think it is all subjective anyway, and I think God thinks of all clothing the same way; so this is my standard. After all, I am free in Christ. And further, if anyone has a problem with what I am wearing, or my sexuality, then it is their problem, and not mine. (lower call thinker who is culture driven)
Amazingly, there are Christian females who make this downgrade their operating principle, and so rather than being ministers in the mission to fix the problem, they are the problem themselves. So, what is a right question? It is a wise one that comes from the simple upward call thinking of humble, loving, modesty mindedness. It comes from a right heart, and so it leads to the right answer. Let me give you clear example of a right kind of question to ask yourself,
What wise choice in modesty can I make to cover my body's form so that I will attain the goal of a) not being ostentatious, b) not downgrading my image, and c) covering up curves, and crevices, from exposure, or mere colored nakedness, so that I can be actively moving, in Christian love, toward the safety zone of modesty to glorify God? (upward call directed thinking)
Without creating clever arguments to justify downgrade behavior, this is a godly question that keeps you moving upward, seeking wisdom, in the higher call. Actually, Christians do this with many things, but they do not always realize it. For example, the reason why a father does not send his teenage daughter over to the homes of teenage boys to sleep in their beds with them, is because the father is asking the right questions about beds and sleep in respect to teenage boys and girls. I mean, a father could ask,
"How can I get my daughter to go around sleeping in the same beds with teenage boys and not incite lustful passions?"
But, the real question is why ask such a downward question, when the father should look to modesty as an upward call, and avoid the absurd idea altogether? For any Christian, it is easy to say things like, "All things are lawful," and that "we have freedom in Christ," and that "modesty is relative, and subjective," and all of that; but what do you do with yourself after you say all of those things? This is where the true state of the spiritual heart shines. This is where the law of love in excelling still more and more in the upward call breaks through the fog and triumphs in Christian virtuousness. Again, remember the Christian love principle in Romans 14 in respect to considering the conscience of others in our activities as Christians,
"... determine this--not to put an obstacle, or a stumbling block in a brother's way. ... It is good not ... to do anything by which your brother stumbles." Romans 14:13-21
It gets away from seeking ways to satisfy our flesh, and onto seeking ways, according to Biblical principles, for satisfying the Spirit, where we,
"3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;" Philippians 2:3
The Christian love principle (supernomianism) is what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 6,
"12 All things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything. ... You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God with your body. ... 23 All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor." 1 Corinthians 10:23-24
@5 God does not want me merely seeking my own good, but rather, the good of my ____________________________. (1 Corinthians 10:23-24)
The upward, excelling more and more, call is about going beyond what is lawful for me to get by with, to what builds up in godly growth. So, you can ask,
"How tight can I wear clothing and how much less clothing can I wear and still be acceptable to Christians?"
or you can move in an upward direction and ask,
"How can I be modest in my clothing to glorify God and edify Christians in love?"
What we are talking about is seeking modesty standards that best glorify God with your body, 1 Corinthians 6:20. The Spirit is telling us in a strong way,
"... 24 Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor. ... 31... whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense ... to the church of God;" 1 Corinthians 10:31
@6 Whatever you do, do _________ to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)
/7/
Finally, as we wrap up, there is the issue of wearing pants. Though there is an Old Testament Law against transvestism, there is no mandate, nor prohibition, for either men, or women, in the Bible, to wear three holed skirts.
What are three holed skirts?
Three holed skirts are pants, also known as culottes, which are also called, divided skirts, or trousers, or slacks, or jeans, or khakis, etc.
Pants are neither inherently masculine or feminine as a class, but there are pants made for males, and there are pants made for females. In the Bible, men wore one holed skirts, and long dresses called tunics, but not pants. In many countries today, especially in the Middle East, India and Asia, the style continues. In Scotland, masculine men wear one holed skirts called kilts. Three holed skirts are simply a garment. So are one holed skirts. The rule on wearing pants is to apply principles of modesty. Wear those that are designed to be loose enough to diminish the outlined profile of your sexual organs. Ask yourself, if you wear pants,
"Am I wearing a three holed skirt that looks more like a fabric based pigment that is painting my body's nakedness so that my nakedness is colored but perceived?;
Or,
"Am I covering my nakedness according to moving upward in the upward call?"
Do you remember the upward call of the modesty-motivation?
What wise choice in modesty can I make to cover my body's form so that I will attain the goal of a) not being ostentatious, b) not downgrading my image, and c) covering up curves, and crevices, from exposure, or mere colored nakedness, so that I can be actively moving, in Christian love, toward the safety zone of modesty to glorify God? (upward call directed thinking)
When you do this, you are seeking high standards to protect your Christian walk, to protect your reputation, and to protect yourself sexually. Finally, in love, you help protect the heart of others in helping not to influence them to commit fornication with you in their same heart. With these things in mind, then, we recognize that modest dressing is a ministry practice. Every female needs to realize that she is a minister who is ministering to the body of Christ out of love when she dresses modestly. I urge all of us to consider these principles, as we daily contemplate the question, "How does God want females to dress?" Amen.
@1 After Jesus delivered a man from demon possession, he put on clothes and was in his right _______________________. (Luke 8:35)
@2 There is a proper way that woman should dress who make a claim to __________________________. (1 Timothy 2:9-10)
@3 A beautiful woman who lacks discretion, is like a gold ring in a ____________ _____________. (Proverbs 11:22)
@4 It is good not to do ______________________ that can make your brother stumble. (Romans 14:13-21)
@5 God does not want me merely seeking my own good, but rather, the good of my ____________________________. (1 Corinthians 10:23-24)
@6 Whatever you do, do _________ to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)
