Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Modest

The apostle Paul emphasized that believers in Christ have personal freedom, as well as personal responsibility. He writes in 1st Corinthians chapter 10:
23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
24 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being. 

The decisions we face can be governed by Biblical considerations - and we can certainly ascertain whether or not the action we take is, as he writes, "helpful." He goes on to remind us that everything doesn't "edify."  Sometimes our personal choices do not glorify God in the way He would intend, and as verse 24 suggests, our decisions may serve to please self at the expense of serving others. We have to make sure that our actions are not distractions to the cause of Christ.

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The apostle Paul addressed issues surrounding how we, believers in Christ, are to be clothed, spiritually speaking, putting on Christ and putting off the old nature. He also, in 1st Timothy 2, had some words about proper physical attire. We pick up in verse 8:
8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;
9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing,
10 but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works.

The Bible, I believe, teaches us to have an attitude of and expression of modesty.  We have freedom in Christ, but that freedom should not result in inappropriate behavior. Perhaps youth pastor Bryce Brewer wanted to emphasize the former, but not the latter.  The New York Post stated that Brewer "apologized for banning bikinis from his summer camp after receiving backlash." The article says:

In a Facebook post on July 11, the Spokane Valley, Washington, preacher admitted that it was wrong for the “weight of purity” to be placed on the young girls instead of holding the boys accountable for their actions.

“I am sorry that I didn’t teach boys to control themselves,” the father of two wrote in the mea culpa. “I am sorry that we have deemed a young women’s body as something that ‘needs to be covered’ and let young men’s bodies be ok to be seen.”

So, is this pastor now advocating an "anything goes" mentality with regard to how a person dresses?  Yes, men of any age should practice self-control; but, as it's been pointed out, we should not be stumbling blocks to one another in the church. And, this is not an "either-or" proposition.

Megan Basham, who used to write for WORLD Magazine and is now with The Daily Wire, linked to the Post story and tweeted out these comments:

Perfect example of progressive women influencing church in unbiblical direction:

Pastor sets reasonable 1 Tim 2:9 standard for girls at camp to dress modestly in one piece bathing suits. Howling moms accuse him of “purity culture.” He grovels, backs down.

ChristianHeadlines.com, in its article on this story, said:

Brewer posted the comments as the wider Christian community is having a discussion about modesty. In June, Matthew West took down a music video for his "Modest Is Hottest" spoof song. Soon thereafter, singers John Cooper and Alisa Childers defended the song and the concept of modesty.

Cooper and Childers are not only excellent writers, but are Christian musicians - John leads the band Skillet and Alisa was a member of ZoeGirl. 

A little background here now from another Christian Headlines article:

West, in the song, urges his daughters not to dress like the Kardashians or Cardi B., a stripper-turned-singer who often uses strip poles in her videos.

The song is a parody, a satire, and Childers laments the lack of a sense of humor by some.  The article says:

Childers urged Christians to critique purity culture without “throwing the concept of purity out the window.”

“Because [purity is] a biblical concept,” she said. “That's something that the Bible calls men and women to do – is to be pure.”

Modern culture, she said, seems to be “deeply fundamentalist” and “utterly incapable of nuance.”

“I mean, isn't it possible to encourage our daughters to dress modestly – for lots of reasons, not just because of what it's going to do to guys – while at the same time helping them understand that they're not responsible for men's lust?” Childers asked.

Childers quoted 1 Corinthians 6:19: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.”

The article also notes that, in the podcast, which appeared on both their sites...

Cooper said 10 years ago, all dads, including atheist and pagan dads, would have agreed: “Nobody wants their daughter dressing like Cardi B on TikTok.”

Childers and Cooper also discussed Oklahoma pastor Jeremy Coleman's song that included the lyric to his own daughters, “If I catch you doing dances on the TikTok, wear what you want, girl, just go off.” Coleman was highly critical of West’s tune and received multiple mentions in mainstream media.

The Christian Headlines article closes by stating:

The Bible, she said, “is going to get all up in your business” for both men and women regarding “how you talk, what you wear, how you conduct yourself.” Part of “being a Christian,” Childers said, “is that we have the Bible as our authority, not the woke mob.”

Dannah Gresh of the ministry of True Girl and co-host of Revive Our Hearts offers a number of powerful statements in a Crosswalk.com article.  One of which is: 

We must teach women to celebrate their beauty while we teach them the self-control of modesty.

She also contends: 

There’s nothing wrong with teaching Christian young women that God wants nothing they wear to distract from the good works they do and the great minds God’s given to them so that they can be respected. In fact, from a biblical perspective it’s very right. AND . . . God directs the teaching at women. That’s why we do.

But she stresses that men have a responsibility, as well:

Are men off the hook? Does teaching modesty say: “If women dress modestly, men will not lust”? No. Lust is the responsibility of men themselves. Period. Women could all dress in burlap sacks, and if a man is training himself to think of them as sexual objects, he will.

On The Meeting House recently, we have been talking about freedom - and we recognize that Biblical liberty does not give you the permission to do what you want.  We are always called to place ourselves in submission to Christ and His Word and to make choices that honor Him. He calls us to exercise self-control and make sure that we are acting in a way that pleases Him. 

And, of course, there is the principle of loving our neighbor.  Men and women have their own unique set of instructions and responsibilities, and God directs us to not call attention to ourselves or create a "distraction," a word used by Dannah Gresh.  Our aim should be to bring glory to Him - in our inward thoughts and outward expressions.

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