Defining our Reflection: Modesty

July 29, 2009 at 4:10 AM · Filed under Holiness ·Tagged "What Not to Wear to Work", 1 Corinthians 6:15, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 1 John 2:15-16, 1 Peter 3:3-5, 1 Peter 3:7, 1 Samuel 16:7, 1 Timothy 2:8-10, Forbes, Genesis 3:11, Genesis 3:7, Google, Isaiah 47:1-3, Jesus Christ, Laura Sinberg, Man in the Mirror, Matthew 5:28, Philippians 4:7, Proverbs 7:10, Reflections, Romans 12:1-2, Yahoo

After a long, strenuous day doing research on something that had placed itself onto my heart this morning, I am finally able to stretch out on our sofa and delight my senses with the delicious cup of coffee that my dad brought in for me. Dads can be kind of cool like that sometimes.

Today (July 27, 2009) has been one of those hot, rainy summer days so typical of South Louisiana. Barring the headache that’s been pestering me, I love the rain, the way it grumbles and folds itself into blanket after blanket of soft, gray clouds. Even now, I listen to it as it patters on the rooftop and dances onto the cement. It’s a very nice, comforting sound.

So I know what you’re thinking, “Ok, Von de, you said that you had something on your heart…Come on…Out with it! You know you want to say it.”

Yeah, you’re right.

I’ve been wondering about what I was going to write for my next blog. I was thinking, “Doctrine…hmm…where should I start? There is an entire world of things that can be said about doctrine, in fact, there’s a very decently-sized book written specifically about it.” Pardon the sarcasm: it’s been a long day, but the coffee’s helping. Where was I? Ah, yes, wondering about what I was going to write blah blah blah blah blah. Yes.

Anyway, I did what I usually do in the morning, got on the internet to check my e-mail. But today, I didn’t check my e-mail, in fact, I spent the entire day reading and searching on Google because of one, little article I read.

Laura Sinberg wrote this beautiful gem for Forbes Magazine. Perhaps you recognize that name. You might have even seen the article on Yahoo.com as I did. It was simply entitled, “What Not to Wear to Work.”

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/253/what-not-to-wear-to-work/

That seemed interesting enough. I clicked on it, only to be beguiled by a topical outline with such catchy titles as “Too much cleavage,” “Too-short skirt,” and “Over-accessorizing.”

Even I was a little taken aback, picking at my own clothes self-consciously. I was surprised, knowing that this was not a demure little pastor’s wife delicately suggesting that I “please pin up that split, dear.” This was a professional journalist writing for one of the most successful and well-renowned magazines in the United States of America.

What could Forbes possibly have to say about modesty in the workplace?
“Showing too much cleavage at work is the No. 1 faux pas on our list,” wrote Sinberg, “Studies show that women who dress in sexy attire in a professional environment are more often passed over for promotions than women who dress more conservatively.”

My interest was officially piqued. As a pastor’s kid, I had been raised with modesty standards for clothing, but there I was, reading in print on Yahoo what my parents had always told me. Women who dress more conservatively (e.g. not showing too much skin) are respected more and are more successful in life.

Sinberg even called upon the knowledge of other professionals in her article, “Also, the knee is a visual anchor, says Barbara Pachter, an etiquette expert. People’s attention will be drawn downward when they approach you, instead of toward your face where it should be.”

This, I gently grant to your thinking, was not in the UPCI ladies’ magazine, Reflections. This was in Forbes Magazine. I became swiftly amazed. Forbes was actually serving as a reminder of everything I’ve ever believed in. Would I be wrong to say that when the world says that our knees are “visual anchors” and that our knees draw people’s attention downward, then we should be careful to keep our knees themselves covered?

Wrapping up her article with an exquisite finish, Sinberg wrote, “A rule of thumb when it comes to accessories in the workplace: Less is more.”

Isn’t that refreshing? But maybe I am still holding some of your questions. Where does God’s Word come into this? That, my friend, is the reason for which I have spent the entire day researching.

In Genesis Chapter 3, we read the account of God confronting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We all know the story well. God said “don’t.” Adam and Eve did. And one of the most significant conversations in our human history took place.

In Verse 7, after they had eaten of the forbidden fruit, the Bible says, “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked: and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”

We then see Adam and Eve pitifully hiding behind trees in the next verse, afraid of meeting God, their little aprons valiantly trying not to crumble under the withering weight of perspiration clinging to their leaves. God, already knowing what had passed in the garden, called out his little friends, admonishing them. It is in this intense scene that we first see God’s concern for clothing in a sin-filled world.

God took one sad look at the ill-fitting fig leaves that were “covering” Adam and Eve and asked, “Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” (Genesis 3:11)

Adam and Eve’s fig leaves spoke for themselves, proclaiming that their wearers were sinners. The falling aprons were proof of disobedience. God saw that his creatures were not adequately covered, and, after being given a confession of their sins, God introduced death into man’s vocabulary by ripping off coats of fur from animals and wrapping them around Adam and Eve.

When my dad preaches about this, he likes to describe a gory scene of blood oozing out of the freshly cut coats and dripping down the bodies of Adam and Eve. Here, we see the resemblance to the plan of salvation: Confession of sins and Blood atonement. We, as Christians, though, have been robed with the righteousness of the perfect blood of Jesus Christ.

Even as God cared about clothing in Genesis Chapter 3, we can be assured that God still cares about our appearance today.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:15-16)

Jesus said, “But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28)

We are told not to love the world, its lust of the flesh, provocative clothing, its lust of the eyes, strip clubs, pornography, the general uncovering of the body, because it is not of the Father. If something is not of God, will it be allowed in heaven?

A woman might think, “Well, it’s not my fault whether or not a guy finds me attractive.” No, it is not my fault if a man finds me attractive. But it is my fault if I, as a woman, provide a promiscuous and sensual atmosphere with my dress and actions that may tempt a man and cause him to sin in his heart. In Proverbs 7:10, we read, “And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.” What do you learn from that sentence without reading the entire context of the chapter? Think about it.

I love to write. One day, my sister came home with a long vest, and gave it to me, saying, “It reminded me of something that a writer would wear.”

Could it be that our clothes are an outward mirror of what we are in heart and mind? So what is the attire of a harlot (a promiscuous woman) according to the Word of God? Isaiah paints a very vivid portrait of a harlot for us in the following passage:

“Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare thy legs, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.” (Isaiah 47:1-3)

Isaiah is describing a horrible picture to us, yet he clarifies what is unacceptable in a woman’s dress. He figuratively tells a ”virgin” (Babylon)  that she is no longer tender and delicate, or holy, that she should sit in the dirt and become a common worker. He tells her to lift her coverings, thus her shame can be seen, and she is unwanted. Typically, the thigh measures from the hip bone to the kneecap. According to the prophet Isaiah, who spoke the Word of God, for a woman’s thigh (from hip to knee) to be seen is a shame to her and makes her undesirable, unholy.

Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth, “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.” (1 Corinthians 6:15)

This Scripture really speaks out to me and even scares me a little. A harlot, as mentioned in Proverbs and Isaiah, is loud, subtle of heart, promiscuous, and immodest, letting her legs become “visual anchors”, and causing men to fall into sin. According to the text we have just read, God expressly forbids his members from being members of a harlot, which not only, I believe, refers to promiscuous behavior, but also refers to how we dress.

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
“For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

“I BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.And be ye not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  (Romans 12:1-2)

As a young girl, this Scripture used to terrify me with its use of the word “sacrifice.” It catches the eye quite nicely, doesn’t it? I’ve come to realize, though, the true meaning that Paul intended with his words.

In 1 Samuel 16:7, it says, “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”

Many people will use this Scripture as an excuse. They will say, “God knows my heart. He loves me and knows that I love Him. It doesn’t matter what I look like on the outside. It’s what’s on the inside that really matters. Why would a loving God send someone to hell because of their clothes?”

I have heard people, especially women, say that they love God, and God loves them and looks at their hearts, so it doesn’t much matter what they wear. Although it is true that God looks into our hearts, people lie to themselves and to the whole world when they say that God doesn’t care about our outward appearance.

Yes, God does look on the heart. But show me in 1 Samuel 16:7 where it says, “God only looks on the heart.” Remember, we were bought with a price, and therefore, do not belong to ourselves. We should never put a question mark where God has put a period. Our appearance, friend, is supposed to be a reflection of what is in our heart which, as Christians, should be a reflection of Jesus, as our bodies are the temples of God.

“I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array: But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.” (1 Timothy 2:8-10)

If I were to wear dark makeup, a long string of pearls, and a suit designed especially for me by the House of Dior, what would be your first thought? Would you think, “Wow! What a woman of God!”? No, because I would be masking my temple, glorifying myself and covering up the place where God inhabits.

Remember that little word, “sacrifice”? Smoky eyes may be in Vogue, short skirts may be popular, but my body which has been purchased by Jesus Christ is a living sacrifice. It may be hard for me to be different, to not be conformed to what is deemed “beautiful” by the world, but as a young woman of God, I know that I can “prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” through my dress and actions.

On a side note, I want you to notice Verse 8 of 1 Timothy 2. “I will therefore that men pray every where: lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.”

In the Bible, the outward appearance of a woman is specifically instructed more than that of a man. Perhaps that is because women today, just like the women in Biblical times, give more attention and significance toward their outward appearance than men do. Men, though, seem to give more attention and significance to their roles as men, the providers and heads of the families. Men are instructed to worship freely, lifting up their hands (a sign of surrender) without doubting God or feeling wrath and anger. I can imagine that it is just as difficult for a man to control his temper and to be humble before God as it is for me to curb extravagance in my clothing.

See how the next verse says, “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel…”

Guys, the way you worship is just as crucially important for your part as a member of Christ as the way I dress. If I dress as a harlot with my thighs showing along with whatever else, as written in 1 Corinthians 6:15, I cannot then be a member of Christ. What does that say about the vital importance of your worship?

“Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the adornment of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God a great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:” (1 Peter 3:3-5)

“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.” (1 Peter 3:7)

My friend, let’s not allow our clothes define who we are, but let the Holy Ghost, which has come to inhabit our hearts, define what we put onto our bodies. Yes, we should want to look well and nice, but our clothes should never be what attracts people to us. We should be attractive by a reflection of God alone. Our clothes are only meant to be a holy covering, not a decoration.

To all of the young men out there, please don’t ever underestimate the importance of a lady’s modesty in clothes. It is your God-ordained duty as husbands to defend, protect, and honor your wife’s modesty. “That your prayers be not hindered!” Just as we read earlier in 1 Timothy 2:8, your humility in worship is just as important as my modesty in dress. That is the reason why, gentlemen, when you get married, even when you are only dating, you need to pay attention to the significance she puts on modesty.

Likewise, ladies, we should look for the man who is not ashamed to worship humbly and meekly before the Lord.

“Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” (Philippians 4:7)

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! I pray that this can be a help, that may be this has clarified some concepts for you. I know that these Scriptures have helped me very much. I’d love to hear your questions and comments! And as always, God bless!

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