The Christian
world argues for and against modesty (in Christian women). (Oxford
dictionary defines modesty as “(of a woman) dressing or behaving so as to avoid
impropriety or indecency, especially to avoid attracting sexual attention.”1).
A blog
entitled ““Modest is Hottest” is not in the Bible” claims that “The Bible does
not breathe a word of such nonsense.”2 The nonsense obviously refers
to modesty - the women who do not dress modestly. The blogger’s chief contention
is two-fold:
(1) The
Bible does not directly castigate women who do not dress modestly. (In fact, as
his title states, modesty as a theme is not mentioned in the Bible.)
(2) Women
are not responsible for men’s choices (If men injure women for their ‘not-so’
modest dressing.).
Therefore,
the blogger implies that women can dress as they want to, “I hope today that
you my sisters feel free to dress with both charity and charm, with dignity and
dazzle, to adorn yourself in a way that makes you feel beautiful and confident,
in a way that allows you to experience solidarity with other women of different
bank account and/or breast size, to make your clothing choices based on the
values of God’s kingdom (which includes wearing clothing that is ethically
manufactured), and to feel free to let men take the responsibility for their
own right eyes/hands and figure out how to be respectable men who treat all
women, regardless of cleavage or legs for days, with dignity and respect.”3
Modesty Is Not In The
Bible
The premise
that “modesty is not in the Bible, so women can dress as they want to” is flawed.
Consider the reasoning that invalidates this premise:
The
argument that “something is not
present in the Bible, so that something
is permissible by God” is a fallacious argument. The logical form of this
argument is:
1. What does
the Bible teach about modesty?
2. The
Bible does not mention modesty.
Therefore
3. The
Bible permits women to choose their attire (without being concerned about modesty).
This
argument is equivalent to the fallacious claims of the detractors of
Christianity, “the word Trinity is not present in the Bible, so the God of the
Bible is not a Trinity.”
It is
irrelevant whether a particular practice or a particular word is explicitly mentioned in the Bible
or not. The Bible offers principles for a godly Christian life (as much as the
Bible teaches us that God is a Trinity). These godly principles should be deduced
from the various pertinent teachings found in the Bible.
Distorting Biblical Teachings
While
discussing 1 Timothy 2:9, the blogger creates a false dichotomy of sensual
modesty and materialistic modesty (modesty includes both), so to disregard the
biblical principle behind modest attire, “This passage, which is about proper
attitude and decorum in the church, though it may have a vague implicit
reference to the sensual kind of modesty, is actually very explicitly referring
to a materialistic kind of modesty.”4
Think about
this. Would the Bible mandate Christ’s disciples to live a hypocritical life?
No! Never! The Bible teaches that our lives should be consistent i.e. who we
are in the church is who we should be outside the church. So if we are to dress
modestly in the church, the Bible, by no means, would implicitly or explicitly teach
that we are permitted to dress sensually outside the church. This is
fundamental to a Christlike lifestyle.
The blogger
seems to forget the fact that our Christian life should be a constant (24/7)
worship of God. There should be no fundamental distinction between our life
inside and outside the church,
The
argument that a particular teaching is not mentioned in the Bible and hence it
is valid is so fragile because, in this time and age, explicit teachings found
in the Bible are either religiously rejected or diligently distorted. Atheists
reject God’s presence despite the Biblical assertion to God’s presence. Then
there are those Christians who endorse homosexuality or gay lifestyle despite
the Biblical assertion that homosexuality is a sin against God.
The innate
sinfulness of man is so creatively subtle that an effort to distort the
biblical teachings is always within man’s intellectual frontier. Therefore,
when man is so creatively agile to reject the explicit teachings found in the
Bible, how much more of an effort would it take for him to disregard or distort
the presence of an explicit or an implicit teaching in the Bible?
Is Temptation Lost?
The blogger
quotes Matthew 5: 27-32 to solely
implicate the lustful man. This is both right and wrong. The blogger says, “Whoa!
Not only does Jesus say nothing about female culpability in a man’s fantasies,
he absolutely destroys any excuses a man might make about his inability to
control his own urges. No, Jesus says, a man’s culpability begins and ends with
his own dang eyes and right hand.”5
While it is
true that the sinner is responsible for his/her sins, it is also true that we
are not called to lead others to stumble, “If anyone causes one of these little
ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a
large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the
sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such
things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!” (Matthew 18:
6-7, NIV).
Eve ate the
forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Thus she sinned against God. So should
not God punish only Eve?
Why did God
curse the serpent? The serpent tempted and caused Eve to stumble and sin. Hence
sin includes both the sinner and the instigator (tempter).
Consider
this perspective on sin in our context. If a woman wears sensually provocative
attire and if that woman in that attire tempts (either actively or passively)
another person to sin, then the wrath of God is upon both the tempter and the doer
of the sin. This is a non-negotiable tenet in Christianity.
Who Judges Modesty?
God judges!
The blogger
contends that “No one really knows what “immodest” means….There’s no universal
agreed-upon standard for what turns men on. It’s a self-defeating exercise from
the outset.”
With
eternity in perspective, we are answerable to God. God in HIS infinite wisdom
knows what modesty is and is not. Our knowledge of God through our prayer life
and our understanding of God’s Word would
lead us to dress appropriately, for our attire should glorify God always.
Why Cover?
Why do we
even cover ourselves? The Bible provides us an answer, “When the woman saw that
the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and
was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She
also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the
eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig
leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” (Genesis 3: 6-7, NET).
When Adam
and Eve disobeyed God, they realized good, evil and their nakedness. Hence they
covered themselves. So covering ourselves is an appropriate response since we,
the fallen beings, are in God’s presence.
But that’s
not it. God clothed Adam and Eve, “The Lord God made garments from skin for
Adam and his wife, and clothed them.” (Genesis 3:21, NET). There is a valuable
lesson to be learnt from this deed of God.
If covering
ourselves is unnecessary, God would not have made garments for Adam and Eve.
The fact that God made garments for the purpose of covering ourselves, teaches
us that covering is of utmost importance.
Consider
this from another vantage point. If I have a perfect body, then I would most
likely be tempted to wear clothes that would emphasize the perfection. If I have
an imperfect body structure, then I would wear clothes that would mask the
imperfection.
Emphasizing
the perfection God has blessed us with is in one particular sense to emphasize God’s
blessings. But in another sense, our emphasis of God’s perfection endowed upon us could make a person, who does not possess that perfection, feel deprived and
sad. So do we still desire to flaunt our perfection? This is up to each person and
his/her relationship with God.
Is It Sinful To Wear
Provocative Attire?
Do you
think that a woman who does not wear anything provocative, never sins? No! Sin
originates from our heart (Matthew 15:19). Everybody is prone to sin,
irrespective of our attire.
The Bible
mandates modest attire. Since the Bible is the Word of God, modesty is the
way forward for Christians – both men and women included. Any deviation from
this instruction is to go against the Word of God.
Endnotes:
1https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/modest
2https://medium.com/@joelherbert/modest-is-hottest-is-not-in-the-bible-49b58ed1fdf6
3Ibid.
4Ibid.
5Ibid.
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