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Modesty
When we turn on the television or we
walk down the streets at any given time in any given place it's not usually
very long before we see someone who is either inadequately or
inappropriately dressed.
To set the stage for this lesson, let's
recall the account of Peter, Thomas, Nathanael of Cana, the sons of Zebedee,
one of them being John, and two others left unnamed, went fishing one night
after the Jesus had been crucified and had arisen. They fished all
night and caught nothing. Jesus appeared on the shore and instructed
them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat and when they did,
they caught so many fish they couldn't draw their nets in. We
are all familiar with that story. But I want to make an observation
about it. We find this account in John chapter 21 starting in verse 1.
In verse 7 we read, "Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to
Peter, "It is the Lord!" Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he
put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea."
According to the record, they were
about 300 feet out in the sea of Tiberias. When Peter realized that it
was Jesus, he immediately puts on his outer garment and jumped into the
water to go meet Him on the shore. Peter put his coat on before he
plunged into the water.
Have we ever thought about that?
Would that not be an odd thing for a man to do in the company of other men?
Peter is about to swim a hundred yards in the water to go to the shore and
he puts on more clothes. The term in the original Greek used here for
outer garment is translated as "fisher's coat" in the KJV. It was a
garment similar to the coats we would wear today to protect us from the
elements. That would be like one of us putting on an overcoat before
jumping into the water to start swimming.
People in the world and some in the
church have a serious misunderstanding of modesty. Most people think
that if somebody dresses in a way that causes another person to lust, it's
immodest, and certainly that is true but brethren that is not enough.
How many of us want to put ourselves in the position of saying that if Peter
believed that he did not put his outer garment on that Jesus Christ was
going to lust after him? Think about that. There had to be
another reason why Peter put on his coat to go meet the Lord.
Peter was going into the presence of
the Jesus Christ and he realized that dressed in just his undergarments was
not appropriate. They had been working all night, sweating and
straining with the boat and the net. Peter had removed his outer
garment in order to work more freely with the fishing gear, but he put it
back on in order to swim over to the shore? One has to ask themselves,
would Peter have put on his coat to swim to the shore if Jesus Christ were
not standing there?
The reason Peter did this is
because, Modesty doesn't just govern the area of causing
lust, it has to do with appropriateness. It has to do with being
proper. Now we need to understand that while modesty and
appropriateness are related, they are not the same. We will see this
later on as we develop this lesson.
This story doesn't start in John
chapter 21. Let's go back to where this really starts to Genesis
chapter 2 with Adam and Eve. In Genesis chapter 2 starting in verse 21
and following we read,
21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep
to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up
the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from
man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
23 And Adam said:
"This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man."
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his
wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Now turn over one
chapter to Genesis chapter 3, starting in verse 7, we read, "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit
and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 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 coverings.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool
of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the
Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"
10 So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I
was naked; and I hid myself."
NKJV
Something pretty significant happened
between Genesis chapter 2 and chapter 3 because before they were naked and
unashamed, now they're still naked but now they are ashamed of their
condition. They had eaten of the fruit of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. They understood now because of having this
new knowledge that the way they were dressed was inappropriate.
Now we need to remember something when
we consider this example of Adam and Eve. How many other people were
there on the earth at this time? There were none. Scripture
plainly says that Eve was the mother of all living, (Genesis 3:20).
Adam and Eve were alone as far as other people were concerned and they had
come to the understanding that just walking about on a daily basis without
any clothing on was inappropriate because who were they in the garden with?
They were with God. And they understood that they could no longer do
this so what did they do about it?
Genesis 3:7
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 coverings.
NKJV
They fashioned themselves coverings
from fig leaves. By today's worldly standards, they probably could have
appeared as they were, dressed only in those fig leaves in public or on our television sets
without fear of reprisal. But what we need to focus on in this lesson
is that even though they were covered in some fashion, Adam admitted to God
that he was naked. The first thing we need to take from this lesson
today is that a man and a woman can be somewhat covered and still be
considered naked by the Biblical standard. We are going to focus later
in this lesson on the fact that the clothes Adam and Eve made for themselves
were not modest.
When we think about the sin of Adam
and Eve, we focus more on the sin of rebellion against God's command to
refrain from eating of the forbidden fruit than we do about them being naked
in the garden. We don't pay much attention to the fact that they
were naked and ashamed of themselves. After they ate of the fruit,
they used fig leaves to cover themselves, yet for all of their efforts, when
God came into the garden, they still considered themselves naked, so they
hid. Having acquired the knowledge of good and of evil, they
experienced guilt from being immodestly dressed.
Due to their sin, they suddenly found
themselves living in a world where nakedness was immodest. And
brethren, we still live in that same world today. Nakedness is
immodest and you don't have to be totally nude to be considered naked by
God.
Immodesty dominates much of what we see
on our TVs in our country today. Music videos, commercials, regular TV
shows. It's a constant flow of immodesty into our homes.
And make no mistake about it, modestly goes way beyond just what we wear.
Immodesty is expressed in the way these people move, in the way they act and
interact, in their speech and in the way they present themselves. Modesty is far
reaching and goes way beyond our apparel. It is entirely
possible to be modestly dressed but still be immodest through our behavior.
So how does a Christian remain modest
in a immodest world? First we have to know what is modest and
immodest. We have to know what God's standard for modesty is. We
do that by studying what God has revealed about it in His word. He
certainly did not command modesty but leave us with no way knowing what He
considers modesty to be.
Going all the way back to Adam and Eve,
we see that God made "coats of skins, and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21).
Now keep in mind here that God made the same clothes for Adam that He did
for Eve. Now we need to consider that while at the some time
remembering that the world thinks that men can wear something different, or
less than a woman and still be modest.
Why would God have made
these coats of skin if it was not necessary? Adam and Eve were alone
in the garden. There was nobody else on earth but them. the
coverings that Adam and Eve made for themselves, by their own admission, was
simply not good enough. They still hid from God because of their shame and because of
their guilt.
At that time, God saw
fit to make them clothing that was both adequate and suitable. Now we
have right here an example of divinely designed and God approved coverings
of the human body. We are not going to find a better example of how
God wants mankind dressed than clothing designed by Him.
God fitted them with coats of skins. The word for "Coat" in this
passage indicates that they were entirely covered from their shoulders to
the bottom of their thighs. God's personal designer clothing for the
covering of mankind included the upper and lower portions of our torso, for
both men and women.
The same thing applies
to Adam and Eve as it did for Peter out fishing. If modesty were only
about not causing someone to lust after another, then why oh why did Adam
and Eve feel shame for their nakedness. I will submit to you that the
last thing on Adam and Eve's mind at that time was concern over God lusting
over their nakedness. Just like Peter, Adam and Eve were not just
dressed immodestly, they were dressed inappropriately. Appropriateness
is as much as part of modesty as proper covering of the body is. Let
me illustrate. Skins covering Adam and Eve from their shoulders to
their knees was modest. And for the situation at hand on that day, it
was appropriate dress as well. But, that same outfit that God designed
and fit them with would not be an appropriate way for me to have dressed
this morning for services. Imagine the reactions here if I showed up this morning
all ready to preach to you dressed in fig leaves and an animal skin coat.
That is why we do not find a step by
step detailed account of how a Christian ought to dress in scripture.
Because if we did, it would almost certainly be first century type dress and
we would be constrained to dress exactly that way all of the time. God
did not do that to us. What He did do is give us guidelines for
overall righteousness and leave it up to us to accomplish both modesty and
appropriateness in the way we present ourselves as Christians before
the world.
How does a Christian remain modest
in an immodest world?
First we must know God's standard for
modest dress. Second, we must know and understand the consequences of
immodesty. And third, we must accept our responsibility as Christians
and take a stand for modesty. One cannot be modest in an immodest
world and not know the standard of modesty, and not know the consequences of
immodesty and not take a stand for modesty. And brethren, make no
mistake about it, that is the hardest part. It's easy to take a stand
against murder and robbery isn't it? It's easy to take stand and
oppose lying and cheating. But it's harder when it's something that
permeates our entire culture. It's harder when taking a stand is going
to put you at odds against society as a whole. It's harder when taking
a stand is going to cause you to stand out as different, strange, not like
the rest and therefore risk the disapproval and scorn of society, your
friends, and in all likelihood your families.
First, what is God's standard for
modest dress?
What do we need to have covered up?
We have already seen that God clothed Adam and Eve from the shoulders to the
bottom of their thighs. God gave commandments concerning His priests
in the Old Testament. Priests were commanded not to climb the steps to
the alter in such a way that their nakedness be exposed to those standing
beneath in Exodus 20:26. In Exodus 28:40-43 we read God's instruction
concerning the attire of His priests, "For Aaron's sons you shall make
tunics, and you shall make sashes for them. And you shall make hats for
them, for glory and beauty. 41 So you shall put them on Aaron your brother
and on his sons with him. You shall anoint them, consecrate them, and
sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests". Ok, so here
we have them being dressed in tunics which was the standard article of
clothing at this time in history. A tunic commonly covered one from
the top of the shoulders down to the bottom of the thigh. But that's
not enough for a priest who is going to ascend to the top of the alter.
You can see under a tunic if the wearer is standing above you. So we
read on in verse 42, "And", (meaning in addition to), "you shall make for
them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach from the
waist to the thighs. 43 They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they
come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to
minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity and die..." NKJV
During the times when the priests were
engaging in activities such as working overhead or reaching up to light
candles where their nakedness would be exposed, they were
required to wear trousers that prevented that. These trousers worn as
undergarments beneath their tunics were to cover them from the waist down to
the bottom of their thighs. The consequences for failure to keep their
nakedness covered was to incur iniquity and die. God considered the
exposed thighs of men to be nakedness. The modesty of God's
priests was important enough to God that He set in place measures which
would insure their modesty regardless of their activities.
Now one might ask what
bearing the adornment of a priest in the old testament has to do with us who
live under the new covenant. We need to be aware that there are
priests of the new covenant and who they are. If God had a standard of
modesty and appropriateness for priests under the old covenant, what makes
any of us think it would be any different for a priest under the new
covenant? Peter wrote in his first epistle in chapter 2 verses 9 and
10, "But you" (speaking to fellow Christians), "are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may
proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of
God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy."
We are a chosen generation, we are a
holy nation, we are the people of God, His own special people, we are God's
royal priesthood. Every Christian alive on this earth today is a
priest of God. Man or woman, young or old, we are all priests of God
if we are a Christian. We have to ask ourselves, when are we priests?
When are we not priests? When do we act like priests? When can we not
act like priests? Are we priests after we leave here today, or do we leave this place of worship and leave our
priestly responsibilities behind and embrace the ways of the world?
Certainly not.
The consequences of immodesty
So we have the standard of modesty and
what God expects of us as His priests. What about the consequences of
immodesty? The first and most obvious consequence of immodesty is sin.
It promotes "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes" as
written in 1 John 2:16. Immodesty is a double edged sword. It is
sinful to be immodest and it promotes sin in others.
Consider the words of Jesus in Matthew
5:28, "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has
already committed adultery with her in his heart." The same goes for
men who dress immodestly where women are concerned. We are going to be
judged by the desires of our hearts. Immodesty can cause someone to
stumble and fall. We can, with immodesty, cause someone to lose their
salvation. And scripture is clear that to cause someone to stumble
bears the same consequence as those who do stumble. Romans 14:13,
"Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this,
not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way."
So when we dress or act immodestly, we are not only guilty of personal sin,
but we can cause others to sin as well.
Another consequence of immodesty is
sexual crimes. There is no way we can quantify the pain and suffering
brought upon humanity as a result of immodesty. There is a
multi-billion dollar industry we know as pornography which is built around
immodesty.
Immodesty is linked to more than sexual crimes too. King David saw
Bath-Sheba on a roof-top washing herself. She was immodestly exposed.
King David lusted after her and when it was all said and done, Uriah,
Bath-Sheba's husband died because of it. He was an honorable man,
unjustly murdered because of David and Bath-Sheba's sin. We must ask,
how many people today suffer because of someone else's immodesty?
How many children have been molested because of someone else's immodesty?
How much needless pain and suffering have innocent people had to endure
because of other people's immodesty?
And the last and most serious
consequence of immodesty is spiritual death. It is sin to be immodest
or to cause others to lust. James 1:14-15, "But every man is
tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust
hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death." Immodesty, whether by one's actions or by
one's dress is primarily used for one thing. It is used to appeal in
some way to a member of the opposite sex, to attract them, to cause oneself
to be desired or to look desirable to them. It is wrong to be immodest
and equally wrong to succumb to immodesty. And the consequences for both
is spiritual death.
And the third thing a Christian must
do to be modest in an immodest world is to know our responsibility and take
a stand against it.
What is our responsibility as a
Christian? We have already seen from 1 Peter 2:9 that Christians are a
royal priesthood. Peter wrote in his second epistle in chapter 1,
verses 5-7, "...giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue
knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to
perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly
kindness love" What does godliness mean? Godliness means to be "like
God". We are to be "like God". This means in our manner of
dress, in our actions, in our speech, in every facet of our lives. We
are to strive to be like God. Decent, modest and appropriate at all
times. We are let our light shine before the world so that they can
see our good works and glorify God in heaven (Matthew 5:16). God
expects the world to see His light through us, His royal priesthood.
As God's royal priesthood, we are
commanded to glorify God in all our actions. Read Paul's words in 1
Corinthians 10:31,
"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the
glory of God." What is left out of "whatever you do"? We have to
ask ourselves, does our appearance out in the world being glory to God?
Our appearance out in the world starts with the way we adorn ourselves.
Are we presenting ourselves to the world as priests of God to His glory, or
are we presenting ourselves as children of the world? Are we promoting
God with our appearance or are we promoting the things of the world?
Are we as the royal priesthood of God representing Him properly to the
world? What does the world see, when they see us out in it.
These are questions we must ask ourselves.
Let's consider the words of Jesus in
Luke 16:13, "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the
one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
James wrote in chapter 4:4-5, "Do you
not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever
therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."
Are we as the priests of God trying to
serve two masters? Are we as priests of God trying to be friends of
the world? Where is our loyalty? To God or to the world?
1 John 2:15
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him.
We know our responsibility as
Christians, now how to we take a stand against immodesty? The exact
same way that we take a stand against murder, lying, fornication, and other
forms of sin. We abstain, we keep our distance, we shun it, we shut it
out of our lives, we don't have anything to do with it. Paul wrote in
2 Corinthians 6:17, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you".
Taking a stand means more than just
avoiding it too. This is the hard part. This is where it gets
really tough brethren. Let's consider the words of Paul in Ephesians 5:5-7, "For this you
know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an
idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one
deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God
comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with
them." We cannot partake of the sin of immodesty with the world, but
it doesn't stop there does it? Paul had more to say. Reading on
in verses 8-12, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the
Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all
goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to
the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather expose them." The KJV translates that as "reprove them".
That word means to convict, convince, point out a fault, or rebuke.
Brethren, it's not enough to just
abstain from immodesty. We are commanded to rebuke immodesty. We
are commanded to make a stand. To know God's standard, abide by it and
be intolerant of immodesty and to point it out when we get the opportunity,
perhaps with our friends, our family, our co-workers. The word of God
says to take a stand.
So how is the best way to convict,
convince and point out fault to others? It starts with our actions.
We cannot participate in immodest behavior. If we participate in
immodesty, we show the world that we approve of it. We universally
show our disapproval by our own modest speech, behavior and dress.
When others perceive in our actions that we do not support or approve of
immodesty, God is both glorified and the light of truth has been shown on
darkness. There is without question times when a verbal rebuke is
appropriate, but for the other situations which arise on a daily basis, our
behavior, actions and appearance are the way that we point people to the
light. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:58, "Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
As priest of God, Christians need to be
aware that we are God's representatives out in the world. He is
counting on us to show others the way. It has been left to us to be the
examples, to live the Christian life, to lead others to God by being what we
ought to be. We must shine the light of truth on the path to heaven so
that others can find it. The world out there is a mess with all the
things that are going on. Christianity is the only hope the world has.
God is the only answer, God is the only way, God is the only hope.
Righteousness and truth is the remedy for what we see in the world.
God's righteousness is the solution for all the troubles we see out in the
world. As Christians, we must resolve ourselves to be part of the
solution. If we aren't part of the solution, then we're part of the
problem and we don't want to be a part of what we see going on out there.
Jesus taught in Matthew 12:30, "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he
who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."
Let's consider the words
of
Paul in Titus 2:11-15, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath
appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present
world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he
might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and
rebuke with all authority."
We deny ungodliness by
living soberly, righteously and godly in the present world. Living
godly means living as God lives. And by so doing, we are not going to
be like the world. We are going to be a peculiar people, God's own
special people. The people of the world are going to see and know from
our actions and the way we live that we are different from them. They
are going to know that we do not consider this world our home. And
indeed, scripture refers to Christians as pilgrims in 1 Peter 2:11.
We're going to look at
some guidelines for modesty, then we'll close the lesson for today.
1. Will what we
are wearing, doing or saying bring God glory? (1 Corinthians 10:31; Exodus 28:40,43;
Isaiah 61:3)
2. Does what we are wearing meet or exceed God’s standard for being modest
(Genesis 3:21; Exodus 20:26; 28:40-43)?
3. Will our clothing, speech or actions help or hurt my influence for Christ (Romans 13:10;
15:3; Philippians 2:3,4)?
4. Is our clothing too short?
Sit down, cross your legs, bend over, squat down, reach up. At any time,
does the garment reveal any of your leg above your knees? (Exodus 28:42) With
tops and blouses, is your midriff showing at any time (Genesis 3:21)?
5. Is our clothing too tight? Are we revealing the form of our bodies
which highlights or emphasizes sexuality, thus tantalizing, enticing or
tempting others to have impure thoughts (Matthew. 18:7; Galatians 5:19?
6. Is the neckline too low? Remember that God covered Adam and Eve
from the top of their shoulders to the bottom of their thighs. Bend
over - what can you see? Sit. What can be seen while looking down at you. Keep in mind that God made sure His priests were
appropriately covered in every situation while performing their duties.
7. Can our skin or undergarments be seen through our outer clothing?
Peter was considered naked while wearing only his undergarments in John
21:7.
8. Is what we are wearing appropriate and respectful (Genesis 41:14;
Matthew 22:11-14)?
9. Because of how we dress act or speak, would someone mistake us for
a worldly individual (Proverbs 7:10; Genesis 38:15)?
10. Is our apparel, actions or speech stating that we are pure and
holy, or objects of desire by others?
11. Will our apparel, actions or speech cause someone to lust after
us, thus causing others to stumble
and sin (Romans 14:13; 1 Corinthians 8:9; Matthew 5:27,28)?
Does our apparel,
actions or speech properly reflect our status in the kingdom of God as a
member of His royal priesthood. Would God be proud to be seen with us,
or would He be ashamed of us? Would He point to us as His example of
righteousness before the world, or would He turn away from us?
Does our modesty illuminate the path to Heaven, or does it lead us and
others down the other path? Are we always pointing the way home to
others who are lost? Are we always glorifying God with our actions,
dress and speech. Are we a beacon of light to a dark and hopelessly
lost world? Do others look at us and see through heaven's gate?
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