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Modesty:
Just How Should the Church Define it?
Before You Begin
A note from the Preacher:
It is by no means my intention
to offend anyone or to pry into matters that would be better kept in
private, however, as a former Pastor and a watchman over the souls of men, I can
no longer stand by and watch men and women defraud one another, attempt to
entice and seduce one another and say nothing. There are things in
the church happening that are very shameful and need to be dealt with.
Again, it is not my desire to offend or hurt anyone, but there are souls
in danger and someone has to stand to speak out against open blatant
shameful acts that are being committed by those who profess to be
Christians.
It is with great care and
carefulness for my own self that I undertake the task of teaching such a
delicate subject.
Galatians 6:1 'Brethren, if a man be
overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the
spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."
I do NOT believe it is always
appropriate for the Pastor of a church to address women concerning their
manner of dress, nor their sexuality, but because of a lack of teaching, a
lack of guidance, a lack of understanding that is prevalent in the church
today, I MUST take the initiative to do so. It is my sincerest
desire that the Godly Women of the church today will take this teaching,
apply it, learn from it and most of all be able to 'BY THE WORD OF GOD'
TEACH IT to other women.
It is REQUIRED by the Word of God
that the Elder Women teach the Younger Women!
We all need to understand that
the Word of God is precious and not a thing to be read nor handled lightly
or recklessly, but it is to be cherished, hidden in the heart that we may
live a life that is exemplary and above any reproach both in this world
and in the world to come. It is by careful consideration of the Word
of God that I submit this teaching.
A brief note to the Women in
the Church:
I realize there are many who
are offended by "bottom line" teaching when it comes to our
bodies and human sexuality. These are the same people who have never
read the Song of Solomon. I appreciate your attempt at modesty,
however, I must fault the elder women in the church of today for failing
to teach the younger as required in the Word of God. I have heard
elder women tell me "Well, the younger women won't listen to me", to which
I normally reply "And your point is......?"
The fact is
that MANY today will not listen to instruction or to correction regardless
from whom it comes. I believe that many times in the church of
today, there is no "leading and teaching", but instead there is much
yelling, telling and condemning. No one is going to "listen to
you if you look at them and emphatically state "Don't you ever wear that
in here again" (this has happened in MANY churches), or "I can't believe
you would wear such a thing in here".
You have
already missed the mark and crossed a line into judgmental, unrighteous,
condemnation, rather than sound biblical reasoning and as such, you
have voided most any chance you have to instruct and lead young
women.
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"The aged women likewise, that
they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given
to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women
to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be
discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands,
that the word of God be not blasphemed." Titus
2:3-5 |
A brief note to Men in the
Church:
This teaching is not only to
women, but also to men. As men, we are bombarded on every hand to
regard women as something pleasing to look upon, to touch, to handle and
to treat as a sexual object. There is no current advertising that I
am aware of that encourages men to look upon the inner beauty of a woman.
Satan has exploited women today to the point that most men are numb to
anything but the sexual nature of a woman. Men are becoming
exceeding lustful and it is through many tears and agony that I watch as
man after man tries to break a lifetime of lust and perversion from his
life.
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"Ye
have heard that it was said by them of old time,
Thou shalt not commit adultery: 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
5:27-28 |
Men, are your eyes immediately
drawn to a woman's breast or buttocks when you look upon them? You
would be surprised just how many have that problem, many who have done
this for so long that they aren't even aware that they do. I have
watched deacons in churches and to the SHAME of the church itself, I
watched 2 Pastors in a recent conference do the same thing. One of
these was a youth pastor who was "eyeing" the YOUNG (I'm talking about mid
to late teen) ladies. Of course, when I called their attention to
it, they immediately denied any wrongdoing.
Men:
Your eyes betray you! Whether you are married, engaged or just
dating, don't you think for one moment that your wife, fiancée or
girlfriend doesn't notice!
She does! Period. You may think you're slick but she ALWAYS
notices.
To the single
men I ask: Are you lusting after women? Are you looking at
women, married or single, in a manner that you know you should not?
To the married
men I ask the same question and more: Are men lusting after your
wife? Are they attracted to who she is or to her physical feminine
features because she openly flaunts them?
To the men
with daughters I ask: Are other men lusting after your daughter?
Men, all of
you, you KNOW beyond any doubt at all what attracts the attention of
men. Is your daughter or your wife, if you step back and take a very
objective look, attracting men in this manner?
If they are,
you are most certainly NOT a "good and faithful" ruler over
your own household. Paul said this to Saints everywhere:
1
Corinthians 11:31 "For if we would judge
ourselves, we should not be judged."
I encourage you all, men,
women, young men, young women to study this prayerfully and as always,
with honesty. Examine yourself through the eyes of God and then
decide whether YOU are guilty.
If you are
guilty of even a few of these things, will you repent? Will you
endeavor to change? I trust your answer to those questions is a
resounding "Yes".
Let's begin.
Modesty
Although our culture will
most assuredly argue to the contrary, men (God-fearing men anyway) do
appreciate and respect modest behavior in women. This is especially true
in the context of marriage. There are of course, exceptions, but the fact
is that men don't often marry an immodest or immoral woman.
There is a story that I
want to start with that does not necessarily have anything to do with
modesty itself, however, the passage can be related to us IN PRINCIPLE.
2 Kings Chapter 20:
Hezekiah, a good king,
had grown sick and nearly died. Isaiah the prophet came to him and
told him to get his house in order because he was going to die. Now
Hezekiah was no stranger to the Lord and to the ways of the Lord.
Over the years Hezekiah learned something...he had learned how to pray.
He had a testimony that
he had lived. Look at Verse 3:
2 Kings 20:3 "I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how
I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done
that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore."
What a magnificent
testimony to be able to say to the Lord "I walked before you in truth and
with a perfect heart"! It was because of THAT TESTIMONY that God
added 15 years to the life of Hezekiah AND turned back the sun 10 degrees
to prove it. What an amazing thing for God to do for someone.
As we continue to read we gain more insight into the events surrounding
Hezekiah's sickness.
That brings us down to
verse 12
where the son of the Babylonian King, Berodachbaladan, had heard about
Hezekiah's sickness and apparently wanted to "comfort" him. It sounds
innocent enough, but a present from an enemy? We have the privilege
of knowing from the
rest of the story (so to speak) that ONLY evil was ultimately intended,
though Hezekiah didn't know it at the time. We don't know the King
of Babylon's thinking, but we do know from the remainder of the story that
the intent was evil.
In
Verse 13 ...
We read that Hezekiah, however good he may have been, did something very
foolish. He gave a grand tour of all that he owned to an ENEMY.
He gave "place" to his enemy. It would do us well to understand that
Paul warned us to NOT give place to the devil (Ephesians
4:27 Neither give
place to the devil.)
Now we already saw that Hezekiah was a godly man, a man that had a godly
heart and a man that reverenced God. Yet he STILL made a very
foolish decision. There is not a single one of us today who can make
the boastful claim that we are above making foolish decisions, regardless
of how long you have been a Christian.
This is
where our real story begins.
You may be a godly man, a
godly woman; one with a godly heart, yet, you might still make foolish
decisions from time to time when it pertains to the subject of
clothing and modesty.
We see ISAIAH in
2 Kings
20:14
asking Hezekiah all about the event. WHERE did they
come from, WHAT did they want, and WHAT did you show them?
Isaiah further prophesies
that the day is coming in which the Babylonians will take everything,
including his sons, and will make his sons eunuchs
in the king of Babylon's palace. In other words, "Hezekiah, your
house is over.....your sons are going to be destroyed and your lineage is
going to stop".
Basically, Isaiah told him: Your
household, and
all
their children as well, are going to be slaves and captives to a pagan
king and YOUR descendents will cease.
We know that in
chapter
25 of 2nd Kings,
This
prophecy came to pass. It is shocking to note, however that in
verse 19,
Hezekiah wasn't the least bit concerned and counted it as nothing.
Look at his response! Allow me to paraphrase: "Well.....if
it's not going to happen now...that's a good thing, Isaiah....I don't have
to worry about that'
WHAT A SHOCKING
STATEMENT. He could look no further than the "here and now" to
see the consequences down the road !!
This is exactly the
point to which Today's Church has arrived. We take the attitude of
"IF IT DOESN'T AFFECT US NOW...WHO CARES?"
Hezekiah died in
Verse
21, and never reaped the consequences of his actions. If
you'll read the next few chapters though, you'll find that because of his
blatant ignorance, his son, Manasseh was one of the most wicked kings that
Judah ever had.
I wonder what might have
happened if Manasseh would have seen his father REFUSE to compromise with
the enemy? What if Hezekiah had refused to allow the enemy entry
into his home? Perhaps, Manasseh would have turned out differently.
YOU MUST BE VERY CAREFUL
WHAT YOU LET INTO YOUR HOUSE. (I'M SPEAKING OF THE HOUSE (TEMPLE) OF THE HOLY
GHOST.....)
IN OTHER WORDS....BE
CAREFUL WITH THIS TEMPLE.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SEE, WHAT YOU
HEAR, AND WHAT YOU DO IN THIS PRESENT BODY!
As we continue let's begin to relate
Hezekiah's story to the matter at hand: Modesty.
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