Modesty in the Church
by Becky Huff
Modesty is a hot-button issue in the church today due largely to the evangelical church stepping away from the legalistic purity culture of the early 1990s. The church and its leaders should not ignore this subject but should be speaking into it through a Biblical worldview and an opportunity for discipleship. Older women should teach the younger women and lead by the example of modesty. We have the opportunity to shape women into who God made them to be! We are responsible to one another to be honorable in all ways. When we teach younger women to remember who they are, it will help them decide what to wear.
Our goal as disciple-makers should be to teach women not just to think "is this shirt too low?" or "is this skirt too high?" but also what do the clothes I am wearing say about my identity? What we wear tells a story about who we are.
Let’s talk about three truths about our identity in Christ that can help us get dressed.
We belong to Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 states, "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price." We must remember that our bodies are not our own; it is the temple of the living God because He paid the ultimate price to redeem us. We have an opportunity to point sisters in Christ to clothing that will glorify God in this world. Because Christ created and redeemed us, we not only dress for his glory, but everything we do should ultimately bring glory to His name.
We are Female.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him: male and female He created them." Genesis 1:27. This verse shows a distinction between male and female. Since we are different, we should also look and dress differently. The clothes we select should set us apart as females and delight in the fact that God created us to be women.
As women with distinct body parts, we should choose to wear clothes based on accommodating those distinct body parts in such a way that does not cause attention to them in an unwholesome way. Just because we cover up certain parts more so than others does not mean that we are ashamed or deny our sexuality or even diminish our God-given beauty. When we choose to show modesty, we are actually honoring their importance.
3. We Are In Community.
As soon as we became a Christ-follower, we became part of a larger group, a community which is called The Church- The Bride of Christ. We no longer just get dressed focused on ourselves. We get dressed as people who belong to the larger community of believers. When the apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:3-5 for the women's adorning not to be external, but their adorning to be that of a gentle and quiet spirit, and Paul’s instruction in 1 Timothy 2:9-10 for the women not to adorn themselves with costly attire but with modesty and self-control, they were speaking to The Church-the Bride of Christ.
Our appearance should bear testament in the Church as a whole that we are much more concerned about Christ's work in our hearts than about the outfits we wear. We should be so consumed with Christ that everything we do flows from our desire to see others pursuing the holiness of God.
Our pursuit of holiness should not allow occasion for our clothing to cause jealousy or lust in another. No, it is not our responsibility if another person sins, but we should do everything in our power to help prevent it. Our love for the Church should encourage our intentionality in helping to preserve its holiness.
We are a people under the authority of the Lord so we should dress as people under His authority. The clothes we choose daily tell a story about whose authority we are under (Christ’s or our own) and tell a story about who we are.
What kind of story are you telling?
