A New Outlook Toward Modesty

I never believed modesty ever had anything to do with clothes or what we were covering up. I believe a modest man is a noted by the way he lives his life and presents himself to the world as opposed to the belief that we must cover our less presentable parts. 1Corinthians 12:23 warns us about bringing more notice and "honor" to our less honorable parts and in doing so, causing our brothers to falter.

Paul was specifically talking about the body of Christ, the church. He wanted us to make sure we gave good attention to the people doing the dirty jobs around the church and to honor them for their service, but this still works well taken literally.

Modesty is doing what is right for the sake of righteousness. It precludes the necessity of wearing clothes, dressing in a manner proscribed by some church, or obeying any specific prohibition on makeup or jewelry. It is about doing what is right even when no one is around.

Modesty is the internal struggle to do what is right without an outside objective or motive. If I pray in church so that everyone knows I have a good speaking voice and can write lyrical prose, my prayer is immodest and I have profaned the god (little g) I prayed to. If I pray in a closet for the safety and health of my enemy because deep down I have a concern for his well being, I am modestly praying.

This leads to a problem with most churches. We are told to dress in our Sunday best to go to Church. The thought is that we should wear our best to be with the Lord. I understand the argument, but this argument fails on at least one level. God dwells with us always. He sees us in the shower. He is with us when we are at work. When we are digging in the garden, He is there. He is even there when we have sex with our spouse. If He is truly with us all the time, either we should always be dressed in our finest, or we must admit there is a failing in our argument.

The failing is the belief that God only dwells with us when we are in His house, the church building we all head over to on Sunday. Knowing this is false is the first step to experiencing modesty in a new and more vibrant manner. Once we come to grips with the principle that God dwells with us all the time, we will begin to understand that all the other stuff we do can't be for God. So, who is left?

I'll tell you. Everyone else. The other members of the church. The community. The Jones' from next door. When we dress to hide anything from God, you know, the one that knows everything and has seen everything, we only expose ourselves again to Him. we do not impress Him. The only ones we could impress are the people around us.

The real answer to all of this is to release ourselves from the rules not set forth by god and involve ourselves in learning chaste modest living based on biblical principles given to us by the Word.