While attending a Reformed church with a friend this summer, I happened to sit in a row behind one of the elder’s families. After the service, the family stood up and turned to greet us. Immediately, I was forced to avert my eyes because the elder’s daughter was wearing an outfit with such a low neckline that to look further would have been breaking the seventh commandment.
The incident invited reflection: Why would a leader of Christ’s church find it acceptable for his daughter to dress in a way that might lead others into temptation? Is it not shameful that this young woman failed to clothe herself modestly when going to the house of the Lord?
Upon returning to Grove City this year, I have again been confronted with the modesty question. As I walk about campus and take part in my classes, there are moments when it seems impossible to look around the room without violating my own purity and that of others. Why, at a college that claims to promote a Christian worldview and sexual ethic, is this considered completely normal?
If this were a secular university, I would not be surprised in the slightest. After all, the secular worldview has no basis for a moral code, other than that which gives the most pleasure and happiness to the individual. Thus, in an age obsessed with sex and the outward appearance of the body, it is not shocking that people dress in ways that would have made prostitutes of past times blush. Furthermore, it is true that not all students at Grove City are Christians. As such, it also does not surprise me that non-Christian students choose to dress in alignment with secular culture. However, many of those who I see walking around campus provocatively dressed are also those who I encounter in the pews of my church on Sunday mornings. I watch as they sing the Lord’s praises and partake of the sacraments, sometimes still dressed in provocative ways. Why does it seem that God’s people no longer care for modesty? Why aren’t the Christian peers of these individuals or members of the congregation rising to rebuke them for this sin?
In his Christianity and Civilization class, Dr. Carl Trueman described the Church as a “Culture Maker.” She is not merely to engage in the prevailing culture around her but to form a Christian culture rooted in the principles that God has revealed to his people. She is then to bring this culture to the world around her. Is the Church today fulfilling this calling in the way she is dressed?
Believers acknowledge God as the source of all truth, and His Word is not shy or ambiguous on the issue of modesty. 1 Timothy 2:9 instructs “that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel with modesty and self-control.” Peter says, “Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.”
1 Peter is clear: what God is most concerned about is our hearts. He wants them to be devoted to him entirely. If God is worried about our hearts the reader might wonder why I have devoted time to discussing the issue of modesty, which seems quite external. I answer this by saying that the Bible draws an inseparable connection between the state of our hearts and what we do. 1 John 5:3 says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” James also states that, “Faith apart from works is dead.” Thus, it seems that if we have hearts devoted to God, we will devote ourselves to his commandments and if we are not devoted to his commands, we should seriously examine our faith.
Simply put, because modesty is something commanded in God’s Word, it is something Christians should be concerned about. We should find it deeply troubling that our dress standards in the Church today often mirror the world and not the other way around. Christians need to be different. As Culture Makers, Christians should stand out starkly for their culture of humility and purity in a society that celebrates lust and impurity. However, all too often it is impossible to tell Christ’s Culture Makers apart from the secular culture that surrounds them.
Patterns and practices seemingly as small as clothing choices have great significance for a believer’s testimony concerning Christ. The way we dress either causes God’s Word to be ignored and disrespected or it proclaims His great and glorious Name; there is no middle ground. Each morning, when we dress and prepare ourselves to go out into the communities God has called us to, we must do so in a way that is reflective of a truly Christ-centered Culture.
The views and opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the values and beliefs of Cogitare Magazine, nor of Grove City College.
