Modesty: What a Relief To Men

"What a relief that would give us men." This surprisingly quick and candid response came from a friend as I shared with him about my blog. He smiled sheepishly as he went on to express the problem he has in simply signing in at work. His sign-in sheet is at a desk where, as he bends over to write, there sits across from him a young woman who in his words is continually "falling out of her clothes." I know him to be a very sincere Christian man. But as he talked it was easy to understand that Christ-centered thoughts were difficult to maintain at such moments.  And this was a continuous problem because of the immodesty of all the women he encounters each day.

Let's face it. Everywhere you look you see skin. A Hollywood or TV star or some singer needs only appear in some latest nothingness one time and before you know it everywhere you look - even in church pews you see the same thing being copied. Fashion designers seem fixed on the idea that less is more. And it is. It is more money in their pockets as everyone blindly follows along with the nudity flaunting pied piper's trends.

As an observant blogger writes, "to speak of modesty or standards of modesty today is to risk branding oneself as naive, impractical, out-of-date, and a prude-and even worse-a meddler." But as Christians shouldn't we be careful who's example we follow and who may stumble or be helped by it all?

We hear some say, "well, just look the other way if you don't like it." But that is hardly an option. So with the New Year upon us and considering how you might do something worthwhile - how about including the gracious idea of simply considering others who have no choice but be effected by what you choose to wear, or not wear. Gracious modesty is a gift anyone can give that everyone can appreciate and benefit by - and what a relief it gives to men!

Why Do We Let Them Dress Like That?

Someone may recognize the title of this as the same as Jennifer Moses online article published awhile back where she also did a live interview. Every parent should read and hear her comments. Nothing else seemed to express my thoughts better than her question because it is the question I keep asking myself as well: Why do we let our daughters dress like tramps?

An amazing addition to all this - that raises even more questions in my mind - is that the woman asking these questions is apparently not a professing Christian. All I can think is that there is something definately missing in the puzzle. What's missing are all the many Christian voices who speak loudly about how to gain wealth and enjoy living - but are noticably silent in expressing any concerns or teaching about how Christian's should deal with the serious issues relating to today's fashions.

As this article's subheading says, "Women of a liberated generation wrestle with their eager-to-grow-up daughters—and their own pasts." Which brings me to the question as it did this author, "Why do so many of us not only permit our teenage daughters to dress like this—like prostitutes, if we're being honest with ourselves—but pay for them to do it with our AmEx cards?"

She goes on to express her theory relating to them dealing with their past - which I believe is correct in many cases. She then adds, "So here we are, the feminist and post feminist and postpill generation. We somehow survived our own teen and college years (except for those who didn't), and now, with the exception of some [more accurate would be few] Mormons, evangelicals and Orthodox Jews, scads of us don't know how to teach our own sons and daughters not to give away their bodies so readily. We're embarrassed, and we don't want to be, God forbid, hypocrites....

"As for the girls themselves, if you ask them why they dress the way they do, they'll say (roughly) the same things I said to my mother: "What's the big deal" "But it's the style." "Could you be any more out of it?" What teenage girl doesn't want to be attractive, sought-after and popular?

"And what mom doesn't want to help that cause. In my own case, [and I think most moms can relate] when I see my daughter in drop-dead gorgeous mode, I experience something akin to a thrill—specially since I myself am somewhat past the age to turn heads."

But the truth is as her Wall Street Journal article reveals, promiscuity has hit new heights and it includes preteens, teens, as well as college and young adults. Obviously because of the constant stream of semi-pornography from about every media source. So it's past time to take notice and begin making some serious changes in the direction we are going - much less the slimy pit we're allowing our children to slide into?

It is somewhat blunt and crude, but the final comments in this woman's article should awaken everyone. "It's easy for parents to slip into denial. We wouldn't dream of dropping our daughters off at college [or our preteens and young teens at a friend's overnight party] and say: "Study hard and floss every night, honey—and for heaven's sake, get laid!' But that's essentially what we're saying by allowing them to dress the way they do while they're still living under our own roofs.' "

It's time to think seriously, why do we let them dress like that? It's time to come to grips with the answer - because the end results may not be so pretty. More important - we will answer to God for the results it brings.

Fashion is About More Than Clothes

We say "don't dress like the world," but what is worldly when it comes to dress? I think we can learn something about what it is by what the world say about dress? I think also we can learn about it by discerning what's behind the sad looking, gaunt expressions of the models who stride down the runways displaying the latest fashion ideas. What they seem to be saying may relate to the spirit behind the whole business that they are in. Sad and empty. This was evidenced recently as I read about a world-renown wealthy Italian fashion designer who a few years ago was murdered in cold-blood - and some of what the fashion world and its editors wrote about him after his death:

" 'Designer Gianni Versace understood that fashion was about more than clothes. He knew that a simple dress could also make allusions to art, music, architecture, and the cult of celebrity.'

" 'His style was flamboyant, profoundly sexy, and often crossed the line into a wonderful, dangerous vulgarity.'

" 'He unapologetically cut dresses obscenely low or rediculously high. But he could also cut a perfect suit that blended classic lines with delicate sensuality.'

" 'Fashion for him was a glamorous, colorful, sensual world.'

" 'He was a homosexual and designed men's wear accordingly.'"

Through such comments and in looking at those who represent the world of fashion design it's not difficult to sense the spirit behind the whole scene of today's fashions? They also give more than a hint why the poor models look so lost and hopeless? How does any of it line up with the Word of God? It doesn't.

Everyone's life in various ways will reflect what or whom they admire or follow. The story of this man's life, his work and his wealth sheds a great deal of light on the world of fashion.  As a Christian I should be concerned with what the story of my life will reveal? Will it highlight my desire to dress like the world - or will it reveal that my life reflects the purity of Christ?

"For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light....Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." Ephesians 5:8, 10, 11.