Holiness: Modesty

What We Wear

Key Verse: 1 Timothy 2:9–10 “9 Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, 10 but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.”

Introduction: The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. We share many attributes with other creatures. There is a moral and even spiritual dimension to human clothing. Some people dress to conceal, other dress to reveal. Clothing is used for self-expression. With our attire we display our gender, our religion, our occupation, our social position, or causes with which we identify (e.g., sports jersey, companies, uniforms.)

Long before our voice is heard, our clothes are transmitting multiple messages. Our character, our mood, our attitudes, our personality, our interests, and our values. Clothing is one of the fundamental ways we communicate with others, what we wear is never a purely personal matter. Our attire exerts a social influence on those around us. What we wear can create a pattern or local trend. How we dress not only affects others; it also affects us. Changes of clothes can generate a change of mood; the soldier feels different in his uniform than he does in street clothes. In some settings our choice of attire can make or break us. If we like the way we look for a job interview, for instance, it will tend to strengthen our confidence. We feel better about our chances, as reflected in improved posture, more fluent speech, more dynamic gestures. On the other hand, inappropriate dress can sap our confidence. We have all experienced the uncomfortable effects of feeling under-dressed in a particular social setting. With this being said, it’s not surprising that God’s Word speaks directly to the way we adorn ourselves.

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Big Question: Why does Cross Church care about clothing?

• The truth is that God cares and made a big deal about clothing. When you read the Bible you will discover that God was the first fashion designer. God clothed Adam and Eve. (Gen 3:21)

• When God established his own nation, Israel, he was intentional about communicating codes for dress. (Lev 19, Deut 22)

• Even in the New Testament there are specific directives regarding how we should dress and even adorn ourselves. (1 Peter 3:1-5, 1 Tim 2:9-10)

• If God doesn’t care how we dress, why did he go out of His way to discuss it in detail in His Word?

• Cross Church is committed to communicating the full counsel of God’s Word as it related to every area of our lives including dress and adornment.

• As you learned in our previous lesson, we do not believe that our adornment is where God starts in redeeming our lives, but eventually He will address external matters of Holiness.

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Setting The Stage

• The discussion of modesty is not a purely apostolic conversation. There is a point of undress that most everyone would agree is unacceptable in public settings, so the idea of immodesty does exist.

• A basic standard of modesty    exist, even in our culture,

• The problem with having a conversation on modesty is this; the most stated value of our time, is that we should not judge others.

• In our culture it is popular to say that modesty is a judgment call, a matter of personal taste; no one has the right to judge. We must be tolerant of a person’s choices.

• The timeless truths of the Bible help us to deal with this dilemma of our age, it provides guardrails for the use of freedom

• Romans 14:13 “13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.”

• 1 Corinthians 8:9 “9 But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.”

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Modesty: Setting The Stage

• Modesty begins with the   , not the

• Remember what we’ve already discussed. Holiness starts on the inside. Having a heart for God, desiring what God desires, makes all the difference in the world.

• If you don’t have the “want to,” If you don’t want holiness, you will be one of two things; you will either become lawless or you will become a legalist.

• When you’re lawless you cast off all restraint. You will respect no boundaries. You will think what you want to think. You will say what you want to say, you will do what you want to do, you will wear what you want to wear, you will go where you want to go, and you end up where? Hell!

• Legalism is just as messed up as lawlessness. When you’re legalistic, you do what you’re expected to do, you say what is expected of you to say, wear what you’re expected to wear, you go where you’re expected to go, but none of those things are being done from your heart.

• You’re only interested in being in compliance with the regulations, but you’re not interested in being in a relationship with God!

• Legalism focuses on the outside and forgets that holiness is first an inside job. You’ve got it on the outside, but a legalist doesn’t have it on the inside. And guess where that person ends up? Hell!

• Matt 6: 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

• It comes down to this: You have to have have the “want to”. If you don’t have a desire, to live right, you’re going to have an H&R Block mentality with God.

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Key Verse: 1 Timothy 2:9 “9 Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly …

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Big Question: What is modesty?

• Modesty is    expressed in dress, you are not self-aggrandizing.

• You are not dressing with the intention of bringing attention to yourself or your body.

• To dress modestly implies that clothing is providing covering for the body.

• Modesty demonstrates self-control, which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)

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Big Question: Who Decides What Is Modest?

• Modesty must conform to GOD’S WORD, not CULTURE’S

Key Verse: 1 Timothy 2:9–10 “9 Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, 10 but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.”

• Paul was addressing the issue of modesty because he saw a problem within the church. Paul was responding to a weakness or need within the church.

• When Paul instructed Timothy on appropriate attire for the women of the churches he was saying that their wardrobe should express self-control, moderation, and restraint.

• This does NOT mean that she shouldn’t take care of herself, look her best, be fashionable or enjoy her beauty. It means that she should not use her God-given beauty for selfish, self-centered reasons, like competing with other women or gaining attention by being sensual.

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Modesty: The Law of First Mention

• In Genesis chapter three Adam and Eve at the forbidden fruit and realized that they were naked.

• Genesis 3:7 “7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”

• When Adam and Eve realized that they were naked, they made a feeble attempt to make themselves presentable. The scripture lets us know that they made a covering: (Greek: Chagowr) A loin cloth. (They essentially placed a few leaves over their pubic region).

• Since the beginning, mankind has been a poor judge of what is acceptable and modest.

• Obviously, Adam and Eve’s idea of modesty was not acceptable to God. So God used animal skins to make clothing for them. (God was the first fashion designer.)

• Genesis 3:21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.

• When God created clothing for Adam and Eve, He was setting a standard for modesty.

• The word “tunic” is from the Hebrew word, kethoneth or kuttoneth, and is defined,

• “… a long shirt-like garment…” (Brown-Driver-Briggs). Obviously a “shirt-like” garment is a sleeved garment.

• “…a knee-length garment with sleeves, a round neck, and a loose body…(Encarta Dictionary).

• The KJV translates the word as, coats. The KJV translation of “coat” is consistent with the amount of covering that would be supplied by a tunic.

• The nakedness of Adam and Eve was not covered until God “clothed them” with a garment that covered them from their neck to the knees.

• This is GOD’S IDEA OF MODEST APPAREL. It dates back to Adam and Eve!

• Since God doesn’t change, the principles of modest apparel have not changed either!

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Big Question: Why does the issue of modesty center around the woman and not the man?

• Why are women more tempted to dress immodestly? Because they understand that men are    creatures.

• The Bible specifically references immodest or sensual dress of women: Proverbs 7:10 “10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him, Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.”

• This verse is NOT saying the woman was a harlot (prostitute), it is saying that she was dressed like a harlot.

• The verse doesn’t need to tell us specifically what the woman was wearing, we don’t need details. She was dressed sensually.

• Even women can recognize other women who are dressing for attention.

• Dressing    is a temptation more common to women. Looking    at a woman is a temptation more common to men. This is the reason why the Bible speaks primarily to women regarding modesty.

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The Biblical Call to Modesty

1 Timothy 2:9–10 “9 Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, 10 but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.”

• The word “clothing,” as used by Paul in 1 Timothy 2:8-10, comes from the Greek word “katastole”. This word reflects a style of garment the Greeks called “katastola” which was loose-fitting (“flowing”) and covered from the neck to the knees (“long”).

• Paul requires the same type of garment God required in Genesis 3!

• The garment of a woman should cover her thigh and knee. It does not have to be longer; if Paul wanted to specify an ankle-length garment he would have used the Greek word “poderes” (as in Revelation 1:13).

• Paul also teaches us that a woman’s clothing should follow the principles of “shamefacedness” and “sobriety,” that is, she is responsible to dress so that she does not “turn the eyes, the mind or the attention” to the form of her body.

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A Sincere Challenge to Our Ladies

• Pursue a biblical definition of beauty. The worldly definition of beauty is inseparably linked to sensuality, allurement, self-centeredness, and self-glorification. Yet in the biblical definition of beauty, external attractiveness is ultimately a reflection of godly character.

• Biblical beauty emphasizes   , not sensuality.

• Biblical beauty is   -centered and God-honoring.

• Biblical beauty involves not just appearance.

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Apostolic Women are Not the Only Ones Interested in Modesty

Illustration: In 2012 Kylie Bussutti stepped down as a Victoria’s Secret lingerie model. In an interview, Kylie said, “I’m uncomfortable with it because of my faith. My body should be only for my husband and it’s just a sacred thing.” (www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/02/02/kylie-bisutti)

Illustration: Listen to the words of Regina Doman Schmiedicke a Catholic instructor with a concern: Ladies possess a special genius for harmonizing your outward appearance with your interior life. The way you dress incarnates or makes visible your personal beliefs and ideas. While many of us Catholic women believe strongly in chastity and purity, our dress does not always reflect our convictions. In order to correct this situation, we need to recover a sense of the reason why women in the past dressed modestly, and how modest dressing “befits” the dignity and vocation of women. Some might be familiar with the “Pope’s Rules.” In the 1940’s, Pius XII was asked his opinion of what women teaching in Italian schools should wear to preserve their modesty. With the delicate reserve, he simply indicated, “Below the knee, halfway down the arm, and two finger widths below the collarbone.” I find these guidelines most reasonable. (Modesty and Beauty – A Lost Connection, The University Concourse, 2011)

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Reflection Time

• What statements am I making with the clothes I wear?

• Does my clothing satisfy me, or does it please God?

• Is what I wear a reflection of the Word of God, self-control and appropriate attire, or do I identify with popular culture and worldliness in the way I dress?

• What standard do I use when selecting clothing–society’s standard or the Bible?

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Reminder

• Internal holiness will work its way out to your external lifestyle

• External holiness is worthless to God unless there is also an internal reality of holiness.

• The importance of internal holiness does not minimize our need for external aspects of holiness.