Shocking, Shameful, and Salacious Dress is Offensive to Decent People!

By Don Boys, Ph.D.

Some females are without shame and have no sense of Christian propriety, common decency, and biblical principles.

Sharon Hodde Miller, a doctoral student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, said, “A woman’s breasts and buttocks and thighs all proclaim the glory of the Lord.” Yes, we are fearfully and wonderfully made but God did not expect this “glory of the Lord” to be observed by everyone everywhere, especially in church.

She said, “Modesty is an orientation of the heart, first and foremost. It begins with putting God first.”  In that, she is correct; however, if God is first in one’s life, he or she will seek to do all to the glory of God.  A woman is very unchristian if she uses her bouncing breasts, swaying buttocks, or exposed flesh to influence any man other than her husband. It is also a blasphemous use of the female body.

Nutty, shameless feminists in Fort Collins, Colorado, have contended that male and female breasts are identical!  Women brandished their bare bouncing breasts along with signs proclaiming, “My breasts are no more sexual than my mouth or my hands,” “Honk for gender equality,” and “Free the NIP.”

This is not your father’s world!

My deceased philosopher father, with a sixth-grade education, would say, “This world is nuttier than a fruitcake.”  And he would have found it incredible that professing Christians would defend immodest dress.

Some Evangelical and Fundamentalist youth wear shirts declaring “Modest is Hottest” or the reverse, although I can’t imagine Christians wearing something like that.  Whatever one’s definition of “hottest,” it obviously has a sexual connotation.  Why send the wrong message to others?  I wonder what parents are doing in the parenting department.

Are Christians to be “hot”?  That kind of sexual suggestion is not conducive to the body being the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  However, non-thinkers tell us never to correct our children since it might stunt their development, and they might even throw a hissy.  Can’t have that.  They also may think they are unloved.

Christians are not to draw attention to self but to Christ.  In Matthew 23:5, Christ rebuked the scribes and Pharisees saying, “But all their works they do for to be seen of men…and enlarge their borders.”  Enlarge borders refers to Jews who wore fringes on their robes as commanded in Numbers 15:38-39 to remind them to keep the Commandments.  However, some Jews went beyond God’s command and enlarged the borders to draw attention to themselves.  Likewise, people dress outrageously and do strange things to their bodies to attract attention to themselves.

I have often wondered why a beautiful young woman would put metal in her face. For sure, while it will attract people’s attention, it is not attractive. Principled people should know why they believe and practice certain things and not make decisions without reasonable thought.

Paul’s command in Philippians 2:5 to have the mind of Christ will eliminate seductive clothing, inappropriate clothing, piercings, tattoos, expensive jewelry, green hair, Mohawk haircuts, and pants drooping below the 38th parallel.  Christians are not to draw attention to self but to Christ. Believers were called Christians in Antioch because they reminded people of Christ.  Many modern Christians remind me of circus performers.  Shocking, shameful, and salacious dress (or activity) should be unacceptable to decent people.

A Texas public school district announced that any tattoos must be covered, and only ear piercings would be accepted!  Are any churches teaching such honorable standards to their members?  Of course, visitors should be welcomed whatever they wear as long as it meets a minimum standard of decency.

Church of God in Christ is a formal Pentecostal denomination where ushers wear white gloves, and their denominational handbook says, “dressing in a sensually provocative manner produces inclinations to evil desires.”

I agree with this Church of God in Christ statement, although I am not a Pentecostal.

Even Catholic churches are battling this problem of undress. I saw this scores of times on my tours to the Middle East, especially in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth. Tourists are asked to be modest when visiting famous historical and biblical church sites.

Often, Evangelicals and Fundamentalists are very careless, even indecent, in what they wear to church.  However, I contend that the concern should not only be on Sunday, but everyday indecent dress in public is always unacceptable, ungodly, and unnecessary.

Modesty should be a byproduct of genuine Christianity, although critics confuse modesty with prudery.  Prudery is as abnormal as exhibitionism is at the other extreme.  Modesty is Christian, common, and commendable.  Modest people have respect for their bodies (made in the image of God), respect for social norms, and respect for other people.

Both genders should consider proper dress as a sign of elegance, education, and erudition.  A silent statement is made by immodestly dressed people, male and female: “I don’t think much of myself, and I don’t expect you to value or respect me either.”

In many churches on Sunday morning, it is almost a Sunday Morning Slutwalk with bouncing boobs, cavernous cleavage, gyrating hips, skintight pants (male and female), and skirts slit front, back, and both sides.  It seems tempting, tantalizing, and taunting are parts of some modern women’s arsenal.

Feminists and others seek to remove all responsibility from women for the reactions they get from men because of seductive clothing, while most lusting men put the responsibility for their temptation totally upon the women!  However, smearing honey all over yourself and then strolling through bear country does invite attack by bears!

If the way women dress is not an invitation to men, then why do prostitutes dress the way they do? A good woman will dress to be modest and attractive, instead of modern and alluring. Street walking prostitutes feel a need to dress in salacious clothing to compete with other women.

Exposing the female body and doing the “come on” bit will also attract predator men. Immodest girls are like pigs rolling around in the mud and shouldn’t be surprised when men treat them like pigs.

Many women refuse to admit that their clothing sends a message to others. If they dress like a harlot, they will be perceived as a harlot even when it is not true. Proverbs 7:10 makes clear that dress is associated with prostitution: “And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.”

All women who dress provocatively are not trying to attract men; some are simply careless, thoughtless, or trying to be relevant. However, it is wrong, and their husbands should remind them of the danger of advertising without trying to do so. Proverbs 11:22 says, “As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.” Principled women will seek to be appropriate, wise, and thoughtful of how they are perceived.

It is normal for men to react to exposed breasts and other parts of the female body.  That is the way God made them.  It would be abnormal if they did not react to the exposed female body.  However, men are responsible for their own impure, illegal, and iniquitous thoughts and actions.  Moreover, mere attraction is not lust, but it often leads to lust.

Normal men like to see female skin, but how much skin is permitted?  Some Muslim women are forced to cover their entire bodies except the eyes and hands; others even hide their eyes!  That would be considered going far past modesty to prudery.

The absence of modesty among females is an egregious problem, but I must emphatically state that however wickedly women dress, it does not justify lecherous men’s abusive actions.  While lust is natural, it is naturally sinful.  It dehumanizes the female when a man takes her for himself (even mentally), often to prove superiority over her as well as to satisfy unpermitted personal cravings.

Decent people should ask themselves not only what is acceptable but also what is appropriate for each occasion.  It is a joy to meet a person with a happy smile, pure heart, and noble intentions who is modest, kind, humble, and genuine.  Not many out there!

I’ll be considered naïve and self-righteous for even suggesting they should be out there!

Young boys used to look at National Geographic for naked bodies, strange piercings, and tattoos. In this day, it is easy to see about anything everywhere, even observing leading members of some Evangelical and Fundamentalist churches.

(Dr. Don Boys is a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives who ran a large Christian school in Indianapolis and wrote columns for USA Today for 8 years. Boys authored 20 books, the most recent, Reflections of a Lifetime Fundamentalist: No Reserves, No Retreats, No Regrets! The eBook is available at Amazon.com for $4.99. Other titles at www.cstnews.com. Follow him on Facebook at Don  Boys, Ph.D., and visit his blog. Send a request to DBoysphd@aol.com for a free subscription to his articles and click here to support  his work with a donation.)

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”  John Bunyan, Baptist Preacher

EVOLUTION

Fact, Fraud or Faith?

by Don Boys, Ph.D.

Only an uninformed fanatic says that evolution or creation can be proved scientifically. Christians believe in creationism because we believe in the veracity of the Bible but we also have scientific evidence to support our position. In every debate I’ve had with evolutionary scientists, the arrogant, asinine accusation is made, “Well, evolution is scientific while creationism is religion.” Evolution is about as scientific as a voodoo rooster plucking ceremony in Haiti. Almost.

Purchase Now from Amazon