That’s a more decent standard than what I see in very Conservative churches weekly! This concern for proper attire is even popping up in secular organizations and businesses!

I never expected to see the day when secular organizations were concerned with proper clothing! But it’s here. Psychology Today published an article, “The First Impression,” revealing that decisions are made about us in 20 to 30 seconds so our dress must be appropriate. For office work men should wear suits with black or brown shoes–no tennis shoes. Women’s blouses should not be sleeveless or see-through and skirts should not be “too tight” and no more than two inches above the knee! I prefer the middle of the knee.

Many Christian schools and Christian colleges don’t have such tight standards! What’s going on? Maybe folks are finally willing to say that there should be some parameters in everything. Maybe we should exercise some discretion in dress, speech, and actions. Although to watch female entertainers parade around on the red carpet it seems they have not received the message: there are some standards that decent people won’t break.

Recently, I walked into a room where the television news had been on and one of the award shows was on. What I saw was pure exhibitionism as female after female exposed themselves to the world. It seems some people have no standards.

Yes, I spend much of my life in a bubble but anyone should be able to agree that a woman should not expose her breasts to anyone except her husband. And with splits and see-through dresses, they almost expose other special parts of the female body. Of course, the human body is not “dirty” but it should be private.

It is noteworthy that men are still dressing basically as they did a hundred years ago but women seem to have been bitten by the slutbug that some say originated in France but its source is questionable.

I don’t hear many preachers, priests, or rabbis saying much about the exhibition on television. Maybe we need another Jerome who, in the fourth century, scolded a female Roman church member: “Your vest is slit on purpose….Your breasts are confined in strips of linen, your chest is imprisoned in a tight girdle…your shawl sometimes drops so as to leave your white shoulders bare; and then it hastily hides what it intentionally revealed.” His statement, “intentionally revealed” seems right on target to describe female entertainers today. Not many preachers like Jerome today, but there are a few.

In his Sunday sermon, a Baptist pastor in Chattanooga said to his congregation (and to the woman in question): “There’s a woman here who I’ve seen more of [while preaching] than any man should see who is not your husband–and you know who you are.” That takes courage.

Major secular magazines and newspapers are discussing (and cussing) modesty in dress. Who would have thunk it? Jews, Roman Catholics, Mormons, Muslims, Fundamentalists, and even Evangelicals are talking about modesty.

In a speech, former actress Jessica Rey (I don’t know her but then, the last actor I knew about was John Wayne) discussed the evolution of the swimsuit and her opinions on modesty. Her video caused a mini storm–even some Christians responded negatively. She mentioned that the first bikini was publically introduced by a stripper because no other models would wear it indicating devolution in modesty. But now, even Christian women wear one without concern. Where are the parents or husbands of those women?

We know that at the dawn of the twentieth century, women wore bathing suits that covered most of their bodies. Some women were taken to the water’s edge in a kind of outhouse pulled by horses (or people) so the women could exit into the water without being seen by the public.

Of course, a better answer if a woman is concerned with modesty is not to go swimming in public. That’s better than exiting from a floating outhouse. After all, is public swimming such a major thing is one’s life?

Jessica stopped wearing a bikini and started her own line of modest one-piece swimsuits. Of course, she is not alone since others have done the same thing. Everyone seems to have an opinion and even their own line of clothes! Even the Mormons have their own line of modest clothing sold in high-end department stores, and the Muslims also have their own line–sold at Macys. The Mormons’ dresses are much more stylish than the Muslims since you can’t do much with black sheeting except cut two eye holes in them. With that, voilà, we have a dress!

For many years some Roman Catholics, Mormons, and Jews have tried to combat the rise in immodest dress. On some of my tours to the Middle East, we stopped for a couple days in Rome and when I took the large group to the Vatican, there was a notice that informed us what was acceptable and unacceptable dress. At other Catholic churches, women were given wraparounds if they wore shorts or scandalous skirts. None of my group was dressed scandalously.

But feminists and many modern Christian leaders argue that the Bible’s demand for modesty refers to display of things such as wealth, not seductive clothes. It is both! We should be more concerned with modesty and neatness in our garments than elegance, cost, and fashion. However, if church leaders are immodest, ordinary members will follow their bad example.

Maybe strict Bible-preaching churches should take a lesson from the Royal Family (at least in this regard) and require all church leaders, choir members, special singers, instrumentalists, etc., to meet the Queen’s standard.

I think the King would be pleased!

Boys’ new book Muslim Invasion: The Fuse is Burning! was published recently by Barbwire Books; to get your copy, click here. An eBook edition is also available.

David was a popular, fifty-year-old-plus king of one of the greatest nations on earth and he would have been wise to follow his own advice in Psalm 24:4 as to having a pure heart when he saw Bathsheba taking a bath. Even though David had multiple wives and concubines, he wanted what was illegal for him to have. He wanted Bathsheba and he took her and paid for it for the rest of his life. King David’s sinful urge of the moment became a sorrowful scourge of a lifetime.

When the king viewed from his rooftop a young, beautiful Bathsheba bathing, he was not concerned with her dress but her undress. David manipulated people and events to get her into his bed; after all, he was the king and some perks went with that position. This was an example of God’s man not acting like God’s man.

There are a few theologians who teach that Bathsheba trapped David, but that is conjecture. The King was guilty but Bathsheba was also blameworthy. After all, she did reveal her body and while a subject of David’s, she did not cry “rape.” Even in that absolute monarchy, a principled woman, if she wanted to be believed, should have resisted as Deut. 22:24 requires her to do. Even if she had played him like a banjo to get him into bed, he was a big boy and he made the decision. Both of them were responsible for the sin of adultery.

Females have often been instructed to dress modestly because seductive dress will make men lust after them. Moreover, females should dress modestly because it is right to do so. It is honoring to Christ for women and men to dress modestly.

Evidently, Bathsheba was not concerned about bathing where others could see her just as many modern women are not concerned about dressing immodestly. Detractors charge that promoters of modesty believe that sex is sinful and the human body is dirty and bad, but such talk comes from people who are frantically looking for a supportive argument. It is a fact that all body organs and skin are not made equal. Most men will quickly agree that female breasts are much more interesting than elbows, but you knew that didn’t you!

Speaking to husbands, Solomon declared in Proverbs 5:19, “let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.” Ravished means to be drunk, so sex between husband and wife is expected to be fervent, frequent, and fantastic (for wife as well as husband). However, it is immoral for a female to uncover her body to gain attention from men who don’t have a legitimate right to see her. Critics accuse advocates of modesty of being sexually repressive, but that is a childish, empty argument.

The creator of the miniskirt and hot pants, fashion designer Mary Quant said, “I love vulgarity. Good taste is death, vulgarity is life.” What a fool! She proved that when you drink from a polluted fountain you always get polluted water. She helped make vulgarity arguable, available, then acceptable.

Some people uncover their body not to tempt others but simply to exhibit themselves. In other words, many women are exhibitionists and might be shocked if men approached them for sexual activity. Those women would be shocked if a man misread their intentions and approached them for sex, but those women must share a part of the blame for sending unwanted signals to predator men.

The Apostle Paul told women in I Tim. 2:9, “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.” That passage teaches women to dress appropriately without any excesses that would attract unwarranted attention to them. It was common in that day for women to weave thin gold and silver strips and wire into their hair. Paul was informing them and us that that is unnecessary, unacceptable, and undesirable and was now unscriptural.

The Apostle Paul was telling us that it is not good for Christian ladies to pay such attention to their hair as the heathen do. All dress for both genders should be suitable for the place, time, and occasion. Paul was also saying that women should pay attention to themselves because neglect is just as wrong as the other extreme. A woman should not be an offense to any class of people and during those days, the church had people from all social strata. He is not saying that the use of gold and silver is wrong, only the excessive use is wrong. He is saying, “Stop trying to appear like the wicked ladies around you. You are servants of Christ. Act and dress like it.”

In ancient Greece, the wife of Phocion, a illustrious Athenian general, had a visit from a rich lady who was elegantly adorned with gold and jewels, and her hair festooned with pearls. The visitor took occasion to call attention to the elegance and costliness of her dress but her host replied, “My ornament is my husband, now for the twentieth year general of the Athenians.” Good putdown. She valued her longtime marriage more than gold, silver, and pearls; she did not feel a need to use gold and silver to establish her person, her prestige or her place in the world.

Both men and women should err on the side of caution. It is better to be too narrow than too broad. Women’s dress should be modest (not frumpy) and men should keep their eyes on her elbows–and their hands to themselves. When advantage is taken, the man should receive a sock in the chops if he rapes her, he should go to prison for life!

The Bible warns us in I Pet. 3:4 not to be so concerned with clothes, gold, and jewels but “let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”

It’s a fact: God knows what’s important; but evidently, many powerful men and women do not.

Immodest women have hung signs around their necks: “Handle roughly–for sale–cheap–use and toss away.” While their immodesty does not cause sexual attacks, it surely contributes to them.

And men, being men are doing what unscrupulous, uncaring, and unprincipled men always do.

Boys’ book Muslim Invasion: The Fuse is Burning! was published by Barbwire Books; to get your copy, click here. An eBook edition is also available.

(Dr. Don Boys is a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives; ran a large Christian school in Indianapolis, wrote columns for USA Today for eight years; authored 16 books and hundreds of columns and articles for Internet and print media publications; defended his beliefs on hundreds of talk shows. These columns go to newspapers, magazines, television, and radio stations and may be used without change from title through the end tag. His web sites are www.cstnews.com and www.Muslimfact.com and www.thegodhaters.com. Contact Don for an interview or talk show.)

Follow Dr. Boys on Facebook at CSTNews and TheGodHaters, Twitter, and visit his blog.

Her husband was known as Phocion, the Good who served a record 45 terms in office but was finally executed as an old man by the leader of Macedonia. Phocion was known for his humility and his frugal living. His wife cooked their meals and he drew his own water and chopped his own wood. He could have been very wealthy because of his office but he refused many offers of money even from Alexander the Great. Both husband and wife were known for their manners, moderation, and modesty. Note that this was in pagan Greece before any Christian influence.

It is possible that the Apostle Paul had the above couple or a similar one in mind when he warned in 1 Tim. 2:9 “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.” For us to suggest that women be modest in apparel, attitude, and actions as Paul commanded is almost quaint. Moreover, not only do feminists go ballistic but also many closet feminists in our churches are quick to demand the right to wear whatever they choose, even if the Apostle Paul or their husbands disagree.

Modesty means a “regard for decency of behavior, speech, dress, etc.; moderation”–a quality not seen much anymore. God has always required decency going back to the Garden of Eden when He dressed Adam and Eve with animal skins to hide their nakedness. PETA wasn’t around then to protest.

Concerning the priests in Israel, Moses commanded in Ex. 28:42, “And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness.” Pagan priests of Bacchus and other pagan gods often ministered naked. God demanded a higher standard for His priests requiring purity and decency in every part of the Divine worship, in opposition to the shocking indecency of the pagans.

In the New Testament God required women to be known for shamefacedness and sobriety. Ladies wore the stola, a simple female covering that was often highly ornamented with gold and precious stones. Both among the Greek and Roman women, their hair was often crisped and curled in a complex manner with gold and silver strands woven throughout. God warned against excessive, opulent appearance since Christians are to draw people to Christ, not to themselves. Christian women were to be known for godliness, not gaiety, and gaudiness. They still are.

Clothes have been used since the beginning of time for defense, for decency, and for decoration. The Bible warns that Christians should dress nicely, neatly, but not naughtily. That principle, if followed, would decimate the female clothes’ market if implemented by Christians alone.

Christians and decent non-Christians should be modest without being archaic. One can go to the extremes of wearing clothes that reveal what only a spouse should see or of wearing antiquated clothes thereby drawing attention to one’s self. Both extremes are wrong.

Parents should train young children to be modest by teaching them that their bodies are sacred and private, not dirty. It is scandalous that parents are careless with their bodies and permit boys and girls to be cavalier with uncovered bodies in the home. Children should be taught modesty but not prudery.

Schools, both public and Christian, have contributed to lack of modesty by gang showers whereby many girls or boys shower at the same time. That saves money in construction but can destroy insecure young people. Of course, the possibility of the opposite sex going into a public bathroom is indecent, inane, and insane. Radical leftists are so concerned about how a “transgender” person might feel but have absolutely no concern for the visual, mental, and possible physical assault of innocent youth of the opposite sex.

Even Billy Graham, known as a very principled person in his personal life, went swimming nude with President Lyndon Johnson in the White House pool. Billy should have told the very vulgar and vile president that he never undressed for anyone except for his wife.

One of the most distasteful, disgraceful, and degrading incidents showing total disregard for modesty and decency was Megyn Kelly’s interview with Howard Stern who is known for his vulgarity. Megyn was dressed provocatively almost falling out of her blouse. Stern made a big deal how she was dressed. She laughed when Howard asked her about the size of her husband’s sex organ. She laughed when he asked the same question about Roger Ailes! She laughed when he asked the possibility of having sex with Bill O’Reilly. He got her to admit that her breasts were real and discussed the size of them! He asked, “Did you have sex during your pregnancy?” “Was the size of your husband’s penis important to you?” “Do you have a good sex life?” A modest woman would have been off the stage within seconds.

He asked her to choose from each of three questions: “Whom would you marry?” then “Whom would you have sex with?” and “Whom would you kill?” She was to choose from Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck. She played his game saying she would marry Hannity, have sex with O’Reilly, and kill Beck. Megyn can’t even spell modesty.

If her priest had any convictions, he would remove her from the membership of her church. And if Fox officials had any character, they would fire her.

Surely, her husband and three children were horrified. How could anyone in the family be seen in public after that interview? I wonder if her husband reprimanded her and forbade her to appear on Stern’s show again! Of course, almost everyone reading this will say that he has no right to forbid her from doing anything. Yea, but that’s another column.

Ancient Greek women would not have been as crude, coarse, and callous as Kelly. For sure, she would not say as did the Greek general’s wife, “My husband is my ornament.”

I have scorn for Kelly, sorrow for her family, and am scared for America.

Boys’ new book Muslim Invasion: The Fuse is Burning! was published recently by Barbwire Books; to get your copy, click here. An eBook edition is also available.

Recently a PAC ran a political ad showing Donald Trump’s wife nude with the caption, “Meet Melania Trump, your next First Lady.” The text continues, “Or, you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday.” Cruz or his people had no connection with the ad since the law prohibits any association with PACs. My concern today is not the political decision by the PAC that ran the ad but the personal decision to pose nude.

My critics will charge, as they often do, that Christians believe that the body is inherently evil but that is pure applesauce! The body is the creation of God as the Psalmist wrote, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Furthermore, such critics have no knowledge of the Song of Solomon, a very sexual book. However, the body is, at least for Christians, the Temple of the Holy Spirit. It is a sin to mistreat the body with illegal drugs, tobacco, alcohol, overeating, overworking, not resting, and exposing the body to those who have no right to see it. It is to be enjoyed only by a spouse–of the opposite sex. Christians should be concerned with dress, deportment, decorum, and decency.

Up front, I know I am in the minority and will be portrayed as a Neanderthal (but then, we now know that they were totally human) or a prude. I plead guilty. The nude photo (and there are more photos of her practically nude) was not made of some giddy, stupid teenager looking for attention. They were made of Melania Trump sixteen years ago when she was a model and Trump’s girlfriend. The fact she was a model or Trump’s girlfriend makes no difference in whether it was right or wrong.

One defender said that “we are confronted with the opinion that a woman who expresses herself with her body is not to be taken seriously, and is somehow less or not good enough.” Yes, it does show that she is less–less in personal attributes that matter. Any woman (or man) who exposes her/his body has a problem with little character, convictions, and much crassness. The defender went on to say “And somehow, the fact that she has a body — and showed it — makes her not worthy of respect, according to the folks behind the ad.” Yes, I think that sums it up. Such a person does not deserve respect because she has no self-respect. The reality that she is beautiful, speaks five languages, has a jewelry line, can sting three sentences in a row that makes sense, and has a son is irrelevant.

I would have been horrified if my future wife had posed like that and would have broken our engagement. If she had been my adult daughter I would have broken fellowship with her although still loving her. A husband is responsible for his wife and daughters’ actions. Are you ready for this? They are accountable to him and once a daughter is married the accountability transfers to her husband!

Since I am in deep, deep water I might as well go deeper. I have been to Rome and Greece many times and have seen their famous paintings and sculptures and I think many of them are scandalous, salacious, and even slutty. I’m aware that it is supposed to make a difference because it is “great” art, even religious art but that is a silly, shallow, and shameful defense.

Here’s the bottom line: it is wrong to display one’s body to satisfy anyone–except a spouse. Often it is done by teens to get attention and that often comes back to bite them in their derrière a few years later. Then, they usually complain about an invasion of privacy! Simple answer to that: keep your private parts private except for your spouse.

Celebrities who whine about leaked nude photos are hypocrites as well as sluts. They never should have posed nude for the camera.

At a gallery of nude photos and sculptures all the spectators must be fully clothed as they look at totally naked bodies! Would it be acceptable if all the spectators were nude like the art? Why not?

I am told that this position would hurt Christian artists but if their work harms others, they should refuse to produce that kind of “art.” Why should Christian art be held to a lower standard than the Christian himself? I am told that artists, maybe most artists, do not intend to be salacious but it doesn’t matter as to the artist’s intent if the art causes others to lust. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 8:13 “Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.”

God gives some directions in this matter and obeying Him will keep us from sin, shame, and scandal.

Jewish writer Philo of Alexandria (approx. 20 B.C.-40 A.D.) expressed the Hebrew view of nudity: “neither is it right for men to mix with women when they have laid aside their garments, but each of the sexes ought to avoid the sight of the other when they are naked, in accordance with the promptings of nature.” The Jews were right.

The Bible clearly teaches that the body is not inherently sinful but it does teach that it is sinful to publically display it. When Adam and Eve were sinless, they were not concerned with being nude but were ashamed immediately following the Fall. God then clothed them with animal skins to cover their nakedness, an example of the shedding of blood being necessary to cover sins.

In Exodus 28, God gave specific instructions how the high priest was to dress. Verse 42 commands, “And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach.” Pagan priests were often naked when sacrificing to Bacchus but God demanded a much higher standard: purity and decency. So men are to be concerned with exposing their body.

In I Tim. 2:9, Paul tells women to wear “modest apparel” which was the stola, a long loose robe worn by women in ancient Rome and Greece. It was a long piece of cloth sewed up on both sides, leaving room only for the arms; at the top, a piece was cut out through which the head passed. It hung down to the feet in front and back, and was girded with the zona (also segment) round the body, just under the breasts. It was gathered on each shoulder with a band or buckle. Some of the Greek women wore them open on each side, from the bottom up above the knee, so as to display a part of the thigh. These were termed fainomhridev, or showers (to look at) the thigh; but it was, in general, only young girls or immodest women who wore them that way.

I believe that Timothy passage holds true today. Only immodest (or very foolish, silly girls) expose themselves in any generation.

When Christ healed the wild man by casting out his demons in Mark 5, the demonic man stopped running around naked, stopped cutting himself, and put on some clothes and sat still listening to Jesus. This passage reminds us that when people get right with God they will have nothing to do with demons; will not cut, pierce, or abuse their flesh; will listen to Christ; and will be modestly dressed.

Someone should tell the Trumps that money might buy the White House but not class or character or convictions. If I were the Trumps’ pastor I would tell her to keep her clothes on–except in the bedroom–or face church discipline!

Boys’ new book, Evolution: Fact, Fraud, or Faith? was published this week by Barbwire Books; to get your copy of Evolution: Fact, Fraud, or Faith? click here. An eBook edition is also available.

David was a successful, fifty-year-old-plus king of one of the greatest nations on earth and he would have been wise to follow his own advice in Psalm 24:4 as to having a pure heart when he saw Bathsheba taking a bath. Even though David had multiple wives and concubines, he wanted what was illegal for him to have. He wanted Bathsheba and he took her and paid for it for the rest of his life. King David’s urge of the moment became the scourge of a lifetime.

When King David watched from his rooftop a young, beautiful Bathsheba bathing, he was not concerned with her dress but her undress. David maneuvered events to get her into his bed; after all, he was the king and some perks went with that position. Here was an example of God’s man not acting like God’s man.

Some theologians think Bathsheba trapped David, but that is conjecture. David was guilty but Bathsheba was somewhat culpable. After all, she did reveal her exposed body and while a subject, did not cry “rape.” Even in that culture of an absolute monarchy, a principled woman should have resisted. Even if she had played him like a fiddle to get him into bed, he was a big boy and he made the decision. Both were responsible for the sin of adultery.

Women have been told that they should not dress seductively because it will make men lust after them. However, females should dress modestly because it is godly to do so. Modesty is honoring to Christ and to the female body.

Obviously, Bathsheba was careless in bathing where others could see her. But what about the woman who dresses immodestly showing intimate parts of her body? Critics tell us that those of us who promote modesty believe that sex is sinful and the human body is dirty and bad. That kind of talk comes from people who are desperate for a supporting argument. It is a fact that all skin and body organs are not made equal. Female breasts are more interesting to men than are elbows, but you knew that didn’t you!

Proverbs 5:19 says to husbands about their wives, “let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.” That permission is only for her husband. Ravished means to be intoxicated, so sex between husband and wife is expected to be fervent, frequent, and fantastic (for wife as well as husband). However, it is wrong for a female to expose her body to seek attention from men who don’t have that right to see her. Some accuse those of us who advocate modesty as being sexually repressive, but that is a silly, hollow argument.

The developer of the miniskirt and hot pants, fashion designer Mary Quant said, “I love vulgarity. Good taste is death, vulgarity is life.” What a fool! She proved that when you drink from a polluted fountain you always get polluted water. She helped make vulgarity arguable, available, then acceptable.
Some men and women expose their body to others not to tempt them but simply to exhibit themselves. In other words many are exhibitionists and might be shocked if observers approached them for immoral reasons.

I Tim. 2:9 tells women, “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.” This passage teaches that women should dress in an appropriate way without any extremes that would draw attention to them. Women in that day often wove thin gold and silver strips and wire into their hair and Paul was teaching that that is unnecessary, unacceptable, and undesirable and is now unscriptural.

The Apostle Paul says that it is not good for Christian ladies to pay such attention to their hair as the heathen do. Dress, for men and women, should be suitable for the place, time, and occasion. Paul is also saying that women should pay attention to themselves because neglect is just as wrong as the other extreme. She should not be an offense to any class of people and during those days the church had people from all social strata. He is not saying that the use of gold and silver is wrong, only the excessive use is wrong. He is saying, “Stop trying to appear like the wicked ladies around you. You are servants of Christ. Act and dress like it.”

The wife of Phocion, a celebrated Athenian general, received a visit from a rich lady who was elegantly adorned with gold and jewels, and her hair festooned with pearls. The visitor took occasion to call attention to the elegance and costliness of her dress but her host replied, “My ornament is my husband, now for the twentieth year general of the Athenians.” Good putdown. She treasured her longtime marriage more than gold, silver, and pearls; or basking in her husband’s position, she did not feel a need to use gold and silver to establish her prestige.

We should err on the side of caution. Better be too narrow than too broad. Women’s dress should be modest (not frumpy) and men should keep their eyes on her elbows and their hands to themselves.

In I Pet. 3 God tells us not to be so concerned with clothes, gold, and jewels but “let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet
spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”

God knows what’s important; most modern Christians do not.

Copyright 2013, Don Boys, Ph.D.

In a recent speech, former actress Jessica Rey discussed the evolution of the swimsuit and her opinions on modesty and the reaction produced a mini storm. Everyone seems to have an opinion and even their own line of clothes! Even the Mormons have their own line of modest clothing sold in high-end department stores, and the Muslims also have their own line. The Mormons’ dresses are much more stylish than the Muslims since you can’t do much with white sheets dyed black except cut two eye holes in them. With that, voilà, we have a dress!

For many years Roman Catholics, Mormons and Jews have tried to combat the rise in immodest dress. On one of my tours to the Middle East, we stopped for a couple days in Rome and when I took them to the Vatican there was a notice that informed us what was acceptable and unacceptable dress. At other Catholic churches, women were given wraparounds if they wore shorts or scandalous skirts. None of my group was dressed scandalously.

But feminists and many modern Christian leaders argue that the Bible’s demand for modesty refers to display of things such as wealth not seductive clothes. It is both! We should be more concerned with modesty and neatness in our garments than elegance, cost, and fashion.

Sharon Hodde Miller, a doctoral student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School brazenly said, “A woman’s breasts and buttocks and thighs all proclaim the glory of the Lord.” She said, “Modesty is an orientation of the heart, first and foremost. It begins with putting God first.” She is correct; however, if God is first in one’s life, he or she will seek to glorify God and obey Scriptural commands. If a woman uses her bouncing breasts, swaying buttocks, or exposed flesh to influence men other than her husband, it is very unchristian. It is also a blasphemous use of the female body.

Evangelical and Fundamentalist youth wear shirts declaring “Hottest is Modest” or the reverse although I can’t imagine Christians wearing something like that. Whatever one’s definition of “hottest” it obviously can have a sexual and negative 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 with the body being the Temple of the Holy Spirit. However, we are told to never 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 the Savior. In Matt. 23:5 Christ rebuked the scribes and Pharisees by saying, “But all their works they do for to be seen of men…and enlarge their borders.” “Enlarge their borders” refer to Jews who wore fringes on their robes as commanded in Num. 15:38-39 to remind them of God’s commandments. However, they went beyond God’s command and enlarged them to draw attention to themselves. People dress outrageously and do strange things to their bodies to draw attention or to be “cool” or “trendy.”

Christ’s teaching in Matt. 23 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 a circus performer. Shocking, shameful, and salacious dress (or activity) will drive people away from Christ not to Him. Just today, a Texas public school district announced that any tattoos must be covered and only ear piercings would be accepted! Any churches doing that?

Modesty should be a byproduct of genuine Christianity although critics confuse modesty with prudery. Prudery is abnormal. Modesty is Christian, common, and commendable. Modest people have respect for their bodies (made in the image of God) and 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 like a Sunday Morning Slutwalk with bouncing boobs, cavernous cleavage, gyrating hips, skintight pants (male and female), and slit skirts front, back and both sides. It seems tempting, tantalizing, and taunting are part of some modern women’s arsenals. Feminists and others seek to remove all responsibility from women for the reactions they get from men because of seductive clothes while most lusting men put the responsibility for their temptation totally upon the women!

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 actions. Moreover, attraction is not lust but it often ends in lust.

Men like to see skin but how much skin is permitted? Some Muslims cover their entire bodies, even their eyes! That might 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 they dress, it does not relieve men of their own actions. While lust is natural, it is naturally sinful. It dehumanizes the female and a man takes her for himself (at least mentally) often to prove superiority over her as well as to satisfy personal cravings.

Christians should ask themselves not only what is acceptable but 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!

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

Copyright 2013, Don Boys, Ph.D.