The word scourge has several synonyms. You could substitute any of the following words in the headline above – the plague, the affliction, the blight, the ruination, the rot, and the corruption of our day. Yes, immodesty in our society has reached the lowest of lows, and the Church in many ways is not very different.
I know that every Preacher and most serious Christians all acknowledge that the Scriptures talk about modesty among the brethren. That is a good thing, but the problem comes in each person’s definition of what is modest and what is not. So let’s not spend our time here quoting verses about modesty from the Bible. Let’s talk about how we got to this point in having such a vast difference of what most churches think is modest as compared to what most churches thought was modest since the founding of the church two thousand years ago.
I think we can agree that up until about 50 years ago, the church’s standard for modesty was very similar since New Testament times. Look at the pictures of church meetings before the 1970’s and look at art work of church gatherings from times before that. You will see a very different standard of dress than you will see now among most Christians.
So, let’s ask ourselves the question – Why is there such a different standard since the Bible hasn’t changed, and the Bible tells us that God hasn’t changed. But we know that the standard of dress has drastically changed. The change has come about because of the people. The leaders in the church wanted things to change. The people in the church wanted things to change. The young people in the church wanted things to change. The older people in the church allowed things to change. And now there are few voices in the church saying it should be any different. But there are some, and we can thank God for that.
This change did come about somewhat gradually, but really when you think about it, not really. The standard of modesty (just like in the areas of marriage-divorce, music, money, separation, etc.) has changed drastically in a relatively short amount of time given how long they were the same.
But it all goes back to the people. The people wanted it to be different, so the people changed their views from their forefathers and said modesty means something different today than it meant 100 years ago, 200 years ago, 500 years ago, 1000 years ago, 2000 years ago.
And folks, it is not going back to the way it was in any of those times. The point of this article is not to get the church or society to change back to the way it was. The world is not going to change, the “church” is not going to change. The leaders in the church are not going to change, but there are people who can change. You can change if you want; or if you value modesty now, you can continue to do so and not be affected by what others think or say.
So, let’s talk about what specifically is modest and what is immodest. On the other hand, let’s not talk about the specifics. Let’s talk about something more important. Do you value modesty? For how long have you valued modesty? Are you continuing to evaluate modesty in your life – especially as compared to what is happening in society and our culture?
I was first introduced to the subject of modest appearance when I was in my early twenties. Here is what I have discovered in my personal experience. I started on the road to changing my personal standards, along with the standards for my family. And since that time (40 years ago), modesty has continued to be an important topic for me. Because with each passing year, I have continued to maintain a standard and then also change the standard to become what I thought was more modest. I am continually learning more with time, as I interact with others, listen to God’s voice, and learn more about the Scriptures.
We will close our thoughts for now, but this is a subject we will return to again and again here because it is important to God and it is important in the Scriptures. And what is important to God should be important to His followers. Let me leave you with a final thought. The first action that God took with the first people after the first sin was committed, was to dress them in more modest apparel.
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. Genesis 3:21
