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Brother Turner:
 How
is "Modest apparel" determined? Can it depend on
place? Do sporting events change standards? DG
Reply:
The
questions continued, but this is enough to show the complexity
of the subject. I am not so foolish as to think I can answer all
such questions — just foolish enough to go into print on the
matter.
"Modest"
is "restrained by a sense of propriety...free from anything
suggestive of sexual impurity ... not forward or bold ...
moderate." In 1 Tim. 2: 9-10 it is coupled with "shamefastness"
(AS). A "bedfast" person is confined to the bed,
unable to leave the bed. "Shamefast" persons are
unable (not free) to go into public places half-dressed. Their
"shame" or feeling of shame holds them fast.
This
"sense of propriety" is not something that can be
measured by inches. One's "feeling of shame" is
determined by upbringing, social background, experiences, and
the like. We need not expect everyone's "sense" of
"feeling" to be the same, although in close-knit and
segregated sections of society there is more likely to be an
"accepted" standard. Trouble is, today there are few
sections of our country remaining where "outsiders"
have not come — or, where "insiders" have stayed
put. We travel, move, mix and mingle with a wide variety of
society. T.V. does this for us, even if we stay at home. We are
surrounded by worldly standards, spawned by people who are
sex-oriented and little concerned about spiritual
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matters. If we stop our
investigation of "modest" at this point we would have
no higher standard than "the course of this world"
(Eph. 2:1-3).
But
Christians in the world, are not "of" the world (1
Cor. 5:9-f). We seek the good of others. Instead of dressing to
attract attention to ourselves, we think of how our dress, or
lack of it, will affect the purity of another's mind.
"Lasciviousness" (a work of the flesh, Gal. 5:19) is
"that which incites lust." No saint would dress or act
in such a way as to stir lustful thoughts in others. So, while
worldly "styles" call attention to sex and
lust-serving desires, saints dress "moderately,"
adorned with good works, a wholesome leavening force.
Worldly
"styles" established by long usage will affect
"modesty" — if for no reason other than their effect
upon our neighbors. An exposed ankle in one age might
"incite to lust;" but in our age would not turn an
eye. Customs do, therefore, alter attitudes, and
"modest" has a certain relativity. One who ignored
current good "taste" and "propriety" might
dress with more than adequate yardage — and by this call
attention to self. "Suggestive" clothing may also be
by cut, rather than by yardage. Place and expected standards
must surely have something to do with modesty.
Christian
modesty will be "behind the times" or
"conservative" when compared with worldly
"modesty." If one is more interested in "keeping
up with the world" than in serving the Lord, he/she will be
little moved by 1 Tim. 2; 1 Pet. 3; and like words.
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