An Ode to Modesty....

Recently, the trend of exposing flabylicious upper arms has bewildered me. Someone forgot to send me the memo that the expanse of skin between my shoulder and my elbow, with it's lack of muscular definition, it's shaky blubberiness and it's phenomenal whiteness is now one of the most sexy parts of my body. I'm not sure if this trend was started by Michelle Obama, who now appears in photographs taken all over the world where her upper arms are rarely, if ever covered. However, amazingly enough to me, the trend has caught on, along with the trend of exposing bountiful amounts of cleverage, (As my father used to call cleavage. Please someone tell me what is so attractive about a chest crack), and copious amounts of knobby, wrinkled, pockmarked, stretch marked, surgically enhanced, thigh encumbered knee exposures.

~Oh Modesty, why hath we forsaken thee....

The scariest part of these trends are that they are commonly being adopted by "Godly" women in their 30s, 40s, 50s and up; who are married women with children and should be embracing one of the classiest moments of their life and keeping their treasure for their spouse. I'm not sure what happened to aging with grace rather than hasting to avoid aging. A mature woman, is to me, in one of the most beautiful stages of life and should be confident in who she is, rather than scrambling to portray herself as 20 years younger in a desperate attempt to fit society's skewed image of beauty. Why are we still having an identity crisis in mid-life, especially as a child of God? (Now don't get me wrong, desiring to get in shape and to be attractive and healthy, single or married, is not a sin.)

Young ladies in our ranks, looking up to us as an example for Godliness, modesty, and holiness find themselves confused. They hear ministers preach on modesty at a conference then go home to see the ladies in their life continue on as though that minister was out of the loop. Peek-a-boo clothing and hosiery, glam and glitter this and that, insanely expensive finery, shoes that look as though they should be on the strip in Vegas, rather than in a place where God's glory should be the main focus and on and on. If we're honest, we each find ourselves navigating the tricky waters of worldliness in the crazy fashions of today. Where is the balance? At what point is this battle simply about self, feeding self, justifying self, accommodating self, petting self, and reassuring self? The question seems to be "who exactly are we competing with?"

Churches used to hold standards of holiness, yet now, many are terrified to mention the very word "standards" lest they be labeled as legalistic. The "love doctrine" has taken the place of "separation" doctrine. Many wear clothing somewhat identified with the church; however, with the mindset of showing as much skin as they can possibly get away with. At what point is it appropriate to deify self?

Reading in my bible, the scripture stands out to me where Timothy admonishes that women be modest in their apparel, with shamefacedness (natural, without make-up), dressing with sobriety, without broided hair (hair with jewelry/ribbons entwined), without the wearing of pearls and gold, and/or costly array. He also admonishes the ladies to adorn themselves with good works. (I Timothy 2:9-10) Therefore, at what point does our interpretation of God's word surpass the simple truth of the inspired word? Are the rhinestones and pearls all over our clothing, in our hair, on our accessories, in our hosiery, etc... in agreeance with scripture?

Romans 8:35 says "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" In Revelations 3:17-19 Jesus says "¹⁷Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: ¹⁸I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. ¹⁹As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." The more one reads through the scripture, the more we find that God is not impressed with our nakedness, our richness on this earth, or our being increased with goods. In fact, he calls our nakedness a shame to us. Basically, he is saying we need to anoint our eyes so we can see properly,which seems to be admonishing us to quit looking at ourselves through our carnal mind; but rather to review ourselves with spiritual eyes and to see ourselves as God sees us.

Additionally, I Corinthians 6:20 goes on to say "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." If we are God's and he thinks that nakedness, and vainglory, are a shame to us how do we glorify him in our body and spirit when we forsake modesty in apparel, accessories, conversation, and way of life? How do we glorify God in our body by showing off ourselves to bring attention to our attributes? When the spotlight is continually on self, in what way is God glorified? It's often been preached that the further we find ourselves from Christ, the less clothing we find ourselves in need of.

Now, some will think that I am against dressing feminine and pretty upon reading this. How wrong they are, and I truly mean no offense. However, Sexy and feminine are not synonymous. Exposed and attractive are not synonymous. Fashion and Style are not synonymous. Gaudy and Stylish are not synonymous. I could go on... but for time's sake I will not. A lady can be modest in her apparel and style and be one of the most attractive, beautiful ladies on the planet. In fact, if one were to truly ask as fashion icon what true style is they would most commonly find an answer such as "Fashion fades; only style remains the same" by Coco Chanel; or "in order to be irreplaceable one must always be different" by Coco Chanel; or "a girl should be two things, classy and fabulous"~ Coco Chanel; or as Yves Saint Laurent would say "Fashions fade, style is eternal"; or “Elegance is not the prerogative of those who have just escaped from adolescence, but of those who have already taken possession of their future.” ~ Coco Chanel.

Rather than being a clone of fads and fashions, we should not be ashamed to be a trend setter for modesty. We are beautiful, we are glorious because we have the true glory of God upon us when we live in his spirit and his spirit resides in us. We don't have to compete with carnal trendsetters to find our identity as a beautiful woman. God purchased us with his own blood; we have the highest calling on earth and that is simply to walk, to live, to dress and to be as a child of God should be.

Bro. Tony Spell preached this past week on the Perils of Pride. It touched my heart and convicted me in many ways to check myself. If the things I do are an attempt to deify and bring attention to self, in what way does that glorify my God, my creator, the lover of my soul, my savior? Therefore, as old fashioned as I may seem, I think I'll simply stay a member of the "modesty rocks club." In my heart, modesty = true beauty. I guess it is all in one's perspective and perception of themselves in relation to their god/God. ;-) Love in Christ!

~I Timothy 2:10 "For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do."