*I just received these anecdotes from friends, I found them meaningful to share, and I just cannot resist advertising it on my site for your perusal although I do not know where it was extracted.
WHAT GOES AROUD, COMES AROUND.
One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry.
He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was those chills, which only fear, could put in you.
He said, "I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson."
Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.
As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid.
Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.
He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, "And think of me."
He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.
A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan ..
After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.
There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: "You don't owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you."
Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.
Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day.
That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard....
She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, "Everything' s going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson."
ARE YOU A CRACKPOT?
An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house." The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?"
"That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them." "For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."
Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them. SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!
Monday, October 15, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
CHRISTIAN DRESSING/CLOTHING!
1. INTRODUCTION.
The meaning of clothing is the types of garments that we wear to cover our bodies. Just look at Jennifer Lopez dressing above. Is there anything wrong with it? To occidental people, well – it is not a great deal to talk about but to oriental people it is just opposite. Dressing is very culturally oriented. Each culture has different views on what would be considered sexually provocative. In some cultures it is acceptable for a woman to be bare breasted; for others, dressing in this manner would cause many to stumble. In other cultures a woman must always cover her upper arms; to not do so is considered indecent. Many other cultures think nothing of woman in public having their entire arm uncovered. A man wearing a necktie would be considered properly dressed for formal occasions in many cultures; in others, he would be considered to be sinfully dressed. I have gathered quite a lots of information about it so I think I am going to write an article about this in this blog. Everybody has their own opinion on this matter but I will be sharing on Christian biblical points of views leaving aside those secular and liberal Christian mindsets.
2. WHEN CLOTHING BECOME A PROBLEM?
Dressing (to me mean how we clothe or cover ourselves) was not necessary in God's creation of man (Genesis 2:25) but after the fall (Genesis 3:6-7) man realized they were naked so God clothed them (Genesis 3:21). This is the beginning of time when nakedness is now a problem to mankind. The sinfulness of man causes man to have dark and sinful thoughts of the heart. God knows this instantly so He covered them and laid down a certain standard about the issue of modesty which we can read throughout it in the Bible. The Bible says God made them "coats," but that does not refer to a mere jacket. The Hebrew word translated "coats" in Genesis 3:21 is translated "robe" in Isaiah 22:21 and in 2 Samuel 13:18 it describes Tamar's robe of many colors. As opposed to Adam and Eve's aprons, God provided robes that covered their chests and thighs. This teaches us that clothing should cover the man and the woman's chest entirely and properly. In Proverbs 5:19 the Bible says to the married man, "let her breasts satisfy thee at all times." That is restricted to the marriage bed. Other than this the woman needs to take special care to cover herself properly and not draw attention to this part of her body. The robes doubtless also covered their thighs. In Isaiah 47:2-3, where God pronounces judgment upon Babylon, we find that the uncovering of the thigh is nakedness by God's standard. The problem in today is that modernist especially fashion designer we say are that we are given a bodies so why not enjoy them or show it to the world of what we have. Do they know the problem now is that man has a dark and sinful thought that spoil everything (Jeremiah 17:9). Let us get a much farer into time after man's fall that is during Paul's time. We notice in the book of Corinthians, Paul’s instructions were given in an era when it was considered disgraceful for any woman (not necessarily Christian) to appear with their heads uncovered in public. Only woman of low moral standing such as prostitutes did that. Therefore, Paul was probably concerned that if Christian women, with their newfound freedom in Christ, emulated the dressing of these women the world might misunderstand. What do you think about this but for me, it is such an ancient customs and attitudes that we should not abide. There are so many things in the bible that we are unable to follow; Paul’s instruction on head-covering can be accomplished and whatever that is within our ability to do we must do. This leads me to another point on the relative importance of appropriate dressing. If all that a woman can follow in the code on sexual morality is to dress modestly then she is in great moral peril. It is not how a woman behaves in the open that is the major problem but how she behaves behind closed doors.
3. A QUESTION OF NAKEDNESS.
On the question of nakedness, I believe that nakedness per se is not the problem. It is the effect it has on another that may present problems. For instance, I am sure many of you were bathed by your mothers when you were infants. Were you not naked when you were being bathed? Is God embarrassed by our nakedness? Obviously not, since he was the one who formed us. His caution to cover ourselves up is always in relation to another human of the opposite sex. If there is a penguin in your bathroom when you are bathing, I do not think you need to bother. But just watch out for its beak; you do not want to lose an important member of your body. Again, if the other person is a medical doctor of the opposite sex and the part of your body that requires attention is usually covered then you will just have to uncover it… cheerfully. When God lays down a moral code, you can always discern a practical purpose behind it. He is not a spoilsport who just wants to spoil our fun but it is pertaining to the sexual morality. Among the Ten Commandments, the ones pertaining to sexual morality are "You shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14), and "you shall not covet your neighbor's wife" (Exodus 20:17). In the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it, he threw further light on proper sexual conduct, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell." (Matthew 5:27-29).The last verse regarding the plucking of one’s eye (and a subsequent one about cutting off one’s hand) are rare instances where the context shows it is not meant to be carried out literally. Jesus was speaking to a large and possibly noisy crowd so he had to use extreme imagery to get his point across. He is saying in effect that lusting after a woman is not to be taken lightly and the listeners had better make the most strenuous attempts to avoid it. Of course, even the sex maniacs among them are aware they can resort to much less drastic measures to avoid temptation such as looking away, avoiding public places, blindfolding themselves, etc. The key phrase in Jesus’ admonition is "lustful intent". Jesus is saying that such an intent is almost as bad as consummating it. The obvious reason why God does not want us to go lusting after one another in public places, in the office, etc. is that such behavior will invariably lead to the disintegration of pure relationships among people and a breakdown of society. For example, without this code the boss will be free to harass his subordinates sexually.
After all these elaborations of the ethical background to the question of proper dressing, I must admit that I still cannot say anything definitive about what to wear or not to wear in today’s society. I can only offer guidelines. The litmus test is whether the dress is likely to cause a significant number of beholders to lust after the wearer. This is very subjective. You might have an overly sensitive sex maniac who gets turned on, say, just by seeing some woman’s ankle. In that case it is the beholder who needs to be advised, not the wearer. Thus you cannot base it on just the reaction of one or two person. You need consensus. Also, one’s sensitivity towards provocative dressing changes over time. When something is new it can be provocative but one gets used to it after a while. The standard of propriety also varies from audience to audience (or place to place). That is why the American judiciary which ultimately decides censorship issues used to refer to community standards as a benchmark. However, I think today the courts have become so liberal that virtually anything goes while Asian countries are still at closed doors on this matter.
4. IS GOD ANTI-NAKEDNESS!
I do not think God is not anti-nakedness but He thinks what is best for all man and woman. He either does not want especially man to sin or woman to tempt man although she think what is put on her body is her busy. Any woman can dress like Britney Spears or swim suit modeling or even worst an exotic dancing, none of this is banned or condemned by the Bible but rather if the woman dressing is within the Biblical confines of morality and do not violate any tenant. Woman's nakedness is an issue here while why man's nakedness is a shame to him because the code of moral of decency. The scriptures are very clear about how one should dress. We learned that under the direction of the Holy Spirit Paul instructed one to dress modestly with shamefacedness (shyness) and sobriety. We can find in passage 1 Timothy 2:9-10 which means that there must be discretion, decency and a degree of shyness in our dressing. I also need to emphasize that when it comes to biblical dressing or clothing, it is always related to women and not men. As we all know that men are sight oriented human being and somehow God has equipped men to be sexually stimulated just by sight or visual. Men are commanded to govern their own hearts but how many men pass this test if women do not dress modestly. I think only Joseph passed the test when tempted while David totally failed the test despite he loved the Lord. That is why you will see me emphasizing modesty more toward woman than man. In the New Testament, the Greek word for modest mean well arranged and it has nothing to do with sexually alluring clothier. No where in the bible is sexually alluring clothier is found rather according to the Bible, modest apparel is defined in 1 Timothy 2:8-9 which must consist of shamefacedness and sobriety. Let illustrate a story found in Genesis where Adam and Eve had made themselves clothing to hide their nakedness. If you will recalled in Genesis that God was not very pleased with the covering of leaves as it was not mentioned but instead in the story we found God Himself made another covering for Adam and Eve. Why the covering made by Adam and Eve were not accepted or not suit to God. All I can think of is because it was not adequately cover the body part that God knew would become a temptation to sin for mankind. This is a vivid picture of the inadequacy to save ourselves with man-made clothing and what type of clothing is accepted in God's eyes from this incident that occurred in the beginning of time.
The scripture has always forbid men/women to wear clothes that are indecent which in any ways suggest wantonness in our character. If Christians cannot even adhere themselves to such a simple commandment to dress modestly then what other commandments we can adhere or keep. Our character is seen definitely through how we clothe our bodies. How people around us comment about us is how we represent ourselves. We can say why bother of what people think about us but as Christian, God has always wanted us to be pleasantable to people around us. I still remember once a non-believer told me how he can control himself from looking at one Christian girl if she dresses so sexily. I know it is nothing wrong of my fellow sister clothing but it is a stumbling block to another person. Well, it has everything to do with our outward demeanor of how present God. I also once saw how the pastor dressed himself - he dressed himself with very expensive clothing but there were patches of hole in the T-shirt and an old faded jean. His unkempt colored punk looked hair style. His excuse of doing was he wanted to evangelize the puny youth of his city. I know it was nothing wrong of how men or women should dress fashionably, tastefully, sophisticatedly or attractively. I only hope we can do that in a nice or proper way and not wildly or messily. Just a few weeks ago, I read in my local newspaper on foreign news about a couple of young men with low-slung, baggy jean walking in Trenton, New Jersey wearing the pants low enough to show their boxer shorts or even bare button in the street. It is an also a fashion with some of our church youth but no one dare to say about it because it is the pastor's son. It is not a surprised to see boy or man wearing ear ring with shoulder length hair as well.
Have you ever notice how God adorns His very own creation! Just look at the different display of God's good taste and love of beauty, hues and the blending of colors in the flowers, birds, rainbow, sea, clouds and many more just to name a few. Is not it so amazingly beautifully. There was a standard that one pastor laid down or mentioned - that Hollywood clothing is okay and it is unacceptable if we or Christian overdress the Hollywood standard. Remember, our Jesus is not the Lord of Hollywood. I have nothing against Hollywood but do not dress or clothe ourselves like a form of rebellion, lust, pride, uncleanness; lack of self-restraint, perversion and selfishness has been expressed through the fashions. Okay, you will say "God looks deep inside of each and every one of us so do not judge people by their dressing, it is very wrong!" But we need to remember what inside of us always controls the outside of us. How we clothe or dress is definitely a symbol of our character and reveal what is deep inside of us unconsciously. Therefore, if we do not restraint or control what is outward or outside of us then what about those that is inside of us. Remember the story in Jeremiah 6:15, when God’s scathing rebuke to the nation of Israel for revealing their terrible state of degeneration and deviation. The nation did not even know "shamefacedness or shyness". Consequently God had no choice but to destroy them at the end. If you read Exodus 20:26, it is interesting to learn that God had specifically instructed the Israelite to build the altars in those days on lower ground. Why? this is because to have altars built on a high place would mean the priests had to walk up the steps to carry out their services. The people on the lower ground would then uncover the nakedness of those going up the stairs or steps even if women going up and the peeping tome might be the priest. Just imagine how prudent and discreet God we have that every full details, foresight and insight have been prearranged during the worship. He made sure that no infringement upon the sacred and holy worship. Why today people never think about this!
5. TRUE GUARDIANS OF CLOTHING IS MODESTY.
M. Thaxter Dickey writing on this subject says, "Every family, every Christian woman must consider modesty not only as a philosophical, theological and doctrinal issue but as a practical daily concern." This is because he observes that "At least superficially, they seem to have no shame about this kind of dress. I suspect that they do have doubts but they are reluctant to admit them and so suppress them lest they be thought to be ‘prudes’ or ‘religious fanatics’ or ‘fashion fascists.’ And those who ought to be condemning this kind of behavior, fathers, preachers, and elders, often fear to do so for the very same reason." What is modesty by the way? Modesty is about decency. It is not sexually provocative as David Feddes puts it very nicely "‘if you are modest, you have a kind of shyness about sexuality, a discomfort with crude jokes and lewd stares. This doesn’t mean you are ashamed of your body or that you think it’s bad. If you are modest…there’s a strong sense that this passion (love life) is very precious, personal and private. Nakedness may be lovely in the marriage bed but not as a public display." The problem today is that woman and even man are beginning to be immodest in their dressing. They choose to wear because it is the trend of the fashion. It is nice to wear provocative clothe because it attracts people. It indicates we are up-to-date of what is happening today. Like a Pastor and author Douglas Wilson says "Many of the current fashions for young women appear to be apparel in standard use down at the local Hooker Training Academy." Just imagine the clothing is similar to prostitutes to the extent that Wilson's wife commented "it must be difficult for men these days trying to figure out which ones they have to pay for and which ones are free." It is sad that this goes on in many churches and pastor just keeps quietly like nothing has happened and do you know that according to our brother Wilson puts it -" Many Christian women go to worship today dressed in a manner that would have gotten them thrown out of a bar fifty years ago." Let remember that God looks into our inner character and not the clothing which the worldly matter as mentioned in Proverbs 7:10 i.e. "dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent". To dress modesty is not to say we are not to keep up with the latest fashion or to hide behind thick veils or look plain and dowdy clothing but dress to look presentable like what the scriptures say in 1 Peter 3:2-5 that is dress "should be that of your inner self, the unfailing beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight", and 1 Timothy 2:9-10 "appropriate for women who profess to worship God."
Why God does emphasize His people to dress modesty? First I will bring out the points given by M Thaxter Dickey on the five reasons why Christian women should dress modestly and second, principle of Christian dress by Samuele Bacchiocchi. Both of these in formations can be found from websites given in my bibliography. M.Thaxter Dickey says - (1) it is unfair to men because men are easily aroused by "sight" which women need to bear in mind see Romans 14:13 and 1 Corinthians 8:9, (2) it is a dangerous threat to chastity because it is an non-verbal communication that send signal to the receivers, (3) immodest dress is unfair to other women because it restricted the code of dress and beauty but concentrate primarily sexual, (4) it is an indicator of certain character as mentioned in Proverbs 7:10 "the attire of the harlot", and (5) immodest dressing reflects poorly on one's vocation as Christian woman when Christian women are projected as decency, chastity and purity and not "old-fashioned" or "prudish pr fashion fascists." Next, Samuele Bacchiocchi gives five interesting principles of Christian clothing - (1) dress and appearance are an important index of Christian character - nonverbal communicators of Christian moral values, (2) adorning our bodies with colorful cosmetics, glittering jewelry, and luxurious clothes reveals inner pride and vanity, which are destructive to ourselves and to others, (3) to experience inner spiritual renewal and reconciliation with God, it is necessary to remove all outward besetting objects of idolatry, including jewelry and ornaments, (4) Christians should dress in a modest and decent way, showing respect for God, themselves, and others - this principle is found in Paul’s use of the terms kosmios and aidos—"well-ordered" and "decent"—to describe the appropriate adorning of the Christian woman (1 Timothy 2:9), (5) Christians should dress soberly, restraining any desire to exhibit themselves by wearing eye-catching clothes, cosmetics, or jewelry - this Paul emphasizing on the exercise of self-control. Yes our God has set a very high standard on the value of how we all should dress. Our experiential and revelation knowledge of our Almighty God must be raised from the degradation of all sensuality and vulgarity found in how we clothe ourselves. God expects our dressing to have purity and nobility. His standard is always found in the Bible in our everyday daily living and even dressing. May we have the holiness, the serenity, quietness, nobility and refinement of Jesus be seen through our clothing! It will be the true guardians of virtue and the drawer of the faith and love for Him.
When talking about modesty, it is quite subjective because we need to aware there are many points for discussion base on the cultural differences in interpretation of what constitutes "modesty." What might be immodest in one culture would not be so in another cultures for instances revealing of the hands, ankles, face and etc. It is unacceptable for Muslim women to wear short pants while for the Chinese women it is nothing new. On the other hand, if a women are to wear two pieces of curtain drapes parted in the middle like the "Beyonce Knowles" look then I would have a problem whether to look or to avert my eyes else where because this mode of dressing is still somewhat avant garde in this part of the world and could qualify as immodest compare it with your country. However, it is hoped that women would not dress that to church because such state of dress which flaunts a person's body and sexuality is not much different then going to discos or entertainment center. The guidelines in passages like 1 Peter 3:3-5 and 1 Timothy 2:9-10 are supposed to be the proper way to conduct our dressing. Any Christian women and even men have a testimony to maintain and it is not through our actions, words and deeds but in the way we present ourselves to God and to the community at large as we are the people of God or the bride of the bridegroom. Let us measure our modesty according to God's way and not the standard or trend lays down by man.
6. CONCLUSION.
In conclusion, I choose this topic because it has been on my mind for a very long time. This is because what I am seeing everyday not out the church but inside the church. Men and women alike are clothing themselves unpleasantly. No one stares to preach it on the pulpit because it is too offensive while ignoring the teaching that God has laid down in the Bible, instead gossiping around why that particular brother or sister wear like that. I think they are doing more harm then good. Our God is the only one to label something as sin. Anything that is not sin is lawful, acceptable in the sight of God. It is sin to add our own regulations and laws to God's laws, binding people's consciences as if these laws were of god. We must learn to make the decision between ourselves and the Lord, as to what sin for each of us. In Christian clothing, it is the principles of wisdom apply to give us guidance in idea how to walk uprightly. The basic principle is love; love toward God, those around us, and ourselves. Nothing that is done or used sinfully is rooted in love. While many things are good and lawful in themselves, they can become sinful when not used with wisdom and as the Lord intended. We as Christian can dress just like how the worldly people dress but let think whether it is right or proper to dress that causes other to fall or lust. They are so many fashionable clothing for us to choose so why not choose it wisely. Remember, the righteous life is not produced by our own effort and determination only, but it is by yielding to Christ within us. By His power and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in us, we walk a life pleasing to the Lord, a life of righteousness. Lastly but not the least, we must make the decision in our hearts not to love the world or the things of the world (1 John 2; 15-17). We are not to attempt to serve both God and mammon (Matthew 6:24). We must desire to please the Lord above all else; when something does not please God, we will turn away from it. Thus the determination of what is good and what is evil become simple: anything that pulls us away from our unity with God is evil. By always seeking to please God, we will always be ready to give thanks to God for what we are doing. Even if it is something insignificant or not directly connected to serving Him, we should be able to give thanks to God for the freedom to let it be part of our lives (Colossians 3:17) so how we clothe ourselves be the way of our God that glorifies Him as we are the living vessel of the great living God.
The meaning of clothing is the types of garments that we wear to cover our bodies. Just look at Jennifer Lopez dressing above. Is there anything wrong with it? To occidental people, well – it is not a great deal to talk about but to oriental people it is just opposite. Dressing is very culturally oriented. Each culture has different views on what would be considered sexually provocative. In some cultures it is acceptable for a woman to be bare breasted; for others, dressing in this manner would cause many to stumble. In other cultures a woman must always cover her upper arms; to not do so is considered indecent. Many other cultures think nothing of woman in public having their entire arm uncovered. A man wearing a necktie would be considered properly dressed for formal occasions in many cultures; in others, he would be considered to be sinfully dressed. I have gathered quite a lots of information about it so I think I am going to write an article about this in this blog. Everybody has their own opinion on this matter but I will be sharing on Christian biblical points of views leaving aside those secular and liberal Christian mindsets.
2. WHEN CLOTHING BECOME A PROBLEM?
Dressing (to me mean how we clothe or cover ourselves) was not necessary in God's creation of man (Genesis 2:25) but after the fall (Genesis 3:6-7) man realized they were naked so God clothed them (Genesis 3:21). This is the beginning of time when nakedness is now a problem to mankind. The sinfulness of man causes man to have dark and sinful thoughts of the heart. God knows this instantly so He covered them and laid down a certain standard about the issue of modesty which we can read throughout it in the Bible. The Bible says God made them "coats," but that does not refer to a mere jacket. The Hebrew word translated "coats" in Genesis 3:21 is translated "robe" in Isaiah 22:21 and in 2 Samuel 13:18 it describes Tamar's robe of many colors. As opposed to Adam and Eve's aprons, God provided robes that covered their chests and thighs. This teaches us that clothing should cover the man and the woman's chest entirely and properly. In Proverbs 5:19 the Bible says to the married man, "let her breasts satisfy thee at all times." That is restricted to the marriage bed. Other than this the woman needs to take special care to cover herself properly and not draw attention to this part of her body. The robes doubtless also covered their thighs. In Isaiah 47:2-3, where God pronounces judgment upon Babylon, we find that the uncovering of the thigh is nakedness by God's standard. The problem in today is that modernist especially fashion designer we say are that we are given a bodies so why not enjoy them or show it to the world of what we have. Do they know the problem now is that man has a dark and sinful thought that spoil everything (Jeremiah 17:9). Let us get a much farer into time after man's fall that is during Paul's time. We notice in the book of Corinthians, Paul’s instructions were given in an era when it was considered disgraceful for any woman (not necessarily Christian) to appear with their heads uncovered in public. Only woman of low moral standing such as prostitutes did that. Therefore, Paul was probably concerned that if Christian women, with their newfound freedom in Christ, emulated the dressing of these women the world might misunderstand. What do you think about this but for me, it is such an ancient customs and attitudes that we should not abide. There are so many things in the bible that we are unable to follow; Paul’s instruction on head-covering can be accomplished and whatever that is within our ability to do we must do. This leads me to another point on the relative importance of appropriate dressing. If all that a woman can follow in the code on sexual morality is to dress modestly then she is in great moral peril. It is not how a woman behaves in the open that is the major problem but how she behaves behind closed doors.
3. A QUESTION OF NAKEDNESS.
On the question of nakedness, I believe that nakedness per se is not the problem. It is the effect it has on another that may present problems. For instance, I am sure many of you were bathed by your mothers when you were infants. Were you not naked when you were being bathed? Is God embarrassed by our nakedness? Obviously not, since he was the one who formed us. His caution to cover ourselves up is always in relation to another human of the opposite sex. If there is a penguin in your bathroom when you are bathing, I do not think you need to bother. But just watch out for its beak; you do not want to lose an important member of your body. Again, if the other person is a medical doctor of the opposite sex and the part of your body that requires attention is usually covered then you will just have to uncover it… cheerfully. When God lays down a moral code, you can always discern a practical purpose behind it. He is not a spoilsport who just wants to spoil our fun but it is pertaining to the sexual morality. Among the Ten Commandments, the ones pertaining to sexual morality are "You shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14), and "you shall not covet your neighbor's wife" (Exodus 20:17). In the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it, he threw further light on proper sexual conduct, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell." (Matthew 5:27-29).The last verse regarding the plucking of one’s eye (and a subsequent one about cutting off one’s hand) are rare instances where the context shows it is not meant to be carried out literally. Jesus was speaking to a large and possibly noisy crowd so he had to use extreme imagery to get his point across. He is saying in effect that lusting after a woman is not to be taken lightly and the listeners had better make the most strenuous attempts to avoid it. Of course, even the sex maniacs among them are aware they can resort to much less drastic measures to avoid temptation such as looking away, avoiding public places, blindfolding themselves, etc. The key phrase in Jesus’ admonition is "lustful intent". Jesus is saying that such an intent is almost as bad as consummating it. The obvious reason why God does not want us to go lusting after one another in public places, in the office, etc. is that such behavior will invariably lead to the disintegration of pure relationships among people and a breakdown of society. For example, without this code the boss will be free to harass his subordinates sexually.
After all these elaborations of the ethical background to the question of proper dressing, I must admit that I still cannot say anything definitive about what to wear or not to wear in today’s society. I can only offer guidelines. The litmus test is whether the dress is likely to cause a significant number of beholders to lust after the wearer. This is very subjective. You might have an overly sensitive sex maniac who gets turned on, say, just by seeing some woman’s ankle. In that case it is the beholder who needs to be advised, not the wearer. Thus you cannot base it on just the reaction of one or two person. You need consensus. Also, one’s sensitivity towards provocative dressing changes over time. When something is new it can be provocative but one gets used to it after a while. The standard of propriety also varies from audience to audience (or place to place). That is why the American judiciary which ultimately decides censorship issues used to refer to community standards as a benchmark. However, I think today the courts have become so liberal that virtually anything goes while Asian countries are still at closed doors on this matter.
4. IS GOD ANTI-NAKEDNESS!
I do not think God is not anti-nakedness but He thinks what is best for all man and woman. He either does not want especially man to sin or woman to tempt man although she think what is put on her body is her busy. Any woman can dress like Britney Spears or swim suit modeling or even worst an exotic dancing, none of this is banned or condemned by the Bible but rather if the woman dressing is within the Biblical confines of morality and do not violate any tenant. Woman's nakedness is an issue here while why man's nakedness is a shame to him because the code of moral of decency. The scriptures are very clear about how one should dress. We learned that under the direction of the Holy Spirit Paul instructed one to dress modestly with shamefacedness (shyness) and sobriety. We can find in passage 1 Timothy 2:9-10 which means that there must be discretion, decency and a degree of shyness in our dressing. I also need to emphasize that when it comes to biblical dressing or clothing, it is always related to women and not men. As we all know that men are sight oriented human being and somehow God has equipped men to be sexually stimulated just by sight or visual. Men are commanded to govern their own hearts but how many men pass this test if women do not dress modestly. I think only Joseph passed the test when tempted while David totally failed the test despite he loved the Lord. That is why you will see me emphasizing modesty more toward woman than man. In the New Testament, the Greek word for modest mean well arranged and it has nothing to do with sexually alluring clothier. No where in the bible is sexually alluring clothier is found rather according to the Bible, modest apparel is defined in 1 Timothy 2:8-9 which must consist of shamefacedness and sobriety. Let illustrate a story found in Genesis where Adam and Eve had made themselves clothing to hide their nakedness. If you will recalled in Genesis that God was not very pleased with the covering of leaves as it was not mentioned but instead in the story we found God Himself made another covering for Adam and Eve. Why the covering made by Adam and Eve were not accepted or not suit to God. All I can think of is because it was not adequately cover the body part that God knew would become a temptation to sin for mankind. This is a vivid picture of the inadequacy to save ourselves with man-made clothing and what type of clothing is accepted in God's eyes from this incident that occurred in the beginning of time.
The scripture has always forbid men/women to wear clothes that are indecent which in any ways suggest wantonness in our character. If Christians cannot even adhere themselves to such a simple commandment to dress modestly then what other commandments we can adhere or keep. Our character is seen definitely through how we clothe our bodies. How people around us comment about us is how we represent ourselves. We can say why bother of what people think about us but as Christian, God has always wanted us to be pleasantable to people around us. I still remember once a non-believer told me how he can control himself from looking at one Christian girl if she dresses so sexily. I know it is nothing wrong of my fellow sister clothing but it is a stumbling block to another person. Well, it has everything to do with our outward demeanor of how present God. I also once saw how the pastor dressed himself - he dressed himself with very expensive clothing but there were patches of hole in the T-shirt and an old faded jean. His unkempt colored punk looked hair style. His excuse of doing was he wanted to evangelize the puny youth of his city. I know it was nothing wrong of how men or women should dress fashionably, tastefully, sophisticatedly or attractively. I only hope we can do that in a nice or proper way and not wildly or messily. Just a few weeks ago, I read in my local newspaper on foreign news about a couple of young men with low-slung, baggy jean walking in Trenton, New Jersey wearing the pants low enough to show their boxer shorts or even bare button in the street. It is an also a fashion with some of our church youth but no one dare to say about it because it is the pastor's son. It is not a surprised to see boy or man wearing ear ring with shoulder length hair as well.
Have you ever notice how God adorns His very own creation! Just look at the different display of God's good taste and love of beauty, hues and the blending of colors in the flowers, birds, rainbow, sea, clouds and many more just to name a few. Is not it so amazingly beautifully. There was a standard that one pastor laid down or mentioned - that Hollywood clothing is okay and it is unacceptable if we or Christian overdress the Hollywood standard. Remember, our Jesus is not the Lord of Hollywood. I have nothing against Hollywood but do not dress or clothe ourselves like a form of rebellion, lust, pride, uncleanness; lack of self-restraint, perversion and selfishness has been expressed through the fashions. Okay, you will say "God looks deep inside of each and every one of us so do not judge people by their dressing, it is very wrong!" But we need to remember what inside of us always controls the outside of us. How we clothe or dress is definitely a symbol of our character and reveal what is deep inside of us unconsciously. Therefore, if we do not restraint or control what is outward or outside of us then what about those that is inside of us. Remember the story in Jeremiah 6:15, when God’s scathing rebuke to the nation of Israel for revealing their terrible state of degeneration and deviation. The nation did not even know "shamefacedness or shyness". Consequently God had no choice but to destroy them at the end. If you read Exodus 20:26, it is interesting to learn that God had specifically instructed the Israelite to build the altars in those days on lower ground. Why? this is because to have altars built on a high place would mean the priests had to walk up the steps to carry out their services. The people on the lower ground would then uncover the nakedness of those going up the stairs or steps even if women going up and the peeping tome might be the priest. Just imagine how prudent and discreet God we have that every full details, foresight and insight have been prearranged during the worship. He made sure that no infringement upon the sacred and holy worship. Why today people never think about this!
5. TRUE GUARDIANS OF CLOTHING IS MODESTY.
M. Thaxter Dickey writing on this subject says, "Every family, every Christian woman must consider modesty not only as a philosophical, theological and doctrinal issue but as a practical daily concern." This is because he observes that "At least superficially, they seem to have no shame about this kind of dress. I suspect that they do have doubts but they are reluctant to admit them and so suppress them lest they be thought to be ‘prudes’ or ‘religious fanatics’ or ‘fashion fascists.’ And those who ought to be condemning this kind of behavior, fathers, preachers, and elders, often fear to do so for the very same reason." What is modesty by the way? Modesty is about decency. It is not sexually provocative as David Feddes puts it very nicely "‘if you are modest, you have a kind of shyness about sexuality, a discomfort with crude jokes and lewd stares. This doesn’t mean you are ashamed of your body or that you think it’s bad. If you are modest…there’s a strong sense that this passion (love life) is very precious, personal and private. Nakedness may be lovely in the marriage bed but not as a public display." The problem today is that woman and even man are beginning to be immodest in their dressing. They choose to wear because it is the trend of the fashion. It is nice to wear provocative clothe because it attracts people. It indicates we are up-to-date of what is happening today. Like a Pastor and author Douglas Wilson says "Many of the current fashions for young women appear to be apparel in standard use down at the local Hooker Training Academy." Just imagine the clothing is similar to prostitutes to the extent that Wilson's wife commented "it must be difficult for men these days trying to figure out which ones they have to pay for and which ones are free." It is sad that this goes on in many churches and pastor just keeps quietly like nothing has happened and do you know that according to our brother Wilson puts it -" Many Christian women go to worship today dressed in a manner that would have gotten them thrown out of a bar fifty years ago." Let remember that God looks into our inner character and not the clothing which the worldly matter as mentioned in Proverbs 7:10 i.e. "dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent". To dress modesty is not to say we are not to keep up with the latest fashion or to hide behind thick veils or look plain and dowdy clothing but dress to look presentable like what the scriptures say in 1 Peter 3:2-5 that is dress "should be that of your inner self, the unfailing beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight", and 1 Timothy 2:9-10 "appropriate for women who profess to worship God."
Why God does emphasize His people to dress modesty? First I will bring out the points given by M Thaxter Dickey on the five reasons why Christian women should dress modestly and second, principle of Christian dress by Samuele Bacchiocchi. Both of these in formations can be found from websites given in my bibliography. M.Thaxter Dickey says - (1) it is unfair to men because men are easily aroused by "sight" which women need to bear in mind see Romans 14:13 and 1 Corinthians 8:9, (2) it is a dangerous threat to chastity because it is an non-verbal communication that send signal to the receivers, (3) immodest dress is unfair to other women because it restricted the code of dress and beauty but concentrate primarily sexual, (4) it is an indicator of certain character as mentioned in Proverbs 7:10 "the attire of the harlot", and (5) immodest dressing reflects poorly on one's vocation as Christian woman when Christian women are projected as decency, chastity and purity and not "old-fashioned" or "prudish pr fashion fascists." Next, Samuele Bacchiocchi gives five interesting principles of Christian clothing - (1) dress and appearance are an important index of Christian character - nonverbal communicators of Christian moral values, (2) adorning our bodies with colorful cosmetics, glittering jewelry, and luxurious clothes reveals inner pride and vanity, which are destructive to ourselves and to others, (3) to experience inner spiritual renewal and reconciliation with God, it is necessary to remove all outward besetting objects of idolatry, including jewelry and ornaments, (4) Christians should dress in a modest and decent way, showing respect for God, themselves, and others - this principle is found in Paul’s use of the terms kosmios and aidos—"well-ordered" and "decent"—to describe the appropriate adorning of the Christian woman (1 Timothy 2:9), (5) Christians should dress soberly, restraining any desire to exhibit themselves by wearing eye-catching clothes, cosmetics, or jewelry - this Paul emphasizing on the exercise of self-control. Yes our God has set a very high standard on the value of how we all should dress. Our experiential and revelation knowledge of our Almighty God must be raised from the degradation of all sensuality and vulgarity found in how we clothe ourselves. God expects our dressing to have purity and nobility. His standard is always found in the Bible in our everyday daily living and even dressing. May we have the holiness, the serenity, quietness, nobility and refinement of Jesus be seen through our clothing! It will be the true guardians of virtue and the drawer of the faith and love for Him.
When talking about modesty, it is quite subjective because we need to aware there are many points for discussion base on the cultural differences in interpretation of what constitutes "modesty." What might be immodest in one culture would not be so in another cultures for instances revealing of the hands, ankles, face and etc. It is unacceptable for Muslim women to wear short pants while for the Chinese women it is nothing new. On the other hand, if a women are to wear two pieces of curtain drapes parted in the middle like the "Beyonce Knowles" look then I would have a problem whether to look or to avert my eyes else where because this mode of dressing is still somewhat avant garde in this part of the world and could qualify as immodest compare it with your country. However, it is hoped that women would not dress that to church because such state of dress which flaunts a person's body and sexuality is not much different then going to discos or entertainment center. The guidelines in passages like 1 Peter 3:3-5 and 1 Timothy 2:9-10 are supposed to be the proper way to conduct our dressing. Any Christian women and even men have a testimony to maintain and it is not through our actions, words and deeds but in the way we present ourselves to God and to the community at large as we are the people of God or the bride of the bridegroom. Let us measure our modesty according to God's way and not the standard or trend lays down by man.
6. CONCLUSION.
In conclusion, I choose this topic because it has been on my mind for a very long time. This is because what I am seeing everyday not out the church but inside the church. Men and women alike are clothing themselves unpleasantly. No one stares to preach it on the pulpit because it is too offensive while ignoring the teaching that God has laid down in the Bible, instead gossiping around why that particular brother or sister wear like that. I think they are doing more harm then good. Our God is the only one to label something as sin. Anything that is not sin is lawful, acceptable in the sight of God. It is sin to add our own regulations and laws to God's laws, binding people's consciences as if these laws were of god. We must learn to make the decision between ourselves and the Lord, as to what sin for each of us. In Christian clothing, it is the principles of wisdom apply to give us guidance in idea how to walk uprightly. The basic principle is love; love toward God, those around us, and ourselves. Nothing that is done or used sinfully is rooted in love. While many things are good and lawful in themselves, they can become sinful when not used with wisdom and as the Lord intended. We as Christian can dress just like how the worldly people dress but let think whether it is right or proper to dress that causes other to fall or lust. They are so many fashionable clothing for us to choose so why not choose it wisely. Remember, the righteous life is not produced by our own effort and determination only, but it is by yielding to Christ within us. By His power and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in us, we walk a life pleasing to the Lord, a life of righteousness. Lastly but not the least, we must make the decision in our hearts not to love the world or the things of the world (1 John 2; 15-17). We are not to attempt to serve both God and mammon (Matthew 6:24). We must desire to please the Lord above all else; when something does not please God, we will turn away from it. Thus the determination of what is good and what is evil become simple: anything that pulls us away from our unity with God is evil. By always seeking to please God, we will always be ready to give thanks to God for what we are doing. Even if it is something insignificant or not directly connected to serving Him, we should be able to give thanks to God for the freedom to let it be part of our lives (Colossians 3:17) so how we clothe ourselves be the way of our God that glorifies Him as we are the living vessel of the great living God.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
When God Paints.......
He uses all His colors! Make it an awesome day. Peace To All
and
May God Bless You Always!
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