Paul N. F. (30 Oct 2002)
"Christians must dress modestly!"

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  Below is an article written by Leslie Cox, a 16 year old
high school student who lives in Ft. Worth. She will soon
be moving to Houston where she will attend the
Bethel Christian Academy, and she and her family will
attend Church of Champions.

This article was taken from the Sept. - Oct. 2002 Lamplighter,
page 15.

Kind permission to reprint this article was granted by the
LAMB & LION MINISTRIES, P.O.  Box 919, McKinney, TX  75070

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               Christians
   must dress modestly!

                       By Leslie Cox

It is a hot Saturday afternoon, and I, along with some of
my friends, am headed to a Christian concert. A local
Christian radio station is celebrating 20 years of service
to the community, and many popular Christian artists are
scheduled to perform.
   As I walk toward the stadium where the concert is be-
ing held, my attention is drawn to other teenage girls
around me. What catches my eye is the way the girls are
dressed. Their clothes leave little to the imagination.
   They must have misunderstood what is happening
here, I think. Surely, they wouldn't come to a "Christian"
concert dressed like that.
   But I am wrong.
   In fact, after finding my seat, I notice that almost every
girl in the stadium is dressed in the same manner: scant-
ily, with lots of skin showing. Suddenly, I feel out of place
in my knee-length skirt and navel-hiding, button-down
shirt.
   Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to paint myself as
super spiritual. But when I see girls dressed like Britney
Spears at Christian events, I can't help but question their
reasons for attending altogether. Are they there to praise
God? Or are they there to see how many guys' heads
they can turn?
                           Does God Care?
    I have discussed this subject with some of my friends,
and while some agree with me, others say God only
looks at the heart. How a person dresses doesn't matter
to him. Wear whatever, wherever.
    But how a person dresses does matter to God. In fact,
the Bible gives specific guidelines as to how Christians
should dress. According to I Timothy 2:9, we are to dress
"modestly, with decency and propriety."
    The word "decency" refers to purity. In other words,
what a girl wears shouldn't provoke a guy to think about
 her in an ungodly fashion. She should dress in a way that
 is pure - not provocative. She should be seen by her
 peers as wholesome and clean - not flirtatious and
 cheap.
    Admittedly, dressing virtuously isn't easy these days.

Fashion designers push the moral envelope more and
more every season. What once was considered racy -
tight  clothes,  sheer  clothes  and  underwear-looking
clothes - now is viewed as the norm.
   But just because fashion designers throw modesty to
the wind where teen clothes are concerned, God doesn't.
And as Christians, we shouldn't, either.
   Personally, I respect myself too much to wear certain
things, but I respect God's opinion most of all. So
whether I am going to a Christian concert or to a baseball
game, I ask myself the following question: If Christ re-
turned today, would I want to meet him dressed like this?
   It is a question that I believe all Christian teenage girls
should ask themselves before leaving home.
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Editor's Note: I was astonished when I turned to the edi-
torial page of the Dallas Morning News on August 14th
and saw this editorial! At first I thought it must be a parody.
But no, it was a serious essay by a teen age girl expressing
concern from her biblically based, Christian perspective
about the increasing vulgarity of clothing worn by teen girls.
    Leslie Cox is a 16 year old high school student who
lives in Ft. Worth. She will soon be moving to Houston
where she will attend Bethel Christian Academy, and she
and her family will attend Church of Champions.
    I share her concern over the way Christians have con-
formed to the world's standards (or lack of standards!) for
dress, as well as other aspects of life. As our society has
continued to "slouch toward Gomorrah" (a term coined by
Judge Robert Bork), standards have been thrown to the
wind. Civility has given way to vulgarity. Today's new
standard for everything is "different strokes for different
folks." It is reminiscent of what happened to Israel during
the time of the Judges. That society descended into so-
cial anarchy as "everyone did what was right in his own
eyes" (Judges 21:25).
    Entertainment is a cesspool of immorality and vio-
lence. As Steve Alien put it shortly before his death, "We
have become a society of barbarians entertained by vul-
garians."
    Language everywhere is full of curse words and blas-
phemies. Even when it is devoid of trash, it is often
ungrammatical and full of slang.
    Barbarity has been revived in the form of tattooing
and body piercing. I recently received an email message
from a person who told me he wanted to get a tattoo on
his back that would honor the Lord! He said he preferred
a verse of Scripture, and he asked me for a suggestion. I
suggested Leviticus 19:28 which says, "You shall not
make any cuts in your body ... or make any tattoo marks
on yourselves."
    Manners have gone into the toilet. Kids have no re-
spect for their elders. Women seek to be like men, and
men treat them like trash.
    And all of this has invaded the church. The Barna
polls increasingly show little difference in attitudes and
life styles between pagans and those who profess to be
Christians.

Dr. David Reagan
lamblion@lamblion.com

Web Site:
http://www.lamblion.com/

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Yours in Christ,
Paul N. F.