Article
Hey guys,
I wrote an article for my school paper. Keep in mind, I have never written anything this well in my life. There must have been something out flowing out of me. I hope you read this, feel free to ask any questions if you want to. Thanks friends!
Call to Modesty
Today I heard two disturbing comments that provoked me to explore the biblical standard of modesty. An esteemed professor of mine said that girls have to attract the boys somehow because of the overwhelming ratio. In asking a guy friend of mine what spring makes him think of, he said playing outside and girls’ clothes. Granted this was something his friends would have said in middle school, this still says something to me about our culture.
Over the week, I have had excellent conversations with young women on campus like myself who are struggling with this idea of purity before God. Not only does God call us to be holy as he is holy (1 Peter 1:16), we are to give our bodies up to God as holy and living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). I have been exploring various questions trying to discern what God desires from us.
In Matthew 22:34-40, Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is. (Keep in mind that there were 613 laws Jesus had to choose from and Jesus highlighted these two): “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Christianity is a radical religion; Jesus asks us not only to love God and our neighbors, but to put the needs of others before our own. We are living in a culture and a world where individualism and expressionism is running rampant. The media is filled with images of brutality and terrible distortions of the image of God. The Black Eyed Peas stated it this way, “Wrong information always shown by the media, negative images is the main criteria, infecting the young minds faster than bacteria, kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema,” in their pop hit, Where’s the Love. Psychologists have studied the implications of Americans who watch the news daily. They have found that people who watch the news daily are more afraid of being attacked in their own homes and view the world as more dangerous than others who do not.
Another message that the media is sending is one of sexual promiscuity. Movies and television shows are made up of adulterous relationships, misconstrued portrayals of social relations and subtle but effective displays of an unworthy self-image. Divorce rates at 50% are extremely high and the concept of loving for as long as I shall love instead of loving for as long as I shall live tend to be a popular and accepted belief. Women tend to be looked upon as sexual objects and the media glorifies the female body to be sexy and alluring. This misconception of women is not a new concept, having been around for centuries. But today, ideas infect girls of younger ages each year; before they are teenagers they strive to be sexy by dressing in tight clothes, short skirts and strapless tank tops. The ideas that fill the minds of the youth growing up in our culture are that of unworthiness and it tells them to seek whatever fashion that makes them cool. As Christians in this culture, I believe that God has instructions on how we are to act in light of the deteriorating culture while serving as a model for younger generations.
I am encouraged by 1 Timothy 4:12, “don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” As we pave our way to adulthood and out of childhood, we are in a spot to influence our culture in powerful ways; we should be effective role models for the younger generations and also respected by the adults who educate us.
So, you might be asking yourself how this topic relates to modesty or how it applies to the campus where we live. In order for us Gordon College students to be a light of the world (Matthew 5:14), we must start by looking out for the interests of others in our Christian community.
In order to do this, I want to challenge you to understand the implications and perhaps the intentions of the following statements: You are to offer up your body as a holy and living sacrifice for God for the sake of the Body of Christ. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own (Romans 12: 1; 1 Corinthians 6:19). Let me also remind you of the words of Jesus found in Matthew: “Love the Lord your God, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (paraphrase of 22). Additionally, in John 15:13, Jesus says “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
Imagine this: you wake up in the morning and you look in your closet and decide what shirt to wear with your new jeans. (Guys, bear with me for a couple moments if this isn’t something you can relate to.) You have a few options: a button down shirt, a v-neck shirt and a tank top that you would never wear to your grandmother’s house. You try them on and ask yourself if you look fat or if it accentuates your eye color. After trying on the three shirts, you decide on the button down shirt. You were not in the mood for a v-neck, and the tank top just seems a little too tight.
This is a subtle but important example of how we can do the will of God before we face the day and interact with community by loving Him and loving our neighbor, sacrificing our liberty to wear whatever we want in order to consider the best interest of our brothers.
This may not seem like it is a significant way to be in the world but not of it, but I think that small actions like this one are important to aiding God in His redemption of the world and culture.
I wrote an article for my school paper. Keep in mind, I have never written anything this well in my life. There must have been something out flowing out of me. I hope you read this, feel free to ask any questions if you want to. Thanks friends!
Call to Modesty
Today I heard two disturbing comments that provoked me to explore the biblical standard of modesty. An esteemed professor of mine said that girls have to attract the boys somehow because of the overwhelming ratio. In asking a guy friend of mine what spring makes him think of, he said playing outside and girls’ clothes. Granted this was something his friends would have said in middle school, this still says something to me about our culture.
Over the week, I have had excellent conversations with young women on campus like myself who are struggling with this idea of purity before God. Not only does God call us to be holy as he is holy (1 Peter 1:16), we are to give our bodies up to God as holy and living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). I have been exploring various questions trying to discern what God desires from us.
In Matthew 22:34-40, Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is. (Keep in mind that there were 613 laws Jesus had to choose from and Jesus highlighted these two): “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Christianity is a radical religion; Jesus asks us not only to love God and our neighbors, but to put the needs of others before our own. We are living in a culture and a world where individualism and expressionism is running rampant. The media is filled with images of brutality and terrible distortions of the image of God. The Black Eyed Peas stated it this way, “Wrong information always shown by the media, negative images is the main criteria, infecting the young minds faster than bacteria, kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema,” in their pop hit, Where’s the Love. Psychologists have studied the implications of Americans who watch the news daily. They have found that people who watch the news daily are more afraid of being attacked in their own homes and view the world as more dangerous than others who do not.
Another message that the media is sending is one of sexual promiscuity. Movies and television shows are made up of adulterous relationships, misconstrued portrayals of social relations and subtle but effective displays of an unworthy self-image. Divorce rates at 50% are extremely high and the concept of loving for as long as I shall love instead of loving for as long as I shall live tend to be a popular and accepted belief. Women tend to be looked upon as sexual objects and the media glorifies the female body to be sexy and alluring. This misconception of women is not a new concept, having been around for centuries. But today, ideas infect girls of younger ages each year; before they are teenagers they strive to be sexy by dressing in tight clothes, short skirts and strapless tank tops. The ideas that fill the minds of the youth growing up in our culture are that of unworthiness and it tells them to seek whatever fashion that makes them cool. As Christians in this culture, I believe that God has instructions on how we are to act in light of the deteriorating culture while serving as a model for younger generations.
I am encouraged by 1 Timothy 4:12, “don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” As we pave our way to adulthood and out of childhood, we are in a spot to influence our culture in powerful ways; we should be effective role models for the younger generations and also respected by the adults who educate us.
So, you might be asking yourself how this topic relates to modesty or how it applies to the campus where we live. In order for us Gordon College students to be a light of the world (Matthew 5:14), we must start by looking out for the interests of others in our Christian community.
In order to do this, I want to challenge you to understand the implications and perhaps the intentions of the following statements: You are to offer up your body as a holy and living sacrifice for God for the sake of the Body of Christ. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own (Romans 12: 1; 1 Corinthians 6:19). Let me also remind you of the words of Jesus found in Matthew: “Love the Lord your God, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (paraphrase of 22). Additionally, in John 15:13, Jesus says “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
Imagine this: you wake up in the morning and you look in your closet and decide what shirt to wear with your new jeans. (Guys, bear with me for a couple moments if this isn’t something you can relate to.) You have a few options: a button down shirt, a v-neck shirt and a tank top that you would never wear to your grandmother’s house. You try them on and ask yourself if you look fat or if it accentuates your eye color. After trying on the three shirts, you decide on the button down shirt. You were not in the mood for a v-neck, and the tank top just seems a little too tight.
This is a subtle but important example of how we can do the will of God before we face the day and interact with community by loving Him and loving our neighbor, sacrificing our liberty to wear whatever we want in order to consider the best interest of our brothers.
This may not seem like it is a significant way to be in the world but not of it, but I think that small actions like this one are important to aiding God in His redemption of the world and culture.