Christian Women Please Dress More Modestly

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Pipp

Majestic Llamacorn
Sep 17, 2013
5,543
2,722
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#21
Yes, they were, until they ate of the fruit. Then shame and lust were possibilities. And they felt the need to cover themselves. God did not correct this desire, but instead recognized it. And the very condition that started this, is passed down to every one of us. So regardless of God's original intentions, once sin entered the world, things changed. And are still in this altered state. Even to the point that God encourages modest dress, especially among women.
And to insult someone for trying to live to the standards the NT says we should is just wrong. Not to mention judgmental. People are trying to honor God, and you misapply scripture to put down this attempt. Righteous acts done to earn Gods favor, by your own power are meaningless to God. Righteous acts done with an intent to honor and glorify God are not so meaningless. So you're judging a persons heart and intent, and misapplying scripture to your judgment to support it.
I can not amen this reply enough.
 
Mar 5, 2012
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#22
Backward, isn't it, when I walk into church in a three-piece suit, all buttoned-up and bow tied, and people are more likely to look at me like I'm the oddball rather than a guy walking in with his pants hanging down or a woman skankily clad.
 

Pipp

Majestic Llamacorn
Sep 17, 2013
5,543
2,722
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Georgia
#23
We are supposed to be separate from the world...a set apart people. How are you gonna be set apart if you look and act just like the world. I've seen Christian women be such a distraction with their clothing that it hinders other women in service because they're so worried their husband is getting an eye full of another woman's thigh or breast.. sitting in the house of God. That is immodest. Sometimes you do things to keep from being a stumbling block to other Christians... to at least we should be considerate of that.
 
Aug 10, 2013
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#24
The only idea of what a "harlot" looks like is based on our social norm that we've created today. Don't you understand that Adam and Eve were naked? There was never meant to be this sense of shame that we all have, but this is a perfect example of Christians feeling as if the more "righteous" thing to do is to cover up their skin; or do you not know that your righteous acts are like filthy pieces of cloth?

Well, only when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree in Eden did they become aware they were naked. But when naked, and aware, they became conscious of sin....beforehand others would not have had lustful thoughts, it could be said.

Isaiah 64:6
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

The woman in this video is approaching Christianity from a moral performance, saying that if you dress more modestly it's going to please God and it's going to express yourself in the light that you are a more righteous and respectful person; or do you not know that to the corrupt mind nothing is pure?

Titus 1:15
To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.


Do you not know that the only thing you have on your side is faith?

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

I see these videos and it just screams a moral agenda. You do not need to convince a woman who is dressing provocatively to not dress the way that she is dressing, as all your are doing is imposing your "righteous" understanding onto them and giving them a law mentality that if they do something they will have a better standing in their "Christian walk" and I think it is absolutely ridiculous.

I don't care how another girl dresses because I am not going to look at her in that way. Christ has purified me, because of him I can see girls for their real beauty and not be absolutely caught up in thinking of them in some fallen reality. The woman in this video is coming from the corrupted mindset, assuming that men are going to defile their purity based on a dress sense that society has created as socially acceptable. I can tell you that to the corrupted, nothing is pure. Not even your most modest clothes, even those are corrupt to the impure. Your "righteous clothes" and "modest apparel" in order to please God are like filthy rags. You're stuck in a paradox because you're assessing things from a fallen reality.

Stop focusing on all the do's and don'ts and start focusing on Jesus. Let God put His laws in your mind and your heart, then see how you want to dress. Don't listen to some woman preaching her own "good, sound and holy" opinions on what is and isn't acceptable. That's not spiritual, because we're unspiritual beings. It's only by the Spirit that we live by faith.
It is true to say this Christian lady is displaying a moral perspective on clothing. I haven't even saw the video, nonetheless, it's quite predictable it will concern morality. Christians are likely to regular use 'sin' in at least one of their sentences within any given statement. Why, well because the original gospel is very limited in a modern world; the church no longer is the authority it once was, it could be said too that Christianity has massively changed too. What we have left is a moral gospel. On the other hand, whether moral or not, if women dress in church like 'the world', what makes Christian women any different than the other.
 
S

ServantStrike

Guest
#25
Backward, isn't it, when I walk into church in a three-piece suit, all buttoned-up and bow tied, and people are more likely to look at me like I'm the oddball rather than a guy walking in with his pants hanging down or a woman skankily clad.
Pounds table.


YES. No more floozies in the house of God! No more jerks either!


I admit I don't wear a suit, but, everything is covered and I wear a belt etc.
 
Aug 10, 2013
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#26
Backward, isn't it, when I walk into church in a three-piece suit, all buttoned-up and bow tied, and people are more likely to look at me like I'm the oddball rather than a guy walking in with his pants hanging down or a woman skankily clad.
Here is the definition of skank (noun), or skankily (adjective). "Derogatory term for a (usually younger) female, implying trashiness or tackiness, lower-class status, poor hygiene, flakiness, and a scrawny, pockmarked sort of ugliness. May also imply promiscuity...." I would rather an apparent Christian would not use derogatory terms for Christian females especially the young generation. I would rather a person showed loved than being smartly dressed for church.
 

mystdancer50

Senior Member
Feb 26, 2012
2,522
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#27
I think he may have meant "scantily". :) I just took it to mean that and moved on. Gnat straining has never been my cup of tea. Don't quite care for the taste of camel meat myself.
 
Mar 5, 2012
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#28
Well, it was a bit of a play on words, but ChristianUK's got a definite point! I could have stated that a little more charitably.
 
E

Exoaria

Guest
#29
Why do we need to be different?
You guys talk about Christian women portraying themselves in a way that is not 'worldly' as if unbelievers are afflicted with some kind of degeneracy that makes them by default self-degrading and without dignity. I can tell you that as someone that is heavily associated with people of many backgrounds there are people who do not share my belief system who are absolutely convinced of a moral standard and social paradigm beyond anything that I've seen within the Christian community; likewise I have seen many unbelievers and Christians placing themselves sub-par to anything being discussed here.

I say this because it's not fair to give the unsaved folk their own category of disgust when there is absolutely no anthropological evidence that Christians are more likely to do good than an Atheist or Buddhist. In fact, the only things statistics point to is that Christians are more likely to impose their beliefs onto someone and that Christians are more likely to 'outlaw' topics or hypes due to their agenda of what is and isn't acceptable.

You're welcome to disagree with everything that I've just said. So you don't need to quote and reply; I already accept your disagreement as a valid opinion and answer. I however refuse to treat myself as something greater, or higher than an unbeliever because they are just as reconciled to God than I am. If someone, whether an unbeliever or Christian, is doing wrong I will treat both of them with the same love— they are reconciled to God and only acting out of a reality that is contrary to the work done at the cross.
 

mystdancer50

Senior Member
Feb 26, 2012
2,522
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#30
Just don't say it to the person or to another about the person not dressed modestly and you'll be fine. :D This is a place where we should be able to openly state something and have others see that it means a great deal to us...and then bring their opinion to the mix. I'd be more worried if you said, "I told that Betty, 'Why do you dress so skankily?'" Then, intervention would be needed, I think. :)
 

mystdancer50

Senior Member
Feb 26, 2012
2,522
50
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#31
We are to be different because the Bible says we are to be different. The Bible says we are to be holy as Christ is holy. The Bible says we are to be in the world but not of the world. We are to consecrated, set-apart, pure, holy...Christ-like.
 
E

Exoaria

Guest
#32
Here is the definition of skank (noun), or skankily (adjective). "Derogatory term for a (usually younger) female, implying trashiness or tackiness, lower-class status, poor hygiene, flakiness, and a scrawny, pockmarked sort of ugliness. May also imply promiscuity...." I would rather an apparent Christian would not use derogatory terms for Christian females especially the young generation. I would rather a person showed loved than being smartly dressed for church.
At least I know what standard the average Christian is judging the girls (and me) by now. I know my acceptance and love is not dependent on someone else's opinion; I'm already accepted. They don't know they can't be rejected. The next time I go to church, despite my not being able to read minds, I'll keep an ear out for any fourteen year old girls being called SKANKS and be sure to go to them after and let them know how much Christ loves them and all the plans that He has for their precious, precious, precious lives.
 
E

Exoaria

Guest
#33
We are to be different because the Bible says we are to be different. The Bible says we are to be holy as Christ is holy. The Bible says we are to be in the world but not of the world. We are to consecrated, set-apart, pure, holy...Christ-like.
I think it's easy to read the Bible, then switch on the news and watch a bit of doom and gloom coming to the conclusions about how messed up the world we are... But I have to say, in my honest opinion, there really isn't much difference. There really isn't. Christians are more likely to dislike things like Harry Potter and Pokemon, and they'll generally swear less. But that's about it — I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm really not. I spend a lot of time with a lot of people, I'm completely open to being wrong and I am very aware of what the Bible says. I'm just saying... this doesn't appear to be the case. There just isn't a fine line. I could just be assessing it wrong, but either way I'm still going to look at people by their eternal value and potential.
 

Pipp

Majestic Llamacorn
Sep 17, 2013
5,543
2,722
113
Georgia
#34
We are to be different because the Bible says we are to be different. The Bible says we are to be holy as Christ is holy. The Bible says we are to be in the world but not of the world. We are to consecrated, set-apart, pure, holy...Christ-like.
My point exactly
 

shrimp

Senior Member
Aug 28, 2011
1,188
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#35
If Christians actually followed God's Word like they're supposed to, then we would be considered peculiar and very different.
 
E

Exoaria

Guest
#36
If Christians actually followed God's Word like they're supposed to, then we would be considered peculiar and very different.
I completely agree with you. However the definition of "following God's word" and exegesis is so completely and entirely subject to each person's opinion that every person would have a different idea of what it means to "follow God's word" — which is why we have so many denominations, and people branching off beneath the denominations.
Every person thinks their exegesis is right, and I refuse to become that. This is what I call the final stumbling block with the rational approach to Biblical living and exactly why we need the Holy Spirit. We cannot achieve this in our physical and carnal minds. (Keeping in mind I expect nothing celestial out of this website. This is just a place for people to ramble and it's all anyone uses it for. Arguments and division, or as I like to call it — "Live Spiritual Warfare" LOL)
 
J

Jullianna

Guest
#37
Not sure where this "under the law" stuff is coming from, as the two most obvious scriptures applying to Christian women dressing modestly occur in 1 Timothy and 1 Peter, and neither Paul nor Peter were legalists.

We can go back and forth with this all day long, but these discussions always come down to men and women having lust issues to be dealt with in their walk with Christ, and, regardless of gender, we need to take responsibility for our own actions, whether it be the way we allow our thought lives to progress or the way we dress.

If God puts it on a woman's heart that the way she is dressing may be an issue and she may be causing someone to stumble, who are we to tell her she is wrong? I learned this the hard way as a very young Christian. I was driving by and saw an elderly pastor's wife dressed somberly, with her long hair pinned up, no makeup, etc., and in my newly found self-righteousness I thought, "Lord, I wish she knew she did not have to dress that way." BUT... God took me to the woodshed over that and showed me that:

1. She was the woman who had prayed for the miraculous restoration of my healing;
2. That I had absolutely NO right to judge her for what she did or did not choose to wear because her heart and BODY were totally HIS;
and
3. When someone is led to DO or NOT do a thing out of a pure desire to honor/obey/worship HIM, He honors it and I need to keep my mouth shut (2 Samuel 6), as there are plenty of things in my OWN life that need my attention.

ON THE OTHERHAND, we need to remember that we are not the Holy Spirit and should never take it upon ourselves to do the Holy Spirit's job in "cleaning someone up". Our first concern should be the person's spiritual condition, which is not something that is outwardly ascertained. If we keep the main thing the main thing, and lovingly encourage a person's walk with the Lord (whether male or female), prayer life and understanding of scripture, I assure you that God is able to guide them into how they should be dressing.

I have participated in dance (mainly ballet) and gymnastics all of my life, and some of the clothing I wore in those activities never bothered me until the past couple of years....until I posted a photograph of myself in a dance costume that showed two thirds of one leg and my abs (I posted it in response to an innocent conversation about P90X workouts where I had concerns that the workouts were beginning to make my abs look too manly), and received an inappropriate message from a married man on my friend's list. Yes, what he did was wrong, but since I can't say with absolute certainty that I was dressed appropriately, I won't be doing that again. He has to take responsibility for his thoughts and words, but I have to realize that I may not have been completely innocent either, whether intentionally or not.

We are not children. We understand the concept of lust. We understand that men (and some women) are visually stimulated and they fight a tremendous battle. If we are truly trying to live out the concept of considering others above ourselves (Philippians 2) is it really too much to ask for us to put some clothes on? Thoughtfulness and selflessness does not equal legalism, but fingerpointing sure does.
 
E

Exoaria

Guest
#38
Not sure where this "under the law" stuff is coming from, as the two most obvious scriptures applying to Christian women dressing modestly occur in 1 Timothy and 1 Peter, and neither Paul nor Peter were legalists.

We can go back and forth with this all day long, but these discussions always come down to men and women having lust issues to be dealt with in their walk with Christ, and, regardless of gender, we need to take responsibility for our own actions, whether it be the way we allow our thought lives to progress or the way we dress.

If God puts it on a woman's heart that the way she is dressing may be an issue and she may be causing someone to stumble, who are we to tell her she is wrong? I learned this the hard way as a very young Christian. I was driving by and saw an elderly pastor's wife dressed somberly, with her long hair pinned up, no makeup, etc., and in my newly found self-righteousness I thought, "Lord, I wish she knew she did not have to dress that way." BUT... God took me to the woodshed over that and showed me that:

1. She was the woman who had prayed for the miraculous restoration of my healing;
2. That I had absolutely NO right to judge her for what she did or did not choose to wear because her heart and BODY were totally HIS;
and
3. When someone is led to DO or NOT do a thing out of a pure desire to honor/obey/worship HIM, He honors it and I need to keep my mouth shut (2 Samuel 6), as there are plenty of things in my OWN life that need my attention.

ON THE OTHERHAND, we need to remember that we are not the Holy Spirit and should never take it upon ourselves to do the Holy Spirit's job in "cleaning someone up". Our first concern should be the person's spiritual condition, which is not something that is outwardly ascertained. If we keep the main thing the main thing, and lovingly encourage a person's walk with the Lord (whether male or female), prayer life and understanding of scripture, I assure you that God is able to guide them into how they should be dressing.

I have participated in dance (mainly ballet) and gymnastics all of my life, and some of the clothing I wore in those activities never bothered me until the past couple of years....until I posted a photograph of myself in a dance costume that showed two thirds of one leg and my abs (I posted it in response to an innocent conversation about P90X workouts where I had concerns that the workouts were beginning to make my abs look too manly), and received an inappropriate message from a married man on my friend's list. Yes, what he did was wrong, but since I can't say with absolute certainty that I was dressed appropriately, I won't be doing that again. He has to take responsibility for his thoughts and words, but I have to realize that I may not have been completely innocent either, whether intentionally or not.

We are not children. We understand the concept of lust. We understand that men (and some women) are visually stimulated and they fight a tremendous battle. If we are truly trying to live out the concept of considering others above ourselves (Philippians 2) is it really too much to ask for us to put some clothes on? Thoughtfulness and selflessness does not equal legalism, but fingerpointing sure does.
What a beautiful post. I'd be one to agree with Cobus here to say that the "lust issue" was dealt with at the cross and is no longer an issue by God's supernatural transforming ability. But nonetheless your post was absolutely wonderful.
I'm sorry you had to experience that, that man was completely acting out of his identity. I don't believe that was your responsibility at all. It's just my opinion though. I agree with so much of what you've said.
 
Oct 14, 2013
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#39
[SUP]
Revelation 7
13 [/SUP]And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

[SUP]14 [/SUP]And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
 
Oct 14, 2013
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#40
SHOULD NOT MEN DRESS MODEST ALSO ? WHAT IS MODEST WEAR FOR MEN ?