Our country is getting more immodest all the time. Men are just as guilty as women these days, still, it amazes me what many women are wearing. Skirts or shorts are worn that, not only do not cover the entirety of the thigh but do not cover any of the thigh at all. The question, “When is short too short?” is hardly even relevant anymore. Now, it is silly to even ask the question because in the minds of most skirts and shorts cannot be too short. And let us not get started on the kind of blouses that are being worn. It is downright shameful and demonstrates that all sense of decency has sadly been lost when it comes to how one dresses.
As Christians, we must not conform to the world.
Romans 12:2 (ESV)
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
To conform means to act in agreement with or to go along with prevailing customs. If something in the world is sinful, we must not go along with it, let alone practice it. This can be a great challenge at times. While it is not hard, for most of us at least, to avoid worldly behavior that involves drunkenness, sexual immorality, or other overt acts of sin, behavior that some view to be questionable, not because the Bible is not clear enough, but because the behavior is so commonplace and acceptable by the majority, is harder to avoid. The flesh convinces us that the behavior is okay. Dressing immodestly certainly falls into this category.
Some members of the church, who are faithful to God in almost every other way, sometimes give in to popular fads and wear clothes that are too short, too tight, or too revealing. As Christians, we must remember who we are, that is, a peculiar people who reflect the character of Christ in our behavior, not the world.
Let us change directions now. Where do you think is the most common place to find immodesty today? I am sure some would say the beach or nightclub or some other popular public place. However, surveys have delivered a surprising answer to that question. They suggest that the most common place to find immodest dress today is at worship services. I am not sure I am willing to fully trust surveys put out by man, but even if they are not completely accurate, it is surprising that worship services would even be in the running for the most likely place to find immodest apparel. It is sad that in many, or even most, worship services, there are dresses that are too short, pants that are too tight, and blouses that are too revealing. We need to do better.
There is something else to consider when it comes to modest apparel and worship services—dressing too casually. All over the country now, the trend is to dress as casually and comfortably as possible when worshiping God. I see it in almost every gospel meeting I hold. It is not just young people. I see it with preachers, elders, and older members as well. Flipflops are becoming commonplace. Wearing t-shirts while waiting on the Lord’s Supper is not too rare. Men wearing shorts to services can now be seen quite often. Such attire constitutes immodest behavior.
1 Timothy 2:9 (ESV)
9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire.
The word modesty here is aidōs and Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following definition: “Bashfulness, i.e. (towards men), modesty or (toward God) awe, reverence…” Take note of this! Modesty can be demonstrated toward both men and God. Toward men, it has to do with having a sense of bashfulness. That is the kind of attitude that would prevent us from wearing clothes that reveal too much of ourselves to other people. Toward God, it has to do with awe and reverence. That is the kind of attitude that will prevent us from appearing before God in attire that is too casual.
To those who say that God only cares about the heart, not outward appearances, I would say prove it. There is no doubt that the heart matters to God first, but the conclusion that outward appearance does not matter to God at all is one for which I cannot find any scripture. In fact, many passages suggest that God does care about how man appears before Him. Do you remember what God told the people to do before he appeared to them on Mt. Sinai? Let me remind you.
Exodus 19:10–11 (NASB 95)
10 The Lord also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; 11 and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
Imagine that! God demanded that the people wash their clothes before they appeared before Him. So much for God only caring about the heart. The idea of appearing before God respectfully, even regarding the clothes that they wore, was somehow ingrained in the minds of God’s people almost from the beginning. Even when they were preparing to go to a place considered to be sacred, they changed their clothes.
Genesis 35:2–3 (ESV)
2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. 3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”
While we are considering the attire we wear before God, especially when we appear before Him publicly to give Him honor, let us not forget Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 2:9 where he is specifically addressing how we dress, not the condition of our heart. In other words, when Paul wrote about women (and it would be just as applicable to men) adorning themselves with modesty, he was not instructing them to have a reverent attitude, but rather, to have reverent behavior, specifically demonstrated by how they dressed.
Do you really believe that you can appear before God, in what is supposed to be an act of homage, in casual attire like t-shirts, jeans, and tennis shoes, and think that you are demonstrating awe and reverence? To be clear, I am not advocating a specific dress code in this article. What a person wears to worship services is a personal decision. However, we should be aware of the fact that it is possible to dress immodestly in terms of not showing proper respect to God. Does a person have to wear a dress, or a coat and tie to services to please God? Of course not, but it is possible to dress so casually that it becomes disrespectful to the One you are serving.
I am not sure when this trend of wearing common clothes to worship services started, but I know where it started—among denominational churches that wanted to impress people with their contemporary worship. It is sad that they have had such an impression on us. Again, we can do better.