Addressing the Undressing of America

A few years ago I read a small booklet called Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America by Jeff Pollard. It was one of those eye-opening, “wet fish” moments. I read about the history of the bathing suit and was shocked to discover that there really was a strategic, master plan in the fashion industry to desensitize Americans and get them all to…well, undress.

It worked. Turns out that folks were more than willing to expose themselves more and more. Including God’s children. Now unclothing ourselves is passionately defended in our churches as a Christian “liberty”. Why all the emotions surrounding this issue of semi-nakedness? Because we are Wemmicks who love ourselves. We hold our rights to our passions, emotions, desires, lusts, and will to be higher than the will of our Creator God, Who made us in His image. We are our own idols, and we worship ardently at our own alters.

The audio teaching in the Visionary Womanhood Gatherings Two-Year-Plan for this month is a message given by the author of that little book. In this teaching he articulately, clearly, and sensitively defines terms, discusses the difference between the externals and the internals of this issue and how they BOTH need to be addressed, and makes the argument that the issue of modesty really boils down to LOVE. Love for our Creator…and love for one another.

His working definition of “modesty” is:

…the inner self-government rooted in a proper understanding of oneself before God which is outwardly displayed in humility and purity from a genuine LOVE for Jesus Christ.

He then goes on to say that the majority view in the Christian community is that “as long as your HEART IS RIGHT, that’s all that matters.” Meaning that most folks feel that if you have a “good heart” (who’s got that?) then you can dress however you please, and it won’t matter. This focuses on the “internal” aspect of the issue at the expense of the external aspect. Children raised in homes that flaunt the body often fall into immorality at some point.

In addition, there is a minority view out there that is wrongly preoccupied with the EXTERNALS. In other words, “as long as it LOOKS RIGHT…that’s all that matters.“ These folks will focus on looking a certain way and feel good about themselves while at the same time turning down their noses (inwardly) at everyone else. Children raised in homes with this external focus often grow up feeling superior to others…and, believe it or not, ALSO fall into immorality as they discover eventually that the “heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

His point is that we can’t take either view against the other. They are both rooted in SELF and PRIDE. When we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and have the Holy Spirit of the Living God indwelling us, we are new creatures. Our dress should reflect the TRUTH of who we are on the inside. Holiness is lived from the inside out…not the other way around. The way we dress on the outside ought to draw attention to Jesus Christ…not ourselves. Our lives are now HIS. He bought us. We are His children. His ambassadors in this world. We are nobility. We need to dress according to our new calling and responsibilities.

I plan to do a Pendulum Post on this topic in a few weeks, and then I will expand on some of these ideas as we see how Wemmicks swing the pendulum from one extreme to another…and therefore completely miss the whole, beautiful picture of our inward identity in Christ reflected in our outward appearance to the world.

So can you guess what our theme is for FEBRUARY here at Visionary Womanhood? LOVE! Our contributors will be writing about various ways we, as Christian women desiring to honor the King, demonstrate our love for Him…and our love for His people and the world through our demeanor, our dress, our words, and our actions.

And to kick off this month, we have a Resource Giveaway WINNER! Congratulations to: [email protected]!!!

You will receive a FREE copy of our Book Challenge of the Quarter: Assumptions That Affect Our Lives AND…and FREE copy of the teaching reviewed above: Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America! These are the resources that seven Visionary Womanhood Groups across America will be using this month. All active e-mail subscribers to our Monday-Friday blog posts are automatically entered into our monthly giveaway.

Want to know what we are giving away at the end of February? A copy of the DVD documentary: The Monstrous Regiment of Women. I LOVE this documentary! I’ll be doing a review of it March 1st, but in the meantime, if you haven’t already signed up to conveniently receive our full posts in your e-mail inbox and be entered to win…do so now on the sidebar of this blog!