Comment on modest dressing

 

Please note I did not write this comment I agree with must of what is being said but, is God please with women wearing pants / trousers I believe not especially seasoned, longstanding members and those who hold office in church. neither am I hot on culottes women have worn skirts and dresses for hundreds of years why the need for change? women managed in the pass .(that not to say they can't wear garments under their dress) note my view only! I believe it is the spirit of the age and the subtil attempt of the devil to confuse  man and cause man to rebel against God order of nature .

 

Comment on modest clothing for Christian women

 

So you believe that *typically* this is true. This means that though it is *typically* true that a dress is more modest than a pair of pants, in your experience, it is then *possible* for it to not be true in all cases. That being said, a skirt *can be* immodest... and even more immodest than woman's pants. Does that not mean that pants, in and of themselves, are not immodest, and a skirt, in and of itself, is not modest? But, since each person can wear a skirt as she chooses, modestly or immodestly, or wear a pair of pants as she chooses, modestly or immodestly, it is up to the individual whether or not she or he will dress modestly, and not the skirt/pants themselves making the wearer modest or immodest?This is why I can't cast a blanketing statement that says "pants are immodest." It is not true.

Biblically speaking pants frame a woman’s “thigh” (namely the inseam between her legs with a crotch-knit profile). This was strictly for men’s inner garments in biblical times, women didn’t wear crotch-knit garments. Exposing, revealing, accentuating the leg and thigh of a woman (including the inseam between her legs) is biblically immodest. So pants are immodest. There are skirts and dresses that are immodest also...primarily because they reveal or accentuate the same features through length, tightness, or slits. So one can say that pants, mini-skirts, dresses (or skirts) with high slits on the side, back, or front are all in violation of biblical modesty. One can include cleavage and other things that immodest clothes may accentuate. So these are all lumped together in that they violate the same biblical principles. The only articles of clothing that fulfill the biblical principles that have been embraced for nearly 2000 years in Christian culture is a modest dress or skirt on a woman. That means it should not fit so tightly as to accentuate her form, it length shouldn’t be so high as to expose the thigh (anything above the knee) while standing OR sitting. Also no slits should be such as to reveal any portion of the tithe (including anything between the legs above the knee). These fit the biblical understanding of female modesty. We have over 2000 years of Christian commentary on modesty in dress for women. Only within the past couple generations do we see a departure from women adorning themselves with Christian modesty in the church. Immodest:Low cut or revealing blouses or dressesPantsMini-SkirtsSkirts and/or dresses with high cut slits in the sides, front, or backEssentially anything that accentuates the shame and or form of a woman from her knees up, including the inseam between her legs. Modest:High cut blouses or dresses that do not reveal anything blow the collar bone through outright exposure or tightnessBlouses and/or dresses with sleeve length and tightness sufficient enough not to reveal sides of breasts if hands are raisedDresses and/or skirts that cover all aspects of a woman’s thighs (both inner and outer thigh) without being so tight as to reveal or accentuate formWhile some pants are not as immodest as some dresses…pants are still immodest according to biblical and historical Christian standards of modesty. If you want to wear pants, that’s your choice. I know many humble and submissive women of God who love the Lord so much they also allow His Word to directly guide their adornment. The way we dress is also a form of worship and consecration. What makes an article of clothing immodest is what it accentuates or reveals. Women’s pants reveal the female form in a way that violates all traditional Christian norms of modesty in that they are crotch-knit and reveal and often accentuate a woman’s bottom and inner and outer thighs by virtue of their very cut. I often ask these questions…Is it crotch-knit? Yes. Does it reveal the inner thigh in any fashion that accentuates the curvature, form, or shape of the inner leg, hips, or buttocks? YesIf the answer is yes to these questions, then they are immodest. I will not endorse them as acceptable under my ministry. No hard feelings, I just sincerely believe that the Bible addresses this. There are these things called culottes. These culottes are crotch-knit yet they fall in a manner that when a woman is standing they may appear to be a skirt. One wouldn’t know they were crotch-knit unless the woman was to horse back ride or do jumping jacks. These meet the biblical standard. But women’s pants violate nearly all of the primary concerns regarding Christian modesty for women. That’s why the Christian community vehemently rejected women’s pants when they first came out. Sadly, popular culture has shaped our views on this more than the Bible and our hunger for Christian modesty. I do not want to offend you, but as a preacher I have to be straight with you. The standards embraced by the ancient Hebrews, Jews of Christ’s time, the Church Fathers, Catholics, Puritans, Quakers, Amish, Anabaptists, German Baptists, American Baptists, Wesleyans, Methodists, Nazarenes, Churches of God, and historic Pentecostals are all based on sound biblical principles that went relatively unchallenged until the 20th Century. If you wear pants I don’t think you’re going to Hell or that you’re unsaved. However, I do believe that you will be completely undone when you realize how immodest these things are in the eyes of the Lord when receiving your reward before Christ’s bema seat. When Christ reveals the thoughts and feelings the way you dressed provoked in men around you. Of course you can’t control a man’s every thought…but the way women dress does have some impact and there is some degree of responsibility to be borne. And my greatest fear is that you might loose a degree of reward before your Lord by buying into the world’s standards of modesty…which are actually very immodest. My wife used to wear pants all the time. She started wearing modest skirts and dresses as a sacrifice to the Lord when going to church. Then she began wearing them in her daily life and gave up wearing pants entirely. She has told me the way she is treated when wearing a skirt is far different from the way she’s treated when she was wearing pants. Also men tend to treat her more like a “lady” and not don’t gawk at her behind when she walks by or “buddy-buddy” her like she’s one of the guys; because she’s adorned with a modest dress. The most they can see is her lower calves and her ankles. And she has some outfits that are “power suits” (highly professional) with skirts when at work. She has even stated that people have changed the way the talk around her because one look at her says, “Christian woman”. Whereas when wearing pants and looking like everyone else they poo-pooed her presence at times. The seriously you take your Christian faith and practice the more seriously others will take it also. Give biblical modesty a try. Not legalistically but biblically, as a personal degree of consecration. Do it for a week or a month. I’m certain you’ll experience a spiritual dimension in being a Christian woman that you’re missing out on right now. God bless.