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Posts Tagged with Modesty

Who’s Influencing Us?

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It is arguably among the most uncomfortable discussions born again believers have who want to be considered cool by unconverted friends. It’s possible the internet makes this battle even more complicated. Have you taken inventory of who likes and comments on your social media posts? Have you taken recent inventory of what stories you “like” or “share” or comment on? Have you inventoried the amount of time you’re spending in “conversation” with people in passing that you rarely have to see face to face?

I thought I would take a moment and consider what kind of influence Scripture is having on me in this respect.

Titus chapter two is my starting point. I took the statements by the apostle Paul to heart and weighed them in the balance. So, with the lamp of Scripture on, I take the beam of light from Titus chapter two and let it do an examining work on myself and may it do an influencing work on the reader too.

First the apostle tells Titus that he must tell the Lord’s people what sort of character he should expect to come from sound teaching. There is an expected result upon the follower of the Lord that should be present. It is not a cloning effect, it is a transforming work.

After Paul told Titus to expect a transformation he starts with the old men.

“Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance (Titus 2:2).”

  • Temperate: This interesting word means that a person, in relationship to matters of this world, is not marked with passion for or of this world. Meaning further that if we are more known for our passions of temporal matters than eternal matters then Paul wants the men in the church to not be so marked.
  • Dignified: This character marking of an older man is that he will invest, with honor. This man of God understands order and realizes that he gives leadership in the church by how he talks about the Lord. He knows that what he says about pastoral leadership to others has influence, he must not misuse this influence.
  • Sensible: This is a character slipping quickly away from the older men. Sound teaching should reintroduce this quality for the Lord’s people. This character trait of the Holy Spirit influences the older men to know how to respond when around others. The Holy Spirit will inform the man of God what is considered appropriate. This man of God speaks and acts with awareness of his speech and actions. This man is not know for his silliness or childish demeanor. He understands that he is not a boy and that boys become men, putting away their childish ways.
  • Sound in Faith: This man of God walks in soundness of faith. He is not silly nor does he require God to do what God does not promise to do. He acts on the revealed word of God in soundness. He boldly believes what God has promised. He courageously waits on God to move. This man is spiritually healthy.
  • Sound in Love: This man of God is an extender of grace and is graceful toward the Lord’s people. He loves the church and defends her. He provides and protects the bride of Christ, the church. The effect of sound teaching on this man causes him to love loveless people without morphing truth to fit the age.
  • Sound in Perseverance: This man of God that Paul is telling Titus of perseveres with his face to the Lord as directed from Holy Scripture. He waits on the Lord even when the tide of public opinion of God is declining because of false teaching and teachers of the age. He is soundly in Love with God. So much so, that he submits all thoughts, ideas, emotions and feelings to God and asks God to help him interpret them correctly so he can remain steadfast.
    • Why? because there are young men in the congregation. There are young men watching you in the weekly gatherings. You, older men, urge the younger men to take life seriously, letting your own life stand as a pattern of good living. You are more influential than the most effective marketing agenda in the day. You stand against a beast, now show the younger men what it looks like to be a godly man.
    • Young men, it may be a good moment to turn off your computer and look your wife in the eyes once again. look at her and give her confidence that you have her best interest in mind. She wants to see you looking at her to know you do. It’s time to put aside your childish days and be a man. Are there men in your congregation you can look to? Put your video game down this week and spend a few hours with a godly man who can help you put your family first.

Similarly, like the older men, the older women should be noticeably set apart by their conduct and behavior than the unconverted women of the day.

  • Reverent in their Behavior: The effect of sound teaching on the Lord’s women should be noted in respect to their behavior.
  • Should not Make Unfounded Complaints: The key here is the word “unfounded”. This means that there are actually times to complain, but she only speaks harshly with founded reason.
  • Should not be Driven by Intoxication: Listen to this women. There is an intoxication of this world that apparently causes you to lose sight of how dangerous it is to be carried away with romance or self flattery. This woman of God that is the product of sound teaching is aware of the danger of fancy and fantasy. She must know that she has the capacity to be distracted easily here.
  • They should be examples of the good life: This is an amazing statement. What an enormous responsibility. Woman of God you are commissioned with standing up against the empty promise of the advertisement world. You, woman of God, are positioned uniquely by God, to be an example of the Good life. WOW.  That doesn’t mean you are the example of what the world says is the good life, you are to know the word of God in such a way as to be an example of what God declares to be the good life. Aim your sights higher than you have been. Open up your bible and invite the Holy Spirit to instruct you in this good life, then be an example of it.
    • In doing this you help the younger women. Help them learn to “love their husbands and their children, to be sensible and chaste, home-lovers, kind-hearted and willing to adapt themselves to their husbands.” You are a better advertisement than any movie, book or commercial for the Christian faith. Make sure that the social media engagement you make doesn’t promote a kinship with what the world calls the “good life”.
    • Young women, remember that God made you a helper for your husband. How can you help him if you are more interested in fulfilling the dream the marketing world keeps lying to you about? Look at that husband of yours when you make him dinner and make sure he knows how much you enjoyed ministering to him by obeying God. There is a promise of a good life… it’s just not where the haters of God are telling you it is at. The next time an older woman in the church ask you to come help them with something godly (not silliness) join them and taste this good life.

Paul concludes this teaching to Titus by telling him that his teaching must show the strictest regard for truth, and show that you appreciate the seriousness of the matters you are dealing with. Show this seriousness because the enemy is making a mockery of manhood and womanhood. Make sure that when you speak that you use language that doesn’t show partiality to the spirit of the age, be influenced by the Holy Spirit so that the enemy has nothing in which to pick holes.

Dear Sis,

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Dear Sis,
My  post today is directed to you specifically, sister in Christ. I am willing to admit that a reason to disregard my letter may be because I’ve not taken the time to write you sooner. I hope you will take this short moment of your screen time today and consider my concern.

I get the fun of a perfectly timed selfie. There is something spectacular about having instant connection with hundreds and thousands of  “friends.” You are the first generation to have this kind of connection.

May I say something to you bluntly? I don’t mean to be rude, I just want to be lovingly blunt.

You have already discovered how to get more comments and “likes”, “hearts”, “thumbs-ups”, or whatever the trending props are for a selfie. Be honest about it, you know how to get more attention. Your sultry look into the bathroom mirror does not display the glory of God. It proves you are in bondage to the applause of others.

Hey sister, when you post that picture of yourself with that low cut, tight fitting blouse, cleavage lifting bra, and climbing hem line on your skirt it doesn’t cause anyone to think of you as a pursuer of the holiness of God. Your photos of yourself in your sports bra and skin tight workout clothes on your way to the gym don’t help anyone to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Your doing this doesn’t prove you are a slave to Christ. It more shows a disregard for His glory.

Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying a selfie is wrong (however, after looking the word up I may be changing my mind soon.) Know this, you have some “friends” who do not look at you as a sister. They like to “like” your selfie but they are not communicating anything wholesome or pure. The  sexual cravings of a debase and crooked world, broken or completely void of integrity, are looking in on you hoping you will continue to post more provocative and more revealing selfies to satisfy their hunger and thirst for unrighteousness.

I have a strong admiration for the courageous sister in Christ who takes advantage of a picture to show the beauty of God. It’s not very popular and you won’t get the same kind of attention, true. Is the gospel motivating your post today or is it a craving for the applause of men?

There are really so few willing to be this courageous. It takes a lot to put a photo out there and fear that no one will “like” it. I don’t want you to be uninformed on this. I hope you receive this as written from a brother. I think you have the capacity to truly be different from your peers and be a gospel-proclaimer not a selfie-proclaimer.

God doesn’t  mean for you to be a jelly-fish. God is calling for heroes today, sis. In Scripture, their footprints (selfies) can be scanned through with joy. Be someone who lives life void of the fear of men or driven by the applause of men, be one who delights in displaying the glory of God.

Your brother,
Paul Thompson

Two For The Price Of One

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As I continue my read through “the Soul Winner” by Charles Spurgeon I found this ‘two for the price of one’ nugget in the middle of chapter four. This has been a most helpful chapter for me and one that I highly recommend to all my preaching friends. But don’t miss the other value here.

While I didn’t like everything that Spurgeon had to say about “the kind of sermons that are most likely to convert people” I have taken to heart what I think he was saying with interest.

He broke this chapter down into

  • Firstly, they are those sermons which are distinctly aimed at the conversion of the hearers.
  • Secondly, if the people are to be saved, it must be by sermons that interest them.
  • The third thing in a sermon that is likely to win souls to Christ is, it must be instructive.
  • Fourthly, the people must be impressed by our sermons, if they are to be converted.
  • Fifthly, I think that we should try to take out of our sermons everything that is likely to divert the hearer’s mind from the object we have in view.
  • Sixthly, I believe that those sermons which are fullest of Christ are the most likely to be blessed to the conversion of the hearers.
  • Seventhly, brethren, it is my firm conviction that those sermons are most likely to convert men that really appeal to their hearts, not those that are fired over their heads, or that are aimed only at their intellects.
  • Lastly, brethren, I think that those sermons which have been prayed over are the most likely to convert people.

Now, as you read over the matters of interest in this chapter, make sure to discipline yourself to not interpret what Spurgeon had to say on each of these topics for soul winning sermons. He was not suggesting a formula. He was not suggesting seeker sensitivity. He  was not suggesting emotionalism. Read the chapter in it’s fullness and be encouraged and challenged.

Now, back to the “two for the price of one” thought or the “one-two punch.” On the fifth matter of interest, and one that was most important for me to read because of how easy it is for me to distract myself and the hearer, there was this additional jewel of insight. Like most of the book has been.

“The best style of preaching in the world, like the best style of dressing, is that which nobody notices.”

That was a stunning way to start this section out, but the illustration of what he meant by this was priceless. He went on to talk about a conversation of a husband and wife. The wife was unable to attend a particular event that the husband attended, upon his returning home the wife asked about how another woman was dressed. His answer was, “I did not notice at all how she was dressed; anyway, there was nothing particularly noticeable in her dress, she was herself the object of interest.”

Then Spurgeon went on to bring this conversation between husband and wife back to the topic of interest, the way the sermon should work…

“That is the way that a true lady is dressed, so that we notice her, and not her garments; she is so well dressed that we do not know how she is dressed, and that is the best way of dressing a sermon. Let it never be said of you, as it is sometimes said of certain popular preachers, “He did the thing so majestically, he spoke with such lofty diction, etc., etc., etc.” (the Soul Winner; p.51)

This was a grand way of stating this. It is true, isn’t it? Women, do you not know this about the way you dress? Preacher, do you not know this about the way you preach?

Women, don’t you know that your skin tight clothing may likely distract most men in your presence from you to your body? Preacher, don’t you know that your clever joke you heard at the last conference you attended that everyone laughed at may likely distract most hearers from your sermon this coming Lord’s Day?

Women, don’t you know that your low cut blouse may likely distract most men in your presence from seeing the glory of God and only the glory of you? Preacher, don’t you know that your fancy-talking ways may likely distract most hearers from hearing of the glory of God and be impressed with the glory of your intellect?

Women, don’t you know that your jeans with the strategically ripped holes may likely distract most men in your presence, period? Preacher, don’t you know that your trendy use of technology may likely prove to the hearers that you only know how to use technology, period?

Well, there you have it. The best “two for the price of one” deal I have found today. Women, be careful how you cloth your body. Or do you not know this? Or do you know this and you do it anyway? Preacher [and by preacher, I mean me] be careful how you clothe your sermon this week.

 

Dress Code

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Yesterday, Twin Falls Times News posted an interesting article on the updated dress code for 6th grade through 12th grade students that was just adopted by the Twin Falls School district on July 8 (you can read the article HERE.)

There are multiple elements of this article that are of interest to me. It becomes increasingly difficult to be on campus of any school today because of the clothing styles that more reflect a music video than that of commonly accepted appropriate attire in the work place. (however, even that is on the move toward less appropriate.)

The article by Brian Smith was well thought through and he did a good job of addressing the challenge before administrators and teachers this coming school year. The hardest thing facing Twin Falls School District in this will be in the enforcing. How will the school district handle sports attire (which becomes less and less every year)?

The dress code addresses the length of shorts and skirts. Even though the new dress code has not been published yet the new length is longer, not shorter, than previous dress code. The new length, according to the article, is ‘just above the knee.’ It used to be ‘mid-thigh’.

Here is the old dress code of Twin Falls School District (HERE)

Students are to observe the following guidelines regarding student attire:
1. Shirts must have a modest neckline (no cleavage) and be long enough to cover the midriff
(front and back). No spaghetti straps, tank tops, tube, off-the-shoulder, halter tops, or muscle
shirts will be allowed. No backless, strapless, or half tops are to be worn.
2. Clothes must conceal undergarments (boxers, thongs, undergarment straps, etc.) at all times.
No see-through, excessively tight or torn, or revealing attire is permitted.
3. Shorts and skirts must be no shorter than mid-thigh in length.
4. Pants must be worn at hip-level or higher (no excessive bagging or sagging).
5. No pajamas, slippers, or sleepwear of any kind is allowed.
6. Hats or head coverings (including sunglasses) of any kind are not allowed.
7. Shoes must be worn at all times.
8. Students are prohibited from wearing or carrying clothing, accessories or jewelry, or displaying
piercings or tattoos, which by picture, symbol, or word, depict or allude to any of the following:
Drug usage, including alcohol and tobacco;
Controlled substances of any kind;
Drug paraphernalia;
Gangs;
Violence, hate groups, racial separation;
Sexually explicit, lewd, indecent, or offensive material; or Illegal acts.
8. Visible body piercing or magnetic/glued jewelry on face, eyes, arms, hands, tongue, and
feet is prohibited. Earrings and nose studs are allowed (see MVHS exception). Spikes,
chains, wallet chains, studs, bolts, dog collars, needles, pins, sharp objects, or other jewelry
deemed unsafe is not allowed at school.
9. Excessive or extreme make-up is not allowed.
There may be exclusions to the dress code policy for religious or health reasons.

Even from a biblical standard, this could be a borderline modest code or a good conservative dress code (a few exceptions.)

Most Interesting for me is that this may be more strict than one may find at a Christian private school or church youth group. wow. The bible does address the clothing of disciples and gives guidelines to pattern ones life after. I’m happy to see the Twin Falls School District address this growing problem. Christians are biblically obligated to dress modestly and reflect holiness.

Conservative dress does not make a heart right with God, but… a person right with God will dress accordingly.

Should there be a noticeable difference in the way attenders in a church dress and those in a public school dress? I argue that there should be. Remember that Scripture says the reason for the law was to show the lawless that he was indeed lawless. A dress code is needed for a school, private or public. I can’t imagine what it would be like if there was no code and everyone did what they thought was right in their own eyes.

In the Times News article, Brian Smith notes, “Draw a line in the sand, and some students are bound to cross it. Let that line fade into the surf, and students will draw their own.” This is a fair observation of what has been happening and will continue to happen even with a new dress code. But, the statement is true for all people everywhere… let the line fade into the surf, and we will draw our own line.

The fall out of this new dress code is yet to be seen, but I applaud the Twin Falls School District of attempting to address this issue. I would also like to see the school district address the dance, sports, and cheer team clothing too. The half-time show of the last high school basketball game I attended was difficult to endure, but then again, that was a Christian school.

Here is a good article for consideration on this issue for believers. HERE “Christian women have a biblical obligation to dress modestly and reflect holiness.” Mary Mohler

 

Modesty Could Be Both Sinful and Prideful

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“Though it is true that one may dress modestly from a sinful and prideful motive, one cannot knowingly dress lavishly or sensually from a good one. Thus, the purity and humility of a regenerate heart internally must ultimately express itself by modest clothing externally. ”
~ Jeff Pollard

Here is a good read worth some time for consideration on the topic of Modest Apparel.

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