Much of my time recently has been spent preparing some lessons for an upcoming seminar we are having here in Moshi for the girls/young women. The theme of our day will be “Beautiful in the Eyes of God.” One of the four lessons that I will be teaching is “Dressing to Please God.” Regardless of where you live, this is a relevant topic. Insufficient clothing has been a problem since the Garden of Eden, yet many people have yet to learn the lesson.
We identify many people by the clothing they wear. Here in Tanzania, we can easily identify a member of the Massai tribe, by their traditional clothing. We recognize policemen, or other people in public service occupations, by their clothing. As a Christian, what does your clothing say about you?
In 2007, a group of young people conducted a modesty survey.* While they are not members of the Lord’s church, they are religious. The results of the survey were very enlightening. For example, 70.4% of the guys agreed that a woman that shows any part of her cleavage is immodest. Here is a comment from one of these surveyed: “I find it totally distracting. It is EVERYTHING I can do to keep my eyes on her eyes when cleavage is showing.” Another comment: “This is the biggest thing that causes me to fall.”
For the most part, the women of Tanzania tend to keep themselves more covered than females in the states. So, after living here for a year and a half, when our family went back to the states for a visit, we were struck by the degree of immodesty we faced at every turn, including members of the church.
Missionaries have many different challenges on the mission field, and one that we’ve had is the immodest clothing worn by women who come to help, especially during campaign time. Even when the issue has been addressed during orientation time, some continue to do as they wish. This does not help the work!
Ladies, if you catch a man because you advertised with your body, you can lose him just as easily when something better looking walks by. Is that the kind of person you want? What does your clothing say about your heart? Are you dressing to catch the eye of men, or are you dressing to please God?
*(See www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey/ for the complete survey and results.)
I am currently reading a book entitled “Do Hard Things.” This is a book written by twin brothers, who were 18 years old at the time they wrote the book. They challenge young people to rethink the teen years. The majority of teens are satisfied with mediocre production, because that’s all that’s been required of them. Some teens have been made to think they are exceptional, because unlike their peers, they do NOT participate in some sinful behaviors. While that it is all well and good, simply the absence of evil does not make one exceptional. These young authors, Alex and Brett Harris, challenge teens to aim higher than that – get out of their comfort zone, do not be satisfied with meeting mediocre expectations, and make a determination to accomplish great things. The authors are not members of the church of Christ, and so please keep that it mind if you read the book.