A GOOD LETTER AND A GOOD ANSWER

A sign of the times.

“… Do you ever feel a sense of responsibility to the women — Christian women — regarding their short dresses and fashionable attire? 1 know you do. I do! … Is it important enough for you to be willing to lose friends? Do you have any suggestions? Perhaps you have already written something. I do know that both the Old Faith Contender and Youth’s Living Ideals have contained certain articles on modesty. But I wonder if something like a woman-to-woman approach would have any value.

I just blush for my family when some Christian women sit in our living room. I am often filled with disgust because they should know better. It used to be one or two, but now it seems that nearly everyone is being conformed to the world.

… It’s hard for me to put my thoughts into words, but perhaps you will understand the burden of this letter.

In Christ,_________.”

Indeed I DO feel a sense of responsibility for our dear sisters who are following the ungodly Hollywood and Parisian fashions! I feel also a sense of shame and a fear often fills my heart. This has been the cause for deep concern to me for some time.

I do not hesitate to speak of this evil for fear of losing friends. For, if by reminding and warning our sisters of this great evil, we lose their friendship, we must conclude that it was not true friendship after all. We cannot believe that any true, born-again sister will object to have this matter brought to her attention. I write in the spirit of kindness, realizing my own constant need of the watchcare of loved ones in Christ. We need to be watchful always, and faithful with each other regarding the practices and evil customs of a wicked society. It is so easy to be ensnared, little by little into things which displease the Lord, So, better is the rebuke of a true friend than the flattery of the unfaithful. We must be faithful to the Lord by being faithful with each other, who profess to follow Him. And this matter is indeed important enough to cost us the loss of any supposed friend. It is my earnest hope that there will be none who will become an enemy because one would encourage them to dress in His fear. We pray that they may think seriously upon these thoughts from the heart of a sister in Christ.

We may speak of modesty in dress in a general way, and each one will have her own opinion of what is modest. So we must be specific, as this sister is in her brief but to-the-point letter. We must face the fact that the majority are not dressing modestly. It certainly is not godly modesty to wear a skirt which barely covers the knees when standing, and one so close-fitting that when one sits down the legs are visible well above the knees. This would be bad enough for the very young girl. But for mothers and grandmothers, — supposedly mothers in Christ — it is most disgraceful. One may think her dress is modest because, from her viewpoint, her knees are covered. But, especially if the knees are crossed, she may be indecently exposed to those who sit opposite her.

These styles have even altered the way women walk. Because there is no room for free movement, a twisting kind of a walk has been developed. We are reminded of the sinful daughters of Zion of Isaiah 3:16. They walked “with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, making a tinkling with their feet… .” The curse of God was upon them, and He “uncovered their secret parts.” This movement, along with the body being displayed is most suggestive. The idea behind such styles is to flaunt the body before men, whether we mean to do this or not! We have only to notice the eyes of an evil man follow a woman so dressed to realize the effect of such attire.

Surely this is not what Christian women want to do — to arouse the sinful, lustful thoughts of an evil man! This may be the purpose of bad women, but we cannot believe that this is what a godly woman wants! Nevertheless, the evil man cannot tell the difference between them, and herein lies the great sin.

We know that good, chaste women do not want to so degrade our womanhood as to entice evil men to lust.

And what is the effect on godly men? So sincere Christian wants to see his wife so exposed to other men. Good men are embarrassed by such exposure. As a woman, I have been so embarrassed that I have wanted to spread something over the knees of women who have been in the presence of men, and children. If such dress tempts evil men, embarrasses good men, and shames sisters in Christ, what must it be in God’s sight! How can one take His holy name on painted lips while dishonoring Him in such a manner?

We see some who seem to be very careless and have no thought, apparently, of the way they appear to those sitting across the room from them. Then there are others who do seem to have the modesty to be uncomfortable. They will turn every way in an attempt to sit in a more modest position, and they pull and pull on a skirt that simply cannot be made to cover the knees. It is just too short! Why do they dress in such a way as to shock their own sense of modesty? We cannot say that they are unchaste women, for we know many of them to be virtuous. But they are most certainly following the styles set by women who are worldly or unchaste. These styles are designed to tempt men. They the cleverly designed to appeal to the base instincts of men. They are intended to reveal the body for evil purposes. It does not matter that this is not HER purpose! How can a Christian justify following such fashions? What does she think when she reads the instructions of Paul regarding her dress in 1 Timothy 2:9: “That women adorn themselves in MODEST apparel, with shame-facedness and sobriety.” Notice that such modest dress is an adornment. We adorn ourselves by covering the body, not by exposing it!

The sin, perhaps, is the fear of not being thought to be fashionable. To say the least, it is sinful vanity that causes one to want to be like others, even to the extent of appearing immodest. Christians should be LEADERS in modesty — not FOLLOWERS to the extent of dressing in an indecent manner.

By thus following the multitude that do evil, we are being conformed to their evil standard. An immodest fashion is started for evil purposes, so how can those who have made such a holy profession follow it? They do not have the same purpose perhaps, but nevertheless, it is sin to follow that which is designed by evil persons for evil purposes… .

How awful then it is to see women who have professed to be followers of Christ deliberately and willingly place themselves under the curse of the daughters of Babylon! Isaiah 47:1—4.

Some may say they just buy the dresses which are available in the stores — they don’t think anything about it! Well, we had BETTER think about it! I will admit that one sometimes must search for a modest dress. But they are available, if we want them badly enough to insist on modesty rather than mere fashion. There are still enough women who demand them to assure the availability of modest dresses. And we can encourage the making of more of these by refusing to buy those which are not modest. We can set some standards in styles too! Merchants will supply that which we demand.

Should the time ever come when modest apparel is not available, then we still will not be forced to wear garments fashioned by wicked men and women. We can make our own, and thus have really an “original.” Some women will pay a high price for an original dress. So if we have to, we can make our own original style and design. We don’t have to follow the multitude to do evil by dressing in an evil fashion!

No, this is not a valid reason for such attire. The real fault lies in not wanting to be different. But we MUST he different if we would not shame our profession!

As we maintain our delicateness and modesty, we encourage others not to fear being different. Let US set the standard, and let others follow US!

These few thoughts have been given seriously and prayerfully. May it please God to use them to cause the dear sisters to consider this matter in their own hearts before Him.

Old Faith Contender.

Consider these good courageous words, men and women, boys and girls! Even ministers and their wives receive here earnest instruction and admonition. O, may the holy and righteous Lord give us grace to walk in the fear of His name and give a good example to others. — Ed.

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