In 1999, a 22-year-old woman fresh out of college rocked the cultural boat in America with her book Return to Modesty (Simon & Schuster, 2000). Since then Wendy Shalit has been a voice for modest dress among women in America. She has written for national magazines and appeared on network news. Her book, Girls Gone Mild (Random House, 2007) continues her call to women to realize that the sexual revolution has not resulted in freedom but in emotional entrapment. Shalit’s Web site, modestyzone.net, has proven a valuable resource for hundreds of women who are looking for alternatives that are godly and just plain psychologically sound. But why does modesty matter?
The Biblical Importance of Modesty
I had almost forgotten about the existence of modesty as a public high school teacher in the 80s and 90s. One of the first things to surprise me when I came to work at a Christian college was that there were still modest young women in the world.
Paul says to Timothy,
I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God (1 Timothy 2:9, 10).
Peter says something similar:
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight (1 Peter 3:3, 4).
The book of Esther records a moment in history when a woman refused to have her beauty paraded before a group of men:
On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him . . . to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger (Esther 1:10-12).
The Bible doesn’t say whether Xerxes or Vashti was in the right in this disagreement, but it does say Vashti lost her title as queen. That she was not killed, however, at least suggests the possibility that Vashti was right in defending her modesty.
And while Scripture (and even our own culture) seems to focus on the modesty and beauty of women, men are not free from dealing with issues of appearance: “Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’” (Genesis 39:6, 7). Shortly thereafter Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of trying to seduce her and he was sent to prison for it.
Physical Beauty Is Not Shameful
The Bible speaks of the importance of modesty and the limitations of beauty. Is it saying, however, that physical beauty should not matter to us? If it is, then there’s no place for the Song of Solomon, a book which celebrates romantic love in marriage, including the pleasure of enjoying a spouse’s physical beauty:
How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Mount Gilead.
Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
not one of them is alone.
Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth is lovely.
Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.
Your neck is like the tower of David,
built with elegance; . . .
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle
that browse among the lilies (Song of Solomon 4:1-5).
We may not see the beauty in the description of hair like goats and teeth like sheep, but trust me when I say it’s there—this is love poetry celebrating the beauty of a woman (see 5:10-16 for the wife’s description of her husband). Scripture should always be read in relation to other Scripture. When talking about modesty and beauty, we tend to focus on Peter and Paul. A full reading of the Bible shows that physical beauty matters and that, especially in marriage, we are allowed to celebrate it. Indeed it is because beauty matters that we should be concerned about modesty.
We’ve laid a biblical foundation for modesty, one that acknowledges the need to be modest but also the goodness of beauty in the human body created by God. Next month we’ll seek to answer several questions: (1) Why does modesty seem to matter more for women than men (and does it really)? (2) What is a true biblical attitude of modesty? (3) How can we be modest in a culture where fashion is so often immodest? |L
Dr. Charlie Starr teaches English, Humanities, and Film at Kentucky Christian University in Grayson, Kentucky.
OTHER COLUMNS:
November 8, 2009 - Why I believe in God
October 25, 2009 - Commuting in days of evil
October 11, 2009 - Poets and don’t know it
September 27, 2009 - How Hollywood proves abortion is wrong
September 13, 2009 - Significance
August 30, 2009 - Dance alternatives
August 16, 2009 - Gluttons for gossip
August 2, 2009 - Truth from Twilight
July 19, 2009 - Visitor-friendly churches
July 5, 2009 - The Shack
June 21, 2009 - When forgiveness fails
June 7, 2009 - Re-imagining Education (Part Six)
May 24, 2009 - We are not alone
May 3, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part five)
April 26, 2009 - Conviction
April 12, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part four)
March 29, 2009 - An evangelistic proposal
March 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part three)
March 1, 2009 - He makes me sick
February 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (Part Two)
February 1, 2009 - Spiritual insecurity
January 18, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part one)
January 4, 2009 - Church and politics
December 21, 2008 - Heaven’s music
December 7, 2008 - The church and marriage
November 23, 2008 - God and the president
November 9, 2008 - A time for courage
October 26, 2008 - Likes and dislikes: the Prince Caspian movie
October 12, 2008 - What’s that noise?
September 28, 2008 - Modesty matters (part two)
September 14, 2008 - All it takes is some TLC
August 17, 2008 - What would you fight for?
August 3, 2008 - Staying through the credits
July 20, 2008 - Honor to whom honor
July 6, 2008 - Tyler Perry and the movies you’re missing
June 22, 2008 - The peaceable kingdom
May 25, 2008 - Another generation grew up
May 25, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part two)
May 11, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part one)
April 27, 2008 - What is truth?
April 13, 2008 - And the geek shall inherit the earth
March 30, 2008 - A charactered God
March 16, 2008 - The college choice (part two)
March 2, 2008 - Good news can be hard to hear
February 17, 2008 - The college choice (part one)
February 5, 2008 - Ten suggestions for a godly standard of living
January 20, 2008 - Expelled: that “Bueller” guy’s pro-God movie
January 6, 2008 - Choosing a lifestyle
December 23, 2007 - Teachable TV?
December 9, 2007 - Owners or stewards?
November 25, 2007 - Christians teaching Christians to change TV and film
November 11, 2007 - My money is God’s business
October 28, 2007 - Navigating under the radar
October 14, 2007 - The things God values
September 30, 2007 - Movie moments
September 16, 2007 - God’s economics
September 2, 2007 - The best books to read
August 19, 2007 - There’s a rat in ‘separate’
August 5, 2007 - The art of reading
July 22, 2007 - Atheist chic
July 8, 2007 - Why books matter: the sequel
June 10, 2007 - Books: why they matter
June 3, 2007 - The non-impact of “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”
May 27, 2007 - The universal gospel
May 13, 2007 - Loving Muslims through culture
April 29, 2007 - Hope
April 15, 2007 - God in the dark
April 1, 2007 - The gospel goes to the movies
March 18, 2007 - What the Bible movies can teach us
March 4, 2007 - What will you hurt for?
February 18, 2007 - Why Heroes . . .
February 4, 2007 - Give peace a chance
January 21, 2007 - When fairy tales are true
January 7, 2007 - WYSIWYG lives
December 31, 2006 - What’s coming next?
December 17, 2006 - Mercy, mercy
December 3, 2006 - Proof of evolution!
November 19, 2006 - Hungering for God
November 5, 2006 - Violence and government, war and peace
October 22, 2006 - The mighty meek
October 8, 2006 - The Battlestar and the Bible
September 24, 2006 - Soap for the soul
September 10, 2006 - Right vs. cool
August 27, 2006 - The painful truth
August 13, 2006 - More Lies Hollywood Tells
July 30, 2006 - Christian counter culture
July 16, 2006 - The lies Hollywood tells June 16, 2006
July 2, 2006 - Roll over, Da Vinci July 2, 2006
June 18, 2006 - Blockbuster season June 18, 2006
June 4, 2006 - All things to all men June 4, 2006
May 21, 2006 - When media attacks! May 21, 2006
May 7, 2006 - Culture critiques church May 7, 2006
April 23, 2006 - Responding to The Da Vinci Code April 23, 2006
April 9, 2006 - The Matrix (but not the movie) April 9, 2006
March 26, 2006 - The inside scoop Mar. 26, 2006
March 12, 2006 - Teach your children Mar. 12, 2006
February 26, 2006 - Lessons from the Lost
February 12, 2006 - Syncretism, shmyncretism Feb. 12, 2006
January 29, 2006 - Holy Hollywood?
January 15, 2006 - A people under the Word
January 1, 2006 - Lessons from Kong
