Modesty -- Or Idolatry?

I recently ran across an interesting CBN article which quoted Dannah Gresh, the author of The Secret Keeper.  This mother of two daughters has a modesty ministry wherein she tries to reach girls and their mothers before they get sucked into the culture of sexy clothes for young girls. 

When asked about modesty, Gresh said, "You know, that's an interesting topic.  If you look at the scriptures, modesty is self-control and how you present yourself externally so that people can see your heart. The Bible teaches that our primary role, the reason we're on this planet, is to glorify God."

"If we all wake up every day focused on honoring and glorifying God, then we'll all dress appropriately," she says.  "Any time we dress immodestly or we dress to show off our bodies, we're bringing glory to ourselves.  That's the greatest, I think, sin of immodesty, is that we're saying, 'Look at me' instead of 'Look at God.' " 

This is fascinating!  Mrs. Gresh, a modern modesty expert, is equating immodesty with idolatry.  I believe she is right.

While it may not be possible to see a person's sin challenge in an instant, how we choose to dress effectively advertises what is in our hearts. 

Incidentally, Mrs. Gresh also makes the point that, "The way that a man treats a woman is entirely his responsibility, period."  Focusing on how immodesty affects others is getting lost in the collateral damage of the initial problem of the wearer's own preoccupation with being worshiped.

"However," she continues, "a woman is called to exemplify the fruit of the Spirit. One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control, and I think we need to be able to exemplify that in the way that we dress and the way that we present ourselves."


All photos from sxc.hu. Used by permission of jayhoc.