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Does Our Appearance Affect Our Testimony?

by willetta pilcher  
4/15/2010 / Christian Living


I've pondered the question over and over. Does our appearance affect our testimony? And in what way? I know it does for many. Their comments run the gamut of raving approval to utter disgust. What is it that makes the difference? And the question does not apply just to women but to men as well. The question includes not only a modesty issue but one of sloppiness and cleanliness.

I posed the following question on FaceBook and received the following responses.

QUESTION: We've been having a discussion... How would YOU define modesty. 1Ti 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel... What is your definition of HOW a Christian lady should be modest in her dress?


RESPONSES: Not too tight, too short or too see through. No boobies showing!

Pleasant but not sensual. now I suspect every one will jump on the band wagon and ask what I consider sensual...

Sensual could be just seeing a ladies ankles for some men. I believe that you should dress nicely, not like a street walker. I think also the body language should be decent. Different styles look different on different body shapes, so know what would look decent on you personally.

As my daddy used to say .......what are you advertising? I remember him telling me as a young teen - save something for later( meaning I couldn't date, I couldn't wear lipstick or heels until a certain age - determined by him) and I came home one day......and said Daddy, I saw some one who wasn't saving anything for later..... little did I know how true.

I truly feel sorry for men in churches now days. Some women come to church looking like they are going to the beach! Cover your body like you be standing in front of our Lord. You don't have to be covered from head to toe, but think about it more before you leave your house!

Modesty is what society deems it to be. Some places it is total covering. In others it's total nudity. For us as Christians, I think the closer you are to the Lord the more he reveals what is modest for you. I think America, in general, is immodest for our general society. It's not uncommon to see half nude men and women walking around. But, more and more, that is becoming the commonplace. Will we all be nude before long????? Not me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"If I had an ounce of good sense I would stay out of this (so now you know, I don't.). Modesty is not gender based even though here it is applied to women. Modest is a condition of the heart, "restrained by a sense of propriety". Let your adornment exude the quietness and ordered constraint of the Godly spirit within. I don't read anything in that verse related to the response others may have. It is the individual condition that is at issue in my view. Verse 8 will produce verse 9 every time.

"Unfortunately the opinion of Modesty has changed a lot. Seek the Lord if you truly want an answer and let him show you. Not "you", I was meaning Christians in general. If we truly want God to show us what he wants for us all we have to do is ask, then Listen to the direction he gives us. Most of us are afraid to ask. Fearing the answer we may receive. "

Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit according to 1Co 6:19-20 "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body"

If I believe the scripture (and I certainly do) it seems to me that as believers we must act upon the scripture rather than take our opinions from the world at large. Advertising does a big SELL in the area of appearance. It promotes all kinds of products to enhance physical beauty. However, the appeal is not only physical it is also sensual. Sex in one form or another is used to sell almost every product available. The whole thrust is to use "fleshly lusts" to sell their product. If we aren't careful, as Christian, it forms our opinions and desires. The word of God is to form the opinions and desires of the believer.

And just in case someone gets the idea that sex is a taboo subject with this old lady, nothing could be farther from the truth. Sex was God's idea but He gives strict commands concerning the appropriateness of its use. And it isn't to be used as a come-on for the opposite sex.

Now lest you want to excuse yourself in some way or another let's remember that it is important to call sin by it's right name. We, especially in America, have tried to soften sin by giving it another name. We call adultery "an affair." We call homosexuality "gay." We call drunkenness "alcoholism." We call fornication (in all it's forms) a "right." We call immodesty of dress "fashion." And on and on it goes. So... lets look at scripture. I am using the NIV translation.

Eph 4:17-20 "So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. You, however, did not come to know Christ that way."

Col 3:5-8 "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things ..."

1Th 4:3-8 "It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit."

1Jn 2:16-17 "For everything in the worldthe cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and doescomes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever"

So lust in all of its ramifications (including the inciting to lust) is ungodly. That should apply to our appearance and dress as well.

Remember ladies, men respond to what they can SEE. So be careful how you present your body in dress as well as behavior. It is a sad commentary but true, society has programed women in such a way as to cause them to lust after the male body as well. So men, be a gentleman in your appearance as well.

Summer is coming and the revealing of the body will be more prevalent than ever. Guard your eyes and your thoughts. As Mom used to say, "You can't keep a bird from flying over your head but you don't have to let it build a nest." In case you don't get the analogy... You can't keep thoughts from flying into your mind but you don't need to entertain them.

Personally, I find the naked body on display disgusting, offensive. It is though my eyes are being assaulted with images that I do not wish to entertain. I've done the most intimate of care in a nursing situation and I do not find it abhorrent at all. But when it is blatant for the world to see... that is another matter. If I find it so, I hate to think what battles men must wage in order to keep their thought life pure.

I also personally find those who dress in a sloven, sloppy manner equally offensive. As well as the person who presents their self in a dirty fashion. Now, I'm not foolish enough to think that someone who has just gotten off work must run home and shower before grabbing a gallon of milk. But some people seem to flaunt their sloppiness and filthiness without regard to their appearance in the eyes of others. In fact, I find some do it (especially sloppiness) as a badge of expression. Do they not have the "right" to express themselves? Of course but if they have that "right" then that "right" must be extended to those who oppose it.

People base their opinion of our relationship with the Lord on our appearance... not only on our physical appearance but on our actions, reactions, our words and attitudes. Let's present Him in a godly manner to the world around us. Perhaps we will have a better influence.

Willetta has spent most of her life ministering to people. In her late seventies, and a wheelchair now her mode of travel, she now ministers to people through the internet. Her webs are...
www.teachmethyways.org
www.successwithkids.org
www.theseedsower.org

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