Sunday, May 01, 2011

Showing Skin in Church

Evidently last night was Prom Night because this morning all the young girls wore their Prom Dresses to Church... And every girl I saw was baring more than I wanted to see... The low cut... The bare back... The bare shoulders.

Now I would have been shocked, but I have never been one to confuse The Church with organized religion.  But it's like this... If a worldly little girl from a worldly little home wants to go to a dance and draw lustful attention to her body by uncovering vast tracts of her skin... She has that right.  (Why should she have fewer rights than prostitutes and cheerleaders?)

But when it's time for Church she should cover up.  After all, scattered here-and-there among all those rich, lukewarm believers is the Bride of Christ... and dressing immodestly distresses them and distracts them from their worship. 

Don't get me wrong... I like rich, lukewarm believers... They have chosen a reasonably moral lifestyle and they make great neighbors.  And they need to have a place to go on Sunday morning where they can hear a sermon offered by a rich, lukewarm believer with a Bible College degree... and they can love God, before going back to loving the world after the benediction.

But deep in the bowels of organized religion there are a few odd souls who have come out from the world to be separate... Who tithe and give generously because they don't covet the things of the world... Who have stopped watching the world's televised trash... Who dress to cover, not to attract... Who struggle to lead Holy lives... And who seek to honor God by excising  piece-by-piece  this prurient, polluted world from their lives.

The world should hate us for our Holiness and be covetous of our love.  But I digress.

In short... I think, after the Prom, before Church, the little tramps should put their clothes back on.

....

5 comments:

Bekah said...

At my old church, we saw prom dresses the day after prom...and I never understood that. It's not prom - why are you wearing your prom dress? I never wore a bridesmaid dress to church the day after a wedding. Maybe I should have.

Because I have a broken inner thermostat, I have to wear the most minimal clothing possible - everywhere - to keep froom overheating. But I do try to keep it church appropriate.

Except when I mow the yard. Then I just don't care.

Malott said...

I suspect you dress modestly even when you are mowing.

Yesterday morning I was seated and preparing for the worship service when I saw a beautiful, bare, sexy, brown back parade in front of me. I looked away, but as an older man, it made me feel uncomfortable because I enjoyed it very much. Worldliness was juxtaposed with Holiness and it felt so wrong.

I am sometimes troubled at how Christian women dress. Modesty has become passe'... Purity cannot exist when other things are mixed in, and when our women dress no differently from the world...

My dad has told me that when he was a child it was the women who simply would not put up with certain things in the culture... Maybe they were the last line of defense. And maybe that's gone now.

SkyePuppy said...

Chris,

Your dad's comment reminds me of a saying I believe I read in Elisabeth Elliot's book, Passion and Purity: A man is only as much of a gentleman as a lady requires.

Today's young women are not ladies, so they don't require gentlemen. With exceptions, of course.

Delta R. Vines said...

I may be old, but, I find myself "extra" agreeing with you on this one, Malott!

Grammy said...

This is a pet peeve of mine because it says so much about who and what we worship. The fundamental problem is the idea of focusing on ourselves in ANY way during a "worship" service. It wouldn't really be different if the prom dresses had turtlenecks and long sleeves. Drawing attention to ourselves during worship is simply idolatry. Way to go, parents! Teach those kids to enjoy going to church more when it's about them. It's much better for them to be bored now and discover later when they grow up that it's never been about them.