“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.” Genesis 3:7
Why should God’s people dress plain? Why should they be modest and decent? What is the harm in showing off the physic that God created? Is there a case for modesty?
Genesis chapter three verse seven is the first time in scripture when man is both aware of his nakedness and feels the need to cover it. Before they sinned in the Garden, man was naked and was not ashamed. They felt no shame because they had no knowledge. Immediately after the fall of man there is an awareness of their nakedness and the reaction is to clothe themselves. The knowledge of good and evil brought about by their sin carried with it the knowledge of nakedness and shame. God would soon come to them in the Garden and ask Adam and Eve why they hid themselves, they replied “because they were naked.” The Lord knew where they were, he knew their disobedience, but he called attention to it and revealed it. He revealed their offence, and their sin. When they sinned, the relationship with God died in them, but what remained was an unholy act of rebellion and ill-gotten knowledge. Before man’s sin we had no knowledge and by extension we were unashamed, but after we had knowledge and by consequence shame. This is evidenced by the covering. It is in disobedience we know of our nakedness and recognize the nakedness of others, and because of that disobedience we cover ourselves; and not just for the sake of one another, but for the sake of God. It is well argued that a cause for modesty is the avoidance of inciting lust, but in scripture the root of modesty is the consequence of sin. You may have a physic worthy of a marble sculpture, and the world may want to see it, but your nakedness still appears as an offence to God because of the fall. Nakedness without covering shows continual disobedience to knowledge gained by unholy acts, and that is the first reason for covering (not the only reason). If you need further proof, consider these two examples where the shame of nakedness is done away. First, a newborn baby. The second, is found inside holy matrimony. In both cases, there is no shame before God or before one another. It is removed because the knowledge that causes it is removed. In the case of the child by ignorance, and in the case of the marriage by commandment. All others, nakedness is an affront to God and man.
If you have been redeemed, then you place God back on the throne of your heart, where he belongs and you have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are not the children of the world, but children of God. The world doesn’t care about sleeve length, skirt length, shorts length, or what bathing suit to wear (or not wear). They don’t see a need to cover, because the rebellion of their nakedness has not been revealed, and if we look just like them; how can it be? The case for modesty is much deeper than “the church says so.” The case for modesty rest’s on obedience to God and denial of yourself.
