Christians and the beach

[Guest wontom]

While I do myself dress more modestly than many other women in my area, why is this about women dressing modestly? What about what men wear or dont wear?

Shalom,

The OP is a good, solid, Biblical exhortation and yet people are getting their knickers in a knot at being reminded that women should dress modestly.

The BIBLE says women should dress modestly. It doesn't say MEN, but it is assumed that both men and women should dress modestly. So, if one is going to reject the admonition for WOMEN to dress modestly then that person is rejecting Scripture.

1 Timothy 2

8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness

[Wingwalker]

Wow, this thread really took off........I am glad too, for there was some learning involved. I am glad that the point for modest dress was for worshipping God in a service. Though this does not mean women should dress distastful while in public. And as for the beach......well good morals should go to the beach. At the very least, wear clothing attire that will help protect your skin from the elements like the sun.

I do believe that we can set ourselves apart from the world, by the way that we live, and also the way that we dress. We do not have to keep up with the Jones' or our neighbors, which to do so would have some of us in debt that we cannot afford.

We need to be open to God's direction in our lives, so that we dont fall into being greedy with money, time, things, clothes, etc. Our focus needs to remain on God everyday, not on sports, not on what we are driving, not on who is wearing what, but on our Father who has a purpose for our lives. His plan will be so much more meaningful, if we can keep out as much garbage as we can. There are many obsessions out there that keep the Church from unity. What are we doing to keep unity? Why do we let nit-picky things, that have nothing to do with salvation, come between us and set us apart?

Non-christians are watching us. They are laughing at us. And for some, they dont want anything to with us. Is the Light of Christ shining in you or through you?

[Emily~Anne]

See Shiloh, I can easily find alot of posts where women place the primary blame on men.

No, that was not what was being discussed. It was not that they place the primary blame on men. We were talking about whether or not they feel it is their primary responsiblity to point the finger at men. I asked you to post where they said that they felt it was their primary focus or responsility to point the finger at men.

Noone ever said 'I feel it is to be my primary focus to point fingers at men' and I never said anyone did. My point is I DO see a heavy emphasis by women that men need to keep their thoughts pure and how wrong they are for lusting and etc. I am saying our emphasis as women need to be more on how we dress rather than how wrong men are for lusting. It is just a more productive attitude and more edifying to the body of Christ as a whole.

Sheesh, you are awfully argumentive and defensive and hard to keep the peace with for a mod.

[AndrewA]

I just see this thread has fallen into repetitive point scoring and pointing fingers, especailly as I have gone over these things about 3 times in this thread and all my points appear to have been ignored.

Obviously this thread has run its course. Time to Close I think.

[Vickilynn]

I just see this thread has fallen into repetitive point scoring and pointing fingers, especailly as I have gone over these things about 3 times in this thread and all my points appear to have been ignored.

Obviously this thread has run its course. Time to Close I think.

Shalom Andrew,

With all due respect, you are not the only participant in this thread with a view or opinion or right to post. The choice to close a thread is up to the Mods or the OP.

[Vickilynn]

We need to be open to God's direction in our lives, so that we dont fall into being greedy with money, time, things, clothes, etc. Our focus needs to remain on God everyday, not on sports, not on what we are driving, not on who is wearing what, but on our Father who has a purpose for our lives. His plan will be so much more meaningful, if we can keep out as much garbage as we can. There are many obsessions out there that keep the Church from unity. What are we doing to keep unity? Why do we let nit-picky things, that have nothing to do with salvation, come between us and set us apart?

Non-christians are watching us. They are laughing at us. And for some, they dont want anything to with us. Is the Light of Christ shining in you or through you?

Shalom Wingwalker,

Our focus needs to remain on God everyday, not on sports, not on what we are driving, not on who is wearing what, but on our Father who has a purpose for our lives.

This is SO GOOD!!!!!!!! I hope people get what you said for this the heart of the topic, the heart of the Scriptures and the heart of G-d. This is so important for people to see and it sums up everything on this topic. If we TRULY have our eyes on the L-rd and our heart full of love for our brothers, we will be careful not to dress in a way that tempts them or causes them to stumble. We will be humble and submitted to the Father and desire to please Him and one way is by loving others more than ourselves. We are not to be concerned about what others are wearing, but we ARE to be concerned about what WE are wearing.

[Emily~Anne]

I covered all these points in a previous post, obvsiouly there posts are just going around in ciricles. Repeating a point over and over isnt going to sway those who think otherwise. We have already covered just about every issues.

I shall summerize

First define modest. this is the main problem, however I consider a woman to be modestly dress if she wears a high neck line that will not or looks as though it will gape when she bends over. short skirts above the knee should not be worn. Tight clothing is not modest, not suggesting a baggy sack but certainly anything that draws attention to the females chest and waist below is not good.

A women dressed this way should not be blamed for a mans sin or weakness if he decides to lust etc , but if a woman is showing most of her cleavage for example then yes she must share part of the blame if a man goes away with immoral thoughts about her.

Church one should dress to at least the above, we should most definitely not put temptation in the way of the members of body of Christ, if man struggles with lust then it is not fair that a woman put her body on display for him to enjoy. Of course we do not know who has these problems so be on guard all time. Same goes for outside church in most public places, go to library, shops or whatever and dress modestly, you don't know if a Christian male struggling with lust is standing behind you or sitting opposite you.

However places like the beach you can wear just about anything you like. A man who struggles with lust and immoral thoughts should never go within a mile a beach , if he does and happens to spot you then that is entirely his problem as you are simply one of hundreds of such dressed women on the beach.

the US seem to hold nudity and female body as almost a taboo, its not surprising how some people react. In other cultures women spend all thier life going around topless and no one bats an eyelid. Men can quite happily sit amongst a group of naked women and not have an impure thought, where as someone who has a problem can lust over just about any women regardless of what they wear.

If a Christian man puts himself in a position where he can ogle women then that is entirly his problem not the womens, however if a woman is attending church or church functions then she should dress modestly so as not to make that man stumble Remember we do not know who has these problems and so must be dressed accordingly at all times.

I do agree with parts of this. Also, about defining what is modest and what isnt. Something to consider is, one woman may wear a pink angora sweater that is slightly fitted, but not snug, and for her it may really over emphasize her um.. large chest area. So for her, the sweater is not a good idea. However, I could wear it no problem and be perfectly modest. I am speaking of an actual sweater a friend of mine got as a gift and she was apalled at how it over emphasized a feature she didnt want to emphasize.

I think modesty is important outside the church as well. I used to wear some pretty tiny string bikinis, and only for one reason-to show off my figure. And really, what other reason can there be to wear such a tiny bikini? Though brothers in Christ who cannot control their thoughts probably should not go to pools and such, I still would not feel right to wear one of those tiny bikinis again. I also feel by a high chested one piece suit, I send a message that I have no desire to show off my body, and that I am just there to swim and have fun. Hopefully people respect that. If not ah well, I'm not gonna wear an amish bathing suit.

[nagwalk]

Guaranteed modest swim wear...

Edited November 26, 2007 by nagwalk

[Vickilynn]

Guaranteed modest swim wear...

Shalom,

LOLOLOLOL!!!!

[Emily~Anne]

I cant see the picture!