Forgotten Commands

“Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.  I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” (I Timothy 2:8-10 NIV)

Sometimes when I don’t have a sense at all of what to write in this space, I think of a particular book of the Scripture and turn there to see if anything jumps out at me.  This morning was one of those times and I Timothy came to mind and I turned to the second chapter.  This passage was (well, not literally) flashing like some Las Vegas neon sign.  And I know why.  During the last week, I have experienced what this passage addresses.

A lot of people it seems are heading to the beach this time of year and, as is our practice these days, posting pictures on Facebook.  What caught my eye, literally, was the number of pictures of women in very revealing bikinis.  Mind you, these are women who are believers.  And this seems to be a trend—as long as you are at the beach, wearing what is basically underwear by a different name is totally acceptable.  

The question that has been burning in my head is, whatever happened to the biblical concept of modesty?  Is this command by Paul to women a relic from another time that has no relevancy to women today?  It appears many believe this, but I for one hope that we can reclaim it for today because it is much needed for the sake of men who naturally struggle with lust and for women, particularly adolescents for whom body image is an issue for many.  

The idea of modesty, I believe, is to take the focus off the external so that the internal shines through.  In my mind, every father and mother would desire their daughter to be wanted not for her body, but for the depth of her mind and heart.  Yet the culture pushes in the opposite direction and there doesn’t seem to be much pushback from believers.  Is it perhaps time to change that?

And last night, my wife and I hosted a group of couples from our church for a meal.  After the meal, we gathered in our living room for a time of prayer.  What struck me was only one other man besides me voiced any prayers.  There were seven of us and only two prayed aloud.  The women had no such problem.

Working with college men, I know this is a long-standing problem: most Christian men are just uncomfortable with prayer, particularly in any public setting.  I’m not sure why, but I know it is true.  But like the lack of modesty among women, this, too, is unacceptable in light of Paul’s command.  Regardless of the reason, men need to step up, have courage, and pray.  And the boys and teenagers desperately need to see men praying in order to break this trend.  

So what was written long ago still has acute relevancy today, but we must take these commands to heart and see the need to obey them if anything is going to change.  Men, what about you?  Women, what about you?

© Jim Musser 2015