A Question About Modest Clothing

A Question About Modest Clothing

Dear Mr. Waddey:
Is it wrong for a Christian woman to wear jeans or dress pants? Would that be immodest?
-Jeanie

Dear Jeanie:
The Bible teaches that " women should adorn themselves in modest apparel...which becometh women professing godliness through good works" (I Tim. 2:9). Peter tells us that rather than concentrating on gorgeous outer apparel, a godly women should put her emphasis on "the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price" (I Pet. 3:4).

Modesty has three dimensions:
1. It is not extravagant
2. It does not attract the lustful gaze of the opposite sex
3. It says that the person so dressed seeks to please Christ and not man

Styles, fashions and even what is considered modest change from generation to generation. In Bible times a modest woman wore a robe that reached to the ground and a shawl upon her head. In the 19th century respectable American women wore floor length dresses. For a man to see an ankle was considered immodest. Gradually styles have changed and now respectable Christian ladies wear dresses and skirts that are below the knee without any sense of shame. So also the style of clothing varies from society to society. Women of the Middle-East still wear the long robe and veil. In Africa they wear long dresses but no veil. In much of Asia modest women wear pajama style pants and a hip-length top. For a Christian woman in America to wear a pair of pants that appropriately cover her body is not considered to be immodest. There is no biblical reason a godly woman cannot wear them.

A thing can be immodest not only by being too short, but also be being too tight, or by being sexually suggestive. Much of the clothing fashionable for young women of our day is immodest. The neckline of the blouses are cut too low, the tops are too short and the pants are hip-huggers, revealing the mid-rift. Clothing can be too transparent and revealing. Logos and images on some shirts and blouses are often suggestive. The conscientious Christian woman will choose her attire to please Christ and her husband. She will not feel she has to wear whatever the worldly fashion-designers create.

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