Should We Not Put More Emphasis On Christian Living?

Should We Not Put More Emphasis On Christian Living?

Dear Bro. John:
I have been a Christian for over 30 years. I like a strict, straight laced, Biblical church. I remember the first time a woman wore a pair of pants to church and how shocked we all were that night. It has been down hill since, with changes in the acceptance of mixed bathing, socializing where mixed drinks are served, etc etc. In my opinion, when we yield on little things around the edges of the Church's foundation, even the center will slide out of place.
-Mark

Dear Mark:
I too grew up as a Christian in a very strict environment. Over the years my study and my travel to many foreign nations has broadened my perspective on some of these matters. For example:

I learned that styles of clothing are constantly evolving. Our great grandmothers wore their dresses to the ground. To show their ankles was considered immodest. Over the last century styles changed. I doubt that you would expect your wife or daughter to wear a dress that touched the floor. Granted many women wear their dresses too short. But a Christian woman can be modestly dressed with a dress to her knees. Modesty is determined in part by how society views a thing. It also varies from culture to culture. Christians must be modest (I Tim. 2:9-10). The details of what is modest will vary as time passes.

I discovered that nothing in the Bible says that only men can wear garments with legs. In Christ's day both men and women wore robes made of blankets. The type of belt distinguished between male and female styles. Prior to World War II our social custom was that women only wore dresses. When women went to work in defense plants they had to wear pants to protect their modesty. Pants can be either modest or immodest depending on how they fit. In some parts of Asia, the women wear pajama type pants with a long top and the men wear a skirt with a shirt.

I learned that not everyone who played cards gambled. While gambling is wrong, playing cards is not.

I discovered that not all movies were vile and evil.

I saw that tap dancing was not the same as lascivious dancing.

At the same time I learned that love, kindness, purity, goodness, fidelity, patience, humility were essential ingredients to the Christian life (Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 4:31-32) and were sometimes neglected.

Perhaps that is why God let's some of us live to be older, so we can have time to learn such things.

Sincerely,

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