This season is marked by school letting out and summer fun beginning. What often accompanies hot temperatures is immodest apparel. As Christians, how should we dress in public? The inspired apostle Paul wrote, “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works” (1 Tim. 2:9, 10). In context, the prohibition against braided hair, gold, pearls, and costly garments shows we are not to flaunt wealth and beauty in some gaudy display, but undue attention can also be garnered in our day by wearing too little.
Local customs may play into what is proper dress. For example, Rebekah in the presence of Isaac put on a veil, as a customary sign of modesty and moral uprightness: “For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself” (Gen. 24:65). However, in a different time, in a different locale, on the road to Timnah, Tamar put on a veil attempting to look like a prostitute: “And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife. When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face” (Gen. 38:14, 15). Local custom may carry connotations about which Christians must be wary (1 Cor. 11:1-16). Above the propriety of customs related to time and place, God’s word indicates how much of our bodies should be covered to be modest. All conscientious children of God should ask themselves what God says about modesty, instead of following what the world says.
Before any development of clothing customs, Adam and Eve lived in the garden of Eden. The Bible says they were naked, but were not ashamed (Gen. 2:25); they lived in pure innocence. After the transgression of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, things were different. Genesis 3:7 says, “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.” Realizing their nakedness, they attempted to cover themselves. The word for “apron” in the original language indicates something worn around the waist, like a girdle or loincloth. According to their judgment, this covered them; however, God, evidently, was not content with this scant attire. Notice Genesis 3:21, “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” This implies that before the coats of skins Adam and Eve were still unclothed. God’s judgment of what was needed for proper attire was more than the aprons Adam and Eve had made. God made them “coats”—a word which in the original language indicates a tunic that covers the torso by hanging down from the shoulders. We learn from this account that merely some clothing is not enough. We must have enough clothing to cover us properly.
The instructions God gave to Moses regarding priestly garments also provide insight into this matter. God commanded the priests not to use steps to climb to the altar, lest someone look up and see their nakedness (Ex. 20:26). He also made provisions for attire that would properly cover them, commanding, “And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach” (Ex. 28:42). While certainly God wanted a sense of decorum by His priests as they officiated, the explicit reason to have pants that reached from the hips even to the thighs was “to cover their nakedness.”
Consider Isaiah 47:2 concerning Babylon, “Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.” Babylon is personified as a woman in this figurative passage. God was going to shame that proud nation. He uses the figure of exposing one’s nakedness as a symbol of shame: “Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man” (v. 3). We have already considered the cultural connotation of removing the veil that would uncover locks of hair, but God also uses uncovering the thigh to communicate nakedness and shame. If a woman passing over the rivers lifted her dress, or removed her skirt, so that all of her leg was made bare, exposing her thigh, then her nakedness was revealed. This fits with what God commanded back in Exodus 28 for priests. God has the same standard for both men and women in how much of our bodies should be covered. Most of us would be ashamed to be seen publicly in our underwear. But let’s be honest, is typical swimwear any different in how much of our bodies are uncovered? Many are not ashamed and do not blush when exposed this way in public (cf. Jer. 6:15; 8:12).
It is a shame when Christians identify with the world in immodest dress. The potential for others to lust should cause us to be careful about the way we dress. While each man must strive to keep his mind pure (Job 31:1; Prov. 6:25; Matt. 5:27-30; Phil. 4:8), the liberty we have in how we dress must not be made into a stumbling block for others. This is in keeping with the principle of 1 Corinthians 8:9, “But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.” Even if you think your garb is lawful, it may not be spiritually helpful to others. Again, apply the principle of 1 Corinthians 10:23, 24: “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.”
Do we follow the Bible when it comes to how we dress in public? Do not seek to attract people by merely outward appearance, but let it be an inward, spiritual beauty that pleases God and blesses others. “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price”
(1 Pet. 3:3, 4).