Have you ever had the experience of going to worship God and being shocked by the way some fellow Christians in the assembly have dressed? If you have, I assure you that you are not alone. Immodesty has become an unspoken, but a very visible problem in our assemblies.
Here is an audio sermon that I preached yesterday morning on the subject of “Modesty.” If you’re wondering what kind of response I would have after preaching a sermon like that, I will also tell you that I have never, in all my years of preaching, preached a single sermon that had as much positive feedback. Apparently, the majority of people in our congregations are not pleased with what they see.
The very end of my sermon was “cut off” but I want to take a moment and explain what I want the congregation to do with this sermon. I wanted to leverage the church’s collective influence and positive peer pressure to involve them in this sermon. I asked them all to write me notes, sharing their thoughts on this subject. I plan to “edit” them, print, and distribute them to the congregation next Sunday. I want those who would flaunt the Bible’s teaching on this topic to know that they are “out of place” in our assembly of worship. I think by involving comments by the entire church, it will make it much more difficult to dismiss my sermon as irrelevant or just my opinions. (By Sunday evening, I had already received over 30 letters/notes from the congregation).
Maybe you can work this sermon into something that may be of profit for your congregation as well.
Steve,
I want to commend you for a superior job you did with this lesson on modesty. I don’t see how anyone could fault the manner in which you presented it. I know as we talked about this last Monday on our way to the preacher’s meeting, you were giving this topic all your deepest respect and consideration. The results showed. Thanks again for sharing this very timely lesson. I thought your idea of requesting “input” from the congregation was perfect. I hope you get lots of good feedback and support.
God bless you and your excellent work at South Green St. Congratulations on beginning your 20th year. I know I treasure our friendship, and I am very thankful we live close to each other. Keep preaching the Word brother.
Steve,
Part of the difficulty is because of the fact that our gospel is for the world and the “world” often finds its way into a worship assembly. There are those who should know better (and I’m sure those are the folks you’re speaking to) and there are those who can’t be expected to know any better. How do you rebuke the one without crushing the other?
I believe Paul’s answer was sufficient. Let the older ladies teach the younger ladies how to be modest. Let the older men teach the younger men.
This kind of lesson is 15 years overdue by all preachers. You can’t go anywhere in the summer without seeing garbage on everybody from the Elders down to the youngsters. I’ve seen preachers and Elders wives with shorts and some in clamdiggers, guess they plan on digging for clams. Jeans and even junky jeans on Elders. One even was teaching in Tim. 2 and went right over it and failed to a”dress” his dress. It took a long time for this lesson to get through with all the slow computer feed on line but it was worth waiting for it to the end. Obviously the older women weren’t teaching the younger and ALL lessons need to come from a preacher from time to time. Thanks Steve, Patrick
Bold. Like what you’re doing here, Steve. Sometimes the listeners of our sermons fail to hold the mirror up. Your endeavor here is forcing that to occur. Great job.
As an employer, I daily meet with people looking for employment. Almost every time, I’m forced to ask myself, “Did this person come to me wanting employment dressed like that?” That person had to get up this morning and look in the mirror and accept their appearance and dress for employment.
Unfortunately, I’ve oftentimes sat through church asking myself a very similar question about how certain individuals could look in the mirror and accept their appearance for the purpose of worship.
Very good lesson, Steve. Thanks for having the courage to cover such a topic.
Steve,
I have listened intently to your lesson several times, knowing how much another sermon on modesty was needed here in W. Ky. (It’s been a while.) yesterday morning I preached a similar sermon to yours, & it had a tremendous reception! Thanks for additional motivation.
–Mike Tucker
Steve, I listened to your lesson just now and I wish to commend you on the way you presented it in love and in a totally non-offensive way. The lessons that I have heard on this subject in the past were usually full of mean spirited and hateful remarks. Yours had not of that and I thank you for it. Keep up the great work. In Christ, Jerry
Thanks to everyone for the kind comments and support.
Steve,
I thought this article and sermon was fantastic. I hope that you don’t mind that I linked to this article on my blog to point other people to your fine work!
Jonathan Jones II
Spring Hill, TN
Hey Jonathan,
Thanks for the kind words. Certainly I don’t mind that you linked the article and sermon. I’m glad you found it helpful.
If find it interesting that every comment here is by a man. I remember years ago, in the 1970′s, in church (of Christ, yes) a sermon on the topic of wearing mini skirts to church. The deal was that the elders, etc who passed the Lord’s Supper couldn’t keep their minds on “holy thoughts” when seeing all the leg exposure. What really struck me about the situation was that the females were being BLAMED for the male’s inability to control their lusty thoughts.
So, while I do think many clothing styles are too revealing (then and now), I also feel that you guys should take more responsibility for your reactions. Temptation is all around–for everyone–I don’t, for instance, blame a piece of cake for tasting good when I’m on a diet. Get my drift?
Hello Lisa,
Thank you for your comments. To begin with, I would say that the reason all the comments on the posts were from men had nothing to do with the subject matter, but rather has to do with the make-up of those who visit my site. I don’t know that you can find a “female” comment on any post I’ve written since January. So don’t read too much into that.
Next, I would say that the women who wore immodest clothing is to be blamed for the lustful thoughts of men. Careful, I did not suggest that the men are guiltless. Surely they are not. But the source of this sin is the immodest dress. This sin is what led to the second sin of lust. I don’t think the announcement you heard in the 1970′s was an attempt to justify lust on the part of man, and put all the blame on women. And really, you don’t think that either, do you?
I am with you with reference to everyone taking responsibility. Men and women need to dress modestly. Men and woman need to refrain from lust. I assure you that no one is trying to give anyone a “free pass” to sin. By addressing the subject of “modest dress” I no more condoned lustful thoughts than preaching a sermon on “lustful thoughts” condones immodest dress.
The purpose of the lesson was to call men and women to purity.
We need more plain sermons like these!