In my last post, I told you about my personal struggle with and definition of modesty. It was intended to be a short post in response to the current conversations and arguments over modesty that were quickly circling around the internet and social media. However, in writing that post as well in reading others responses to it, I realized that I need to go a little deeper into my history and how that reasoning was formed.
I don't dress modestly because it is my job to stand between someone else and their weakness, nor do I dress modestly to protect my identity because I have given that job to God, and it is fully protected by Him. See, I dress modestly because I know what distracts me from worshiping God, I know what turns my attention away from Him, and I do my best to dress in a way that helps me better worship Him and hopefully those around me can better worship Him.
I didn't always think this way however, and it was a rather long journey for me before I reached it. In my house, there were rules about what we could and couldn't wear. My sisters and I were never really rebellious children, but I can't say that none of these guidelines were ever challenged. I particularly remember one rule that my father had against pants with writing or some kind of pattern printed on the butt. This may seem like an easy rule to follow, but this was the biggest battle that I chose to fight. See back in the early 2000s, it was the popular thing in the world of competitive swimming to have shorts or pants with either the word 'swim' or the title of the swim meet printed on the back. I'm embarrassed to say that I won that battle and now those shorts hide in the corner of my closet, never to see the light of day again.
I do not blame my parents for my disappointment in modesty. I don't think that they were wrong to give me 'dress code guidelines' because modesty is a really hard thing to teach. How do you teach someone how to understand their personal relationship with Christ well enough to know what takes away from their ability to serve and worship Him? The guidelines my parents set in place for me, created accountability for me but allowed me to learn and discover what modesty means to me and how I can apply it where I have been placed to represent Christ. Take away these early guidelines, and you probably would have a really lost and confused version of Glorydawn.
I think that it is somewhat ironic that I am writing on modesty, as by the current way of thinking, I am among the least qualified to be presenting new guidelines. As a competitive swimmer, I have worn some of the tightest and thinnest racing suits made - in public no less! This points out one of the biggest flaws in the current way of thinking about modesty, because as we put limitations on what is modest it becomes really easy to judge others. When someone's definition of modesty or relationship with Christ is not the same as yours, you are obviously not going to dress in the same way. For instance, my sisters hate going shopping with me, because we've been placed in different fields of ministry. My youngest sister, M. has amazing talent in performing arts (something I greatly lack). She participates in colorguard, show choir and theater and she dresses like someone who does those things. For awhile I struggled as her older sister and always pointing out that that form of dressing didn't match my standards, but now I realized that those are the people she is a witness to and if she can dress that way and still maintain a healthy relationship with the Lord and not feel as distracted as I would be in those clothes, then she is being perfectly modest (and that I need to learn how to be a better shopping partner).
Clear as mud, right?
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