Modesty and Worship
There is a direct connection in scripture between modesty and worship. Or, to put it negatively, there is a direct connection between immodesty and idolatry. In the Bible, the worship of the one true God was necessarily done while clothed in garments for "glory and beauty" (Exodus 28:2) while the worship of idols was often performed in nakedness.
God not only commanded His priests to wear garments for "beauty and glory," but He also commanded them to wear linen undergarments that would "reach from the hip to the thigh" and hide their nakedness when they ministered before Him at the altar (Exodus 28:42). Even when David danced before the Lord and removed His royal robes, which his wife, Michal, sarcastically calls "making yourself naked like a fool," he was covered with the linen ephod that the priests were required to wear in worship. The Law of God is explicit that true worship is expressed in modest clothing.
Pagans, on the other hand, were infamous throughout various cultures for worshipping their gods while stripped naked. In fact, many forms of idol worship throughout the ancient world specifically included sexual deviancy as an expression of perverted worship. The temple of Aphrodite in ancient Corinth had a thousand temple prostitutes to serve the worshippers. Pagan worship included all forms of sexual sins such as homosexuality, pedophilia and bestiality. As far back as the Golden Calf, Israel ended up naked when she imitated the practices of the heathen. (I Corinthians 10:6-11) There is always a direct correlation in scripture and history between idolatry and fornication. Of course, getting naked is the first step toward fornication. Immodesty and idolatry always go together.
In Romans 1, Paul shows us an explicit connection between idolatry and fornication. "Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." (Romans 1:24, 25) Improper worship causes man to lose his creational bearings, his natural orientation, and he begins to embody the collapse of his existential identity through sexual perversion. Idolatry leads inexorably to fornication.
When man loses sight of God as His Creator, he loses sight of himself as God's creation, for he is created to be a reflection of God, and humanity becomes inhuman. And inhumane, for that matter. Idolatry leads to a crisis in sexual identity because sexual identity comes from God and can only be properly preserved through right worship. Worship reveals who God is, which reveals who man is. Think about Isaiah beholding the glory of God and responding in terror, "Woe is me! I am lost!" Man sees himself in light of his revelation of God. Idolatry blinds man to himself and leads to the distortion of self that is expressed in sexual sin. Fornication is always a result of idolatry.
The loss of God-centered sexual identity leads to the loss of covenantal sexuality, which is sex in the sanctity of marriage, and the loss of covenantal sexuality leads to public nakedness. Private intimacy becomes public display. When men and women lose sight of God and His holiness--in other words, when they fail to worship--they fixate their gaze on one another. And when they start staring at one another rather than beholding the glory of God, they begin to lust after one another. As Paul says in Colossians, covetousness is idolatry. Lust is worship failure.
When God as the Creator is no longer the center of creation, then the covenantal expression of the one-flesh relationship that God ordained--sex in the sanctity of marriage--becomes a frustrating barrier to self-gratification. The love of God is replaced by the lust of man, and fornication becomes the only way that lustful man can express his pathetically impotent sexual identity. How are the mighty fallen!
Let me say it again. There is a direct connection between modesty and worship. Immodesty is an indication of self-worship, which is the root of all idolatry. Immodesty is an inglorious display of the body in a way that pleads to be worshipped. "Please," Immodesty begs, "look at me! Behold me! Worship me!" When lustful men demand that their women run naked in the streets, they too are promoting self-worship, for they are worshipping the female body in order to gratify their own desires. In fact, they are not really worshipping the woman at all; they are worshipping their own desires. Men look to lust; women lust to be looked at. Idolatry is always a selfish projection of human desires. Idolatry is always rooted in self-worship, the veneration of the body and its passions to the detriment of the soul and its visions. Immodesty is idolatry.
As noted above, God commanded that His priests be dressed modestly when they ministered before Him. This theme is carried out in the New Testament as well. In both places in the New Testament where Paul and Peter talk about modest dress, their teaching is set in the context of priestly worship. Paul writes about the public worship service and commands the men and women to dress modestly as a matter of decorum before God while "lifting up holy hands." (I Timothy 2) Peter addresses the idea of modesty in the larger context of worship in the world as Christians live out their priestly calling in all nations. (I Peter 2, 3) In both instances modesty is taught as a matter of priestly ministry. Modesty is an expression of worship.
In I Corinthians 11 Paul takes the idea of proper attire even further when he teaches the women of Corinth to be covered in worship "because of the angels" (I Corinthians 11:10). There is a wide spectrum of thought on what this means exactly, but whatever all it means it at least means that the way we dress in worship is observed by angels and affects their response to us. My point here is simply that decorum in dress is a worship issue. The angels of God take note of how we are dressed and regard it as a matter of preparation for priestly service. As Paul asks, "Is it comely for a woman to pray uncovered?" The way we dress expresses submission to God. Modesty and worship go together.
One final point. If modesty and worship go together, then we must consider where worship occurs so we can know where modesty should occur. Think about it for a moment. Worship happens in the temple of God, and the temple of God exists on three levels: the temple of our bodies, the temple of the church and the temple of the universe. This means that we must dress modestly in private worship, though we exercise the liberty of covenantal nakedness in the marriage bed; we must dress modestly in congregational worship, for we are gathered with the holy saints and angels; and we must dress modestly while ministering in the world wherever we anywhere in the universe, for our priestly ministry in the world mediates holiness to all creation.
This point of private, congregational and universal priesthood is very important to our discussion. It refutes the idea that modesty should happen only when we go to church. We minister as priests upon the altar wherever we are at all times. We are priests in our homes with our families. We are priests in the church when we gather to worship. And we are priests at the mall and at the beach. Therefore, because we are priests at all times and everywhere we go, we are called to be clothed in righteousness and covered in holiness. Modesty and worship go together.
God not only commanded His priests to wear garments for "beauty and glory," but He also commanded them to wear linen undergarments that would "reach from the hip to the thigh" and hide their nakedness when they ministered before Him at the altar (Exodus 28:42). Even when David danced before the Lord and removed His royal robes, which his wife, Michal, sarcastically calls "making yourself naked like a fool," he was covered with the linen ephod that the priests were required to wear in worship. The Law of God is explicit that true worship is expressed in modest clothing.
Pagans, on the other hand, were infamous throughout various cultures for worshipping their gods while stripped naked. In fact, many forms of idol worship throughout the ancient world specifically included sexual deviancy as an expression of perverted worship. The temple of Aphrodite in ancient Corinth had a thousand temple prostitutes to serve the worshippers. Pagan worship included all forms of sexual sins such as homosexuality, pedophilia and bestiality. As far back as the Golden Calf, Israel ended up naked when she imitated the practices of the heathen. (I Corinthians 10:6-11) There is always a direct correlation in scripture and history between idolatry and fornication. Of course, getting naked is the first step toward fornication. Immodesty and idolatry always go together.
In Romans 1, Paul shows us an explicit connection between idolatry and fornication. "Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." (Romans 1:24, 25) Improper worship causes man to lose his creational bearings, his natural orientation, and he begins to embody the collapse of his existential identity through sexual perversion. Idolatry leads inexorably to fornication.
When man loses sight of God as His Creator, he loses sight of himself as God's creation, for he is created to be a reflection of God, and humanity becomes inhuman. And inhumane, for that matter. Idolatry leads to a crisis in sexual identity because sexual identity comes from God and can only be properly preserved through right worship. Worship reveals who God is, which reveals who man is. Think about Isaiah beholding the glory of God and responding in terror, "Woe is me! I am lost!" Man sees himself in light of his revelation of God. Idolatry blinds man to himself and leads to the distortion of self that is expressed in sexual sin. Fornication is always a result of idolatry.
The loss of God-centered sexual identity leads to the loss of covenantal sexuality, which is sex in the sanctity of marriage, and the loss of covenantal sexuality leads to public nakedness. Private intimacy becomes public display. When men and women lose sight of God and His holiness--in other words, when they fail to worship--they fixate their gaze on one another. And when they start staring at one another rather than beholding the glory of God, they begin to lust after one another. As Paul says in Colossians, covetousness is idolatry. Lust is worship failure.
When God as the Creator is no longer the center of creation, then the covenantal expression of the one-flesh relationship that God ordained--sex in the sanctity of marriage--becomes a frustrating barrier to self-gratification. The love of God is replaced by the lust of man, and fornication becomes the only way that lustful man can express his pathetically impotent sexual identity. How are the mighty fallen!
Let me say it again. There is a direct connection between modesty and worship. Immodesty is an indication of self-worship, which is the root of all idolatry. Immodesty is an inglorious display of the body in a way that pleads to be worshipped. "Please," Immodesty begs, "look at me! Behold me! Worship me!" When lustful men demand that their women run naked in the streets, they too are promoting self-worship, for they are worshipping the female body in order to gratify their own desires. In fact, they are not really worshipping the woman at all; they are worshipping their own desires. Men look to lust; women lust to be looked at. Idolatry is always a selfish projection of human desires. Idolatry is always rooted in self-worship, the veneration of the body and its passions to the detriment of the soul and its visions. Immodesty is idolatry.
As noted above, God commanded that His priests be dressed modestly when they ministered before Him. This theme is carried out in the New Testament as well. In both places in the New Testament where Paul and Peter talk about modest dress, their teaching is set in the context of priestly worship. Paul writes about the public worship service and commands the men and women to dress modestly as a matter of decorum before God while "lifting up holy hands." (I Timothy 2) Peter addresses the idea of modesty in the larger context of worship in the world as Christians live out their priestly calling in all nations. (I Peter 2, 3) In both instances modesty is taught as a matter of priestly ministry. Modesty is an expression of worship.
In I Corinthians 11 Paul takes the idea of proper attire even further when he teaches the women of Corinth to be covered in worship "because of the angels" (I Corinthians 11:10). There is a wide spectrum of thought on what this means exactly, but whatever all it means it at least means that the way we dress in worship is observed by angels and affects their response to us. My point here is simply that decorum in dress is a worship issue. The angels of God take note of how we are dressed and regard it as a matter of preparation for priestly service. As Paul asks, "Is it comely for a woman to pray uncovered?" The way we dress expresses submission to God. Modesty and worship go together.
One final point. If modesty and worship go together, then we must consider where worship occurs so we can know where modesty should occur. Think about it for a moment. Worship happens in the temple of God, and the temple of God exists on three levels: the temple of our bodies, the temple of the church and the temple of the universe. This means that we must dress modestly in private worship, though we exercise the liberty of covenantal nakedness in the marriage bed; we must dress modestly in congregational worship, for we are gathered with the holy saints and angels; and we must dress modestly while ministering in the world wherever we anywhere in the universe, for our priestly ministry in the world mediates holiness to all creation.
This point of private, congregational and universal priesthood is very important to our discussion. It refutes the idea that modesty should happen only when we go to church. We minister as priests upon the altar wherever we are at all times. We are priests in our homes with our families. We are priests in the church when we gather to worship. And we are priests at the mall and at the beach. Therefore, because we are priests at all times and everywhere we go, we are called to be clothed in righteousness and covered in holiness. Modesty and worship go together.
posted by Steve Pixler at
10:37 AM
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