Sound The Trumpet

Typically, modesty is viewed as an issue for the women. The majority of men are visually stimulated where the majority of women are stimulated on various emotional levels. For that reason, it is the women who have the most to be concerned about regarding their appearance. This does not mean that men do not have a problem with modesty. The majority of the Scriptural principals discussed in this series of articles apply to men equally as they do to women. Men are to be covered, should not reveal their thigh, should not reveal their chest and should not wear clothing which is so tight as to reveal the form of their body. More importantly, men and women both need to have an appearance which brings attention to their countenance. They need to draw attention to Christ. Ultimately, directing attention to Christ is the key to modesty for both men and women. If you have read this series on modesty and you only came away with a checklist or a list of rules to dress by, you have missed the point. Just as Christ should be the focus of our life, Christ should also be what people see in our lives. This leads us to a logical question: can a person, whether male or female, be modest if they are not saved? Regardless of how you may dress, you cannot be truly modest, in the sense described here, if you are not saved.

Mark 5:1-15 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. (2) And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, (3) Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: (4) Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. (5) And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. (6) But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, (7) And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. (8) For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. (9) And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. (10) And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. (11) Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. (12) And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. (13) And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. (14) And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. (15) And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.

In this passage, Jesus encounters a man possessed with many demons. He was described as a man who was unable to be tamed, who was naked and who cut himself. In verse 13, we see Jesus bidding the demonic spirits departing from the man into a group of swine. Immediately, the man was changed. In verse 15, the man is described clothed and in his right mind. Jesus gives us a clear principle in this passage. When one is saved, he is changed. A newly saved person is also a new creature. Part of the change Jesus makes in our lives is clothing us. Second, it is impossible for someone to be truly modest (drawing attention to Christ living in them) if they are not saved. One cannot draw attention to something that does not dwell within them and one cannot direct attention to someone she has never met. When someone is saved, the Holy Spirit of God indwells that person. One job of the Holy Spirit of God is directing attention to Christ. If you have never met Christ and the Holy Spirit is not living within you, you cannot direct attention to Christ - you cannot be modest.

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Do you find the concept of modesty repulsive? If so, I would suggest that you may not be saved. No, I cannot know what is in your heart. Nor do I have access to the Book of Life, but if you find the concept of modesty, of drawing attention to Christ, to be so repulsive, so revolting that you must mock it and fight against it, you may be in the same condition as this maniac of the Gadarenes.