Edge of Danger
I Introduction
A Uncomfortable Topic, not meant to harm or embarrass, but to help growth. I am just a messenger.
B Walking the edge of danger
1 Walking on edge of grand canyon – Danger! Looking down barrel of gun – Danger!
2 Handling rattlers – Danger! Swimming with sharks – Danger!
3 How close you can get to other cars – Danger!
4 Do you walk the edge of danger when it comes to Modesty?
a Ask yourself this question as we discuss this topic today.
II Reality
A Much of the World is Focused on Sex and Physical Appearance to Influence Others.
1 Sexual innuendo, images, storylines, and agendas surround:
a Advertisement, entertainment, sport, education, and even politics.
2 Sexual temptation has resulted in:
a Divorces/remarriage, abortions, shacking up, unwed mothers, and widespread pornography (Timothy Kidwell).
· Brad Harrub Focus Press Study
(i) “Anonymous study conducted on Facebook with 300 young people (the vast majority of whom identify themselves as New Testament Christians). In this research, 39% of the teens admitted to having viewed pornography online in recent months. That is more than 1 out of every 3! Understand this question did not ask how many had ever viewed Internet pornography, as that number would likely be double. We were simply asking how many had viewed this sinful material recently. If 39% of our children admitted that they had viewed pornography recently, one can only wonder what the real number must be—and how many adults are viewing explicit material!”
· “Seventy percent of American men ages 18–34 view Internet pornography once a month.”
(i) “One in three visitors to adult websites are women” – Christianity Today Website.
· According to The Kaiser Family Foundation
(i) In 2003 – 62% of youths reaching 12th grade have had sexual intercourse.
3 This Era of time in the USA has trained men to view women not as sisters, but as objects
a Rather than being viewed as women of Proverbs 31…
· Women in America since the 1920’s have been encouraged to be overtly immoral.
(i) Clothes have become tighter, shorter, and designed for attraction.
(ii) Promiscuity and lasciviousness has been encouraged as a sign of independence.
b Men, Christian Men, myself and other men of this congregation, admit it is a constant battle to keep our minds pure every day based on what surrounds our society.
c Increasing the sexual temptation of men in society has had and can have terrible results.
· According to a study in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, men whose desire had been aroused were significantly more willing to make immoral and riskier decisions that normal.
(i) This included verbally manipulating and even drugging a woman to take advantage of them.
B Not Just Our Era has Been Driven by Immorality
1 Job made a covenant with his eyes over the temptation of women (Job 31:1)
2 Sodom and Gomorrah
a Such activity vexed Lot day by day (2 Peter 2:7-8)
3 Samson – “Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.” (Judges 14:3)
4 Solomon and his many wives, concubines, and maidens.
5 This is not just a man’s problem.
a Potiphar’s wife and Joseph
III The Body of Christ Should be an Example of Purity to the World
A New Testament Teaching Directs Holy Living
1 1 Timothy 4:12 - Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. (too Timothy but applicable)
2 2 Timothy 2:22 - Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (too Timothy but applicable)
3 1 John 2:16 - For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
4 Romans 13:13 - Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
5 Romans 12:1-2 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
B My experience
1 Every Church visited is dealing with purity issues.
a The world is being imitated Christians.
· A number of Christians are imitating the world at home, work, and worship.
· Immodesty and therefore, immorality is being allowed in the Church.
b I have seen immodest pictures of my Christian sisters on the internet and personally in the pews.
· I have visited their homes and seen predominately naked pictures on their walls.
(i) I have seen them in string bikinis, short skirts, short shorts, and more.
· I have been embarrassed to see fathers cover their daughters laps with coats in pews.
C Problem of Immodesty is Everywhere – Problem is here
1 It has been brought to my attention by a number of men and women of this congregation
a Of course, I have seen it myself and with summer around the corner – It will get worse.
b Immodest attire affects the worship of the congregation and the purity of souls.
2 I Have Often Been Asked Here and Elsewhere, “What Do I Do”?
a This is not a Matthew 18 issue – This is a public issue.
· Yes, it is good to approach an individual directly.
· Sometimes, we struggle, even the elders, to have the courage to do it.
(i) No one wants to be put in that uncomfortable situation.
b The Answer in regard to what to do is: Educate lovingly through Scripture.
· This comes privately, publically, at home, and through separate classes with older men and women guiding the younger.
IV Our Obligations to the World and Other Christians in Regard to Modesty
A Love Others
1 Matthew 22:36-40 – “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
a Loving them means we want the best for them.
· Do we want to walk the edge as to whether or not our actions show them love?
B Save Others
1 1 Timothy 4:16 - “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” (too Timothy but applicable)
a Do we want to walk the edge with others salvation at risk?
C Actively Avoid Being a Stumbling Block
1 1 Corinthians 8:13 – “Wherefore, if meat causeth my brother to stumble, I will eat no flesh for evermore, that I cause not my brother to stumble.”
a Do we want to walk the edge with another person’s conscience?
D Do Not Defraud Others
1 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 – “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication; that each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who know not God; that no man transgress, and wrong his brother in the matter: because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.”
a Defrauding in this text means harming another’s purity through temptation.
E Being a Proper Example
1 1 Thessalonians 5:22 - “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
F Heed and Share the Warning:
1 Matthew 23:15 - Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
2 When we follow what our desires and not God’s two things occur:
a We put ourselves in jeopardy of going to hell.
b We put them in jeopardy of going to hell.
G Do We Want to Walk a Dangerous edge of Questionable Behaviors When It Comes to Souls?
1 We have some major obligations to fulfill.
V Before Examining God’s Standard, I Want to Share My Modesty Survey Results
A Multiple Churches of Christ including denominations and world. Many Questions. Mention a Few…
1 Note: These are opinions.
a They are shared to gain an understanding of what Christians around you are thinking.
b By knowing what they are thinking, we can understand better how we would harm their conscience, be a stumbling block to them, tempt them, and put their salvation in jeopardy.
B Survey Answers:
1 Question 2 – Are spaghetti strap dresses modest attire for women?
a 84.62%% said no, they are not modest.
2 Question 4 – If you can see a woman’s thighs is her clothing modest?
a Only 88.1% of females said No. 95% of males said No.
· Understand the thighs by definition come down to the sides of the knee.
· A number of women standing up or when they sit in the pews show this portion of their leg and the Christian men around them notice and are distracted.
3 Question 5 – If you can see the outline of a woman’s undergarments, are her clothes too tight?
a 89.2% said yes.
4 Question 6 – Is it modest to show part of the stomach?
a 94.8% said no.
5 Question 7 – Is a shirt which shows the cleft of a woman’s breasts modest?
a 96.2% said no.
b A number of women wear shirts such that when they sit down, men can see the cleft of their breasts.
6 Question 8 – Should a woman’s skirt cover her knees?
a Women – 63.5% said yes.
b Men - 75% said yes.
7 Question 12 – Is a woman with a full length dress more desirable as a wife than one with a mini-skirt?
a 87% of women said yes.
b 93.1% of men said yes.
8 Question 16 - Do all the women of your congregation dress modestly?
a Only 34% vouched for their congregation and said yes.
· Most folks looking at their brothers and sisters give them a failing grade for modesty.
C Realizing the views of our brothers and Sisters, will we walk the line in regard to Modesty?
VI Finally, Let’s Examine God’s Standard for Modesty
A Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
1 The principles God has shared are eternal.
a God hates divorce. (Malachi 2:16)
b Proverbs 6:16-19 – “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”
c There are many others throughout scripture.
2 The eternal principle we want to examine for God’s standard of Modesty was given in the beginning.
a Man sinned in the Garden by eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
· When they did so, they realized they were naked.
· Note: Nakedness in itself was not sinful.
· However, Nakedness when man obtained knowledge of evil, became a temptation to others.
b Though man covered his loins and midsection in Genesis 3:7-10, he realized he was still naked.
B Genesis 3:21 – “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”
1 The word “Coat” in this text was a garment that covered the shoulders all the way down to by definition one of two areas:
a Either all the way down to the ankles
b Down over the length of the thigh
C Exodus 28:42 speaking of the priests of the tabernacle states:
1 “And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover the flesh of their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach:”
a Some folks become concerned that this was part of the Law of Moses and therefore not applicable.
b However, what God calls nakedness has nothing to do with the law. It is an eternal principle.
· The term “unto the thighs” means as long as.
2 Examining this verse leads a person by necessary inference to understand that if to cover a man’s nakedness the low point of a garment was to cover the thigh, then the standard given in Genesis 3:21 can be understood to be the same.
a That standard covers the body from the shoulders down to the end of the thighs which again, goes to the midpoint of the knee.
VII A Final Verse to Consider
A Many Folks Try to Focus Only on I Timothy 2:9 as their Standard for Modesty.
1 1 Timothy 2:9-10 – “In like manner, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefastness and sobriety; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly raiment; but (which becometh women professing godliness) through good works.”
a The claim is that modesty can be viewed as cultural. Man determines what is modest.
2 The context of the verse is a woman not dress for the purpose of drawing attention to herself.
3 The term “apparel” which is used is quite interesting. It is only used in this verse. In Greek text it typically means a garment which is let down or long robe.
a Thus, in this seemingly generic word apparel, is a message rather specific.
VIII Closing
A Lesson not Pointed at Any Specific Individual