I read a gutsy article earlier this morning about modesty alongside a proclamation of Jesus.
I say “gutsy” because I imagine La Shawn Barber has already reaped plenty of scorn and condemnation for it. (Hopefully, some praise and commendation as well.)
Here are some bits from her piece as posted over at World Magazine:
As we entered the park, I noticed a large group of people wearing matching “Team Jesus” T-shirts.
I watched these teenage girls with “Team Jesus” displayed across their chests and wondered why their parents, particularly their fathers, allowed them to leave the house in such tiny shorts and made-up faces.
I observed the girls out of curiosity, knowing that some of the men standing in line observed them for other reasons.
Plus, as Paul writes in Titus, older women “are to teach what is good, and so train the young women…to be self-controlled, pure,” which will not only help discourage lust, but also encourage the wearer to seek holiness.
So even though women and teenage girls can show little or no flesh and still be the object of lust, Christian women should do their part, even in this age of political correctness, to deter sin by dressing modestly and encouraging their younger sisters in Christ to do likewise.
Generally, I can’t figure out people wearing billboards, especially when they’re just providing free advertising for some clothing line. (If Nike would pay me to wear their swoosh, but when I’m expected to pay them to wear their ad at not cost to them…)
But that aside, if a woman wears one of these “Team Jesus” shirts, where exactly am I supposed to look if I want to read the finer print? And how do I look there without appearing to be looking there?
Of course, I don’t think it best for Christian women to wear T-shirts. And if consistency requires that Christian men not wear them either, I can live with that.