Window Shopping

In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety… with good works. 1 Timothy 2:9-10

I was on a job site once where the customer, a trim, fit woman, made frequent appearances at the work area wearing short shorts and a crop top. Over the course of the day, an old man arrived delivering some materials. As we were taking care of paperwork, he commented to me something about how distracting it must be working with her around. And he meant distracting in an enjoyable, “you have committed adultery in your heart” sort of way.

I told him I was happily married.

This got me thinking. This is the kind of comment that our culture looks at as sexual harassment and toxic masculinity. And it is. There is no justification for this objectifying “locker-room talk.” Men are responsible for what they think and say and do.

At the same time, our culture wants to pretend that it shouldn’t matter what the women wear. Men should just not have any issue with nakedness. But the only way to do that is to emasculate the men. They want that anyway. But it’s not going to happen. You may as well make a flotation device out of lead. It’s all fun and games until the boat goes down, and then suddenly the laws of the universe get in the way.

God designed the female form to draw the male eye like a magnet. That’s a wonderful thing, but both sides have a responsibility. And a lot of times, it’s an unknown responsibility. Many men who would never do anything to harm a woman physically simply don’t know better than to enjoy a second look. And women growing up in a ferociously sexualized culture are just used to dressing like something out of Proverbs 7.

Yes, modesty starts in the heart. But the Bible doesn’t tell women to clothe themselves in modest attitudes. That’s certainly implied- and indeed it is the primary issue. Modesty is about humility- not drawing attention to oneself. That does indeed include more than covering nakedness, and it does indeed start in the heart. But if the station is the heart the destination is the wardrobe, and if the train never arrives, something is wrong with the engine… or it was on the wrong track all along.

It’s worth mentioning that you can also conform externally to the Biblical command without ever having your heart in it at all. That’s legalism, and it explains clothing line names like SexyModest.

So guys. Jesus says that lust is just heart-level adultery. Women aren’t just pieces of shapely steak to be devoured with our eyes. They are people with souls and we need to honor them as such. Further, we need to protect them from men who want to use them- including that little creep in our own hearts.

And y’all on the left need to be fair here. Quit condemning Mike Pence as a sexist because he sets up precautions around his natural masculine propensities. This is reality; reality is uncool these days, but it remains stubbornly real. Of course, that’s why the Pence rule is seen as sexist- because it reflects the binary reality of gender distinctions and attraction. And we mustn’t do that.

And ladies, if you don’t want men window shopping, stop advertising your wares.

I’m just saying.

#Complementarianism #Manhood #Modesty #Christian #Womanhood