Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Cover yourselves

To the junior high girls at my church, their parents, and the Church leadership:

The Kentucky winter has finally faded, and summer is in the air. I am as much a fan of comfortable clothes as anyone else. I greatly appreciate that the Current Employer allows blue jeans and "business casual" shirts. The winter pants and the heavy ankle-length skirts are heading back into the closet, as they should.

This is the second year in a row that I have been distressed at the length, or more importantly, the lack thereof, of the skirts being worn by the junior high and high school girls at church. They may be fashionable in the secular world, but there is no excuse for wearing a skirt to church that barely covers one's underwear. It is not modest for any lady to wear a skirt that goes much above the knee, and it is more immodest still for a child to be so dressed.

Girls, modesty starts with you. Short skirts and flashy clothes do get you attention, but it's not good attention. You are advertising yourself not as a person, but as a sex object. Christian women are called to dress well, but to dress modestly. Advertise yourself with your personality and your attitute, not with the "promise" of easy access.

Parents, you are the ones buying these clothes. Christians are not called upon to be frumpy or dowdy, but we are to be modest. There is nothing modest about a 14 year old girl wearing a skirt that barely covers her underwear. There is nothing modest about a 12 year old being unable to sit down without flashing someone. Buy fashionable clothes that look good for your children, not turn them into sex objects.

Leadership, when parents are not drawing the line, it's the Church's job to step in. I know how hard it is to get young people to want to come to church, and its not our place to put undue burdens on our youngsters. However, we must also not allow immodest behavior continue unchecked. Send a letter home to all parents of teens, saying that the church has seen the problem start. State that after a given date, all teens who are wearing inappropriate clothes will be asked to go home to change. State that skirts shorter than one inch above the kneecap (or a similar standard) are inherantly immodest. And then do it.

There are areas where we need to make a stand, and this is one of them.

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