The incident that got me thinking on this is something that happened yesterday. I was stopped at the local convenience store and in our town it is located near a recreational trail. Some girls were coming off the trail and had been running as evidence by the level of sweat coming off them. The stopped by their packs and one of them proceeded to change her shirt. She stripped off her sweaty shirt and put on a clean one. My wife's reaction was classic Christian -- "Hello, what does she think she is doing?" Now, she had a sports bra on and the fact is she did not show anything. It was my wife's reaction that got me thinking. Note: I love my wife and what she did is not only typical of her but of many Christians so I am not picking on her. Are these kinds of reactions to such thing smelling of a little self righteousness? When a Christian sees something like this and makes a comment about it what exactly are we saying?
1. Are we saying that we have become the official judges of morality in our culture that we have the right to tell these people what is right and wrong? I hope not -- we earn the privilege to be heard, we do not have an inherent right to it.
2. Does this make us feel better about our own morality? Are we saying in our hearts: Man I am sure glad I am not like other people -- I keep my clothes on. I often wonder about this when women do this to other women -- is this a hen pecking order thing? I am a better women because I live virtuously and this other woman does not.
3. Do we really have a Biblical view on nudity, modesty and culture when we do this? I doubt it. Most Christians have never bothered to study the subject Biblically -- what they judge on is what they have been taught by their church culture.
I am not sure but I think we violate some Scripture when we do this -- Luke 19:9-14 comes to mind:
And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves
that
they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: "Two men went
up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
"The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust,
adulterers, or even like this tax
collector. 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I
get.' "But the tax collector,standing some distance away, was even
unwilling to lift up his eyes to
heaven, but was beating his breast, saying,
'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' "I tell you, this man went to his
house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will
be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."
As much as I have thought Matthew 7:1-5 is misused it may be in this case it may not be. If we do not have Biblical understand of what constitutes nudity -- that is what is Biblical and what is church culture -- are we not judging people on a man made standard rather than letting the Word do it itself? Think so.
Perhaps if we spent as much time praying for people as we do judging slights of morals and ethics maybe we would be more effective in persuading people that Christianity is the real deal.
IMHO
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