Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

about"naked."aprons"myself."evil"sobriety."married."The Editor's PageUnpardonable SilenceWell, I am sorry that I cannot find it I meanthat one-inch clipping from the front page of TheTopeka Daily Capital by Associated Press leasedwire, reporting that a certain minister (name forgotten)) dared to speak out in a church assembly in adistant city, against semi- and subdi-nude attire oftoo many women on our public thorof ares, as devilish"adulterous"(other adjactives forgotten butwasprobably one of them.) Sorry to have lost it, for itis so much pleasanter to quote others on unpopularsubjects than to authorize your own opinions. Butisn't it a shame that we ministers (perhaps more sothan Catholic priests) have been so silent on thiscrime that would not have been tolerated in the common street-walker of two decades ago! So that theAssociated Press makes news of one who dares tospeak out ! It is a little late in the season (early October) to mention the matter now : however, within the last half hour a teen-ager in those stentorianred flannels ( ?) passed my window. But if the season is over, there will be time for prayerful meditationagain.a cooling-off period before the season opensThat old wisecrack about the "man who worriesabout what the women are wearing has mighty littleto worry is not forgotten but it is not whatwomen are wearing but what they are not wearingthat seems to worry God, and if He thinks it worthyHis attention, let us not scorn it as unworthy of ours.Was it not the Holy Spirit that indited this : "I willtherefore . . . that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety"?With those who conform to this command, we certainly have no quarrel.How Much Is God Concerned?Paradise was the home of a Nudist Colony, nudebecause theywere sinless. One of Satan's inducements to sin was :"Then your eyes will be opened,and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and(Gen. 3 :3). She did eat and he did eat. "And the eyesof both of them were opened, and they knew thatthey were But you cannot regain Paradise byremaining naked. So "they sewed fig leaves togetherand made themselves (Gen. 3:7). A solitarystrapless fig leaf was not sufficient, Greek sculptorsopinions to the contrary, notwithstanding; neitherwere our ancestors satisfied to appear in God's sighteven in multiple fig leaf costumes. Adam said 'Iheard Thy voice, and I was afraid, because I wasnaked and I hid "And the Lord God (bygrace of a blood sacrifice) made for Adam and forthem."his wife garments of skins, and clothed Butthis was apparently before they were driven from thegarden, and after the promise concerning the seed othe woman (Gen. 3:21). The use of this passage is sofamiliar to all as symbolical of man's effort to clothehimself with righteousness in contrast to God s providing the robe of righteousness dipped in blood, thata mere reference to it is sufficient.244If anyone wants to Jmow God's attitude towardnakedness in general, a mere glance in your BibleConcordance will answer the question for you. TheNudists will not find very much basis for their creedthere. But our concern now is not nakedness butcommended in thedress; and modest dress is fullyWord of God. The Son of God died hanging on a tree,cursed and naked, despising the shame, but He waswounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was uponHim, and with His stripes we are healed. In gloryHe appears clothed with a garment down to the feet(Rev. 1:12-16).Is He Concerned with Our Mode of Dress?"A woman shall not wear anything that pertainsto a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment;for whoever does these things is an abomination tothe Lord your God" (Deut. 22:5). Nothing ambiguous about that language ! No mollifying ointment inthat word 'abomination'! What about Halloween?That's your question. Let your conscience be yourguide. Fashions and customs may change, but Goddoesn't change. Personally, I am taking no risks.Does the male have a scripturally prescribedmonopoly on garments of a particular shape as outergarments? What is not immodest for a man may bevery immodest for a woman,and are not the mostextreme styles for present-day men incomparablymore modest than the extreme styles of women?Read again : "I will therefore . . . that women adornthemselves in modest apparel, with shamefacednessandNo similar injunction for men? Apparently they didn't need it. Do you remember whatMichal said to David about his dancing? And shedespised him in her heart.But Why Am I Fussing?Mind your own business, and let the womenmind theirs.Fussing is my business, as a commissioned minister of Jesus Christ, my brother's and my sister'skeeper.I fuss on behalf of the men and the women whostrive to maintain a sense of decency. From the conversation that I hear we get as disgusted as Michalwas, and with more reason, for David was exposinghimself for the gloryof God. How about you ? Thereare two classes of men on the streets : those who aredisgusted by immodesty, and those whose lusts areexcited. Of which do you desire to have the admiration?"Whoso looketh on a maid to lust after her hathcommitted adultery with her in his heart."JesusChrist. Are you willing to be the victim of that man'slust, even though it terminates only in his heart?You are the victim. Mothers, and fathers too,areyou willing that your daughters and their mothersshall be the occasion of men's sins ?A missionary said to me once when we met avery young naked female child on the street in China,"It is no wonder that the Chinese have to keep theirdaughters locked behind closed doors until they areJ. Edgar Hoover's crime report for 1954COVENANTER WITNESS