Audio Transcription:
Summer has arrived and questions about modesty are re-emerging. So, Pastor John, can you talk about the question of modesty in relation to beachwear, especially bikinis?And also talk to pastors and leaders. If so, what advice would you give these brave shepherds on how best to cross this minefield?
- The most important question is: is it impossible to go to a church.
- A youth ministry or a school ?.
- A Christian school that is imbued with modesty and wants to solve the problem with rules on modesty.
- There is room for rules and guidelines in the family.
- In schools.
- In youth ministry.
- In churches.
- But if one tries to reverse the situation of rules and guidelines.
- One cannot promote a culture of modesty that exalts Christ.
- Who has his roots in the Gospel.
- Which has the power of the Spirit.
- Which is sustained by faith.
- Which has its roots in the Bible.
- Which is free and full of joy.
- You won’t be able to do that.
- However.
- That’s the goal.
So my focus was never to begin with the rules and guidelines, but to begin with God, with the gospel, with the Bible, with the Spirit, with faith, and with joy, profound things must happen in the souls of a woman and a man. to be able to have thoughts and feelings about these things in a way that honors God.
Until God is your treasure? So I will only say the following to any woman or man who dresses inappropriately: until God is your treasure, until your own sin is what you hate most, until the Word of God is your supreme authority, that you feel most precious. that gold, sweeter than gold, my dear, until the gospel of Christ’s death instead is the most precious news in the world for you, until you learn to deprive yourself of temporal pleasures for lasting joy and holiness, until you learn to love the Holy Spirit and desire its fruits more than the praises of men , until you begin to regard everything as a loss, due to the sublime knowledge of Christ Jesus, your attitude towards your dress and your appearance, it will be controlled by forces that do not honor Christ.
So every pastor can say, “We have work to do. “I mean deep work in the soul. For a shepherd, this means that 99% of his efforts will be to establish, in his heart, these glorious supernatural works. He will preach, teach, worship, and he and his family will serve as examples of how the gospel changes everything. And he will realize that without the work of the Holy Spirit, through the Word and faith, his Church will be divided into two groups of carnal people. There will be a group that will be furious every time you talk about modesty and say, How dare you say how my children and I should dress?It is a bad attitude and it is a carnal attitude, but the other group will focus on the external appearance with little understanding of the heart, which is the most important thing, and these two groups will never make peace. Both groups failed. They have not experienced the profound transformation of the gospel.
So my advice is that you teach these things to your people, that year after year they denounce the pride of debauchery and stubbornness and denounce the pride of externalism and formalism, which has no heart and does not see the Gospel as precious. an evangelical culture where men and women have a gentle submission to Christ, a satisfaction with the Word of God, a humble willingness to listen to the wisdom of others, a desire to grow and learn, a deep distrust of the power of worldlyity to control our habits, and an affectionate respect for people when we choose what we wear.
At the right time? Now I try to get into the details, at the right time, yes, we must quote texts like 1 Timothy 2. 8: “Then I want men to pray everywhere, raising their holy hands, without anger and without animosity. , that women, in decent clothing, commit themselves to modesty and common sense. You have to work on these texts until everyone feels that the Bible really cares about how we dress and really wants us to dress in a way based on the faith of the gospel, which is humble, joyful, exalts Christ, and serves the other. Finally, I’ll give you three practical tips based on my experience:
Tip 1. When it comes to gospel guidelines, start with your team and ministry chiefs; don’t start with everyone; start working from within to develop a culture in which your team, sect leaders, and young leaders serve as role models. Work with your leaders.
Tip 2. Treat with discretion with parents and work for common goals for young people, which is not easy, but it is a wise priority. Instead of attacking things in the most painful way, how do girls and boys dress?We’ll involve the parents.
Tip 3: Cultivate the feeling of joy that modesty is beautiful. Let go of any state of mind that considers modesty to mean old-fashioned. Based on my own experience? I will now bear my testimony as a man who was once a teenager, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 years old, I can testify, without a shadow of a doubt, that at every time of my life, my male life: sensual Women’s clothes are less attractive than modest beauty, of course, it is something that attracts attention, that makes the eyes live , but there is a big difference between attracting the attention of men in sexy clothes and being attractive to be a beautiful and elegant. Person.