Live your theology.

I’ve got myself an extra copy of R.C. Sproul & Abdul Saleeb’s The Cross and the Crescent.

If you’d like it, simply leave a comment that starts with the words “The one thing the my church needs to do is…” and then fill in the blanks.  This is me being curious.  +

I’ll draw a winner randomly on Friday.  You can follow me on twitter & tweet about it if you’d like.

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Have you ever watched an episode of The Way of the Master?  It’s an evangelism/witnessing program.  Folks on the street have their “goodness” challenged in comparison to the law of God.  Some folks acknowledge that they’re guilty of transgressing God’s law, but not everyone admits that such a transgression means judgment.  They seek to justify themselves.  The most common way this is done is by comparing their morality with those around them.  “I’m guilty, but I’m not as guilty as this guy!”

That’s not how it works.  Most followers of the way will point that out.  It’s not the standards set by the world or the people around us, it’s what God commands us.  And yet when the topic of modest dress comes up, I find many Christian women justifying their attire in the same way.  “I’m not dressing as immodestly as that girl!”.  Sometimes that’s true, and sadly sometimes it’s false.  But is it an acceptable answer or is it not so different from the folks getting grilled on WOTM?

Paul speaks to the Church in 1 Timothy 2 on some inherent issues men and women have.  He points out that men have a problem with anger, and that women have a problem with modest dress.   So the apostle says that women should “adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire…” (1 Tim. 2:9).  But what exactly does “respectable apparel” mean?  That’s the sticking point that allows a number of interesting apparel choices to go unchecked in worship services.  Respectable attire, in the modern evangelical vernacular means dressing nearly as provocatively as the world, but not quite.  Consider a description of immodest dress given in an article by Doug Wilson:

There are three common problems with immodesty in women’s dress – too much, too little, and too tight.

“Too much” is flamboyant or ostentatious – dressing like a hooker. The sin is not avoided if a woman uses “gold, pearls, and costly array” in order to look like a courtesan – a higher class of hooker. In either case, a woman can send immodest signals even when everything is covered. This means that her immodesty consists, not in what she is doing at that moment, but in what she is promising to do later. The language of her clothing states unambiguously that, however much of it there is, it comes off easily enough.

“Too little” means cleavage, vast expanse of thigh, that sort of thing. Women with this problem dress like a sale at J.C. Penney’s – forty percent off. Too often Christians assume that this kind of skin exposure is the only possible “modesty problem.” This is not true, but it remains common nonetheless. This immodesty is compounded by girls who wear short skirts and who do not know how to sit like a lady, showing the world what’s fore and aft.

“Too tight” is the most popular mode of disobedience among modern evangelicals. The whole world is invited to gawk at the topographical evidence concerning exactly where her underwear starts and stops, along with the exact condition, location, and size of her breasts. Many Christian women go to worship today dressed in a manner that would have gotten them thrown out of a bar fifty years ago. Ah, Christian liberty.

So if this is a problem (and it is) is the answer for women to dress in burlap sacks or to for church gatherings to look like a Little House on the Prairie convention? Nah.  When Paul speaks to not wearing gold or pearls or costly attire or braiding our hair, he’s not legalistically saying that these things are bad in and of themselves.  Rather they’re bad if they’re being used in a manner that does not lead to good works and godliness.  So the solution is to ask how we’re glorifying God with what we wear and how our clothes might impact the brothers and sisters around us.  

This is something that often just isn’t done.  A pair of jeans are purchased and often the only question that was ever considered was whether or not it made the wearer’s butt look good, or big but rarely is there a purpose to wearing a piece of clothing specifically designed to make my posterior look as good as possible to whoever is looking.  Should a husband have the right to visually look upon the garden that is his wife? Absolutely.  Should I?  Not at all and yet all to often Christian women dress in a manner that offers just that.  Some of them do it on purpose.  Most of them know not what they’re doing, but why would they if they never stop to ask?

//Flame on.

This is a bulletin insert written by Western Reformed Seminary‘s professor of History Chris Lensch.  Enjoy your weekend (especially if it is of the 3-day variety).

“Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!”

Turning Point

The poem above is the fourth and final verse to our national anthem.  It was sketched on the back of an envelope by Francis Scott Key in the summer of 1814 during the Battle of Fort McHenry outside the Baltimore Harbor.  Mr. Key, who had been involved in negotiating the release of American prisoners, was being detained by the British invaders until after the attack since he had seen the strength of the English force.

For 25 anxious hours the young lawyer paced the deck of the British warship that held him and his companions, worrying and wondering whether the American fort could hold out.  The thunderous bombardment against Ft. McHenry lasted a day and a night.  The harbor air was streaked with rocket smoke.  Over 1500 cannonballs, some weighing up to 220 pounds each, were lobbed at the Americans; the fort took many hits, and one bombshell actually fell into the fort’s powder magazine and could have spelled the end — thankfully, it was a dud!  By night the English rockets illumined the American defenses, and in the morning, Key found inspiration in the sight of Old Glory fluttering defiantly.

Christian Faith

Francis Scott Key’s ultimate belief, however, was not grounded in mere ideals of American freedom and bravery.  His personal hope was in Jesus Christ!  As a devout Christian he led his household in prayer twice each day and ensured that those under his roof were at Sunday services.  A member of the Episcopal Church, he actively promoted the gospel message and methods of the evangelical “low church” wing.  For a while he even considered the ministry, but he remained an attorney, using his legal skills and vast connections to serve the cause of Christ.

As district attorney in Washington, D.C., he argued several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and he moved among the power-brokers of the nation’s capitol. When his political friend, John Randolph, was toying with atheism, Francis turned John’s thinking through a chain of correspondence that patiently and persistently “preached” the only hope of mankind.  As a Christian apologist, Key “attributed calamities to the wrath of God and believed in the unseen hand of the Lord at work to chastise the wicked and reward the worthy.”

One of his other poems captures Francis Scott Key’s devotion to Christ:

“Lord, with glowing heart I’d praise thee
For the bliss they love bestows,
For the pard’ning grace that saves me,
And the peace that from it flows;
Help, O God, my weak endeavor;
This dull soul to rapture raise;
Thou must light the flame, or never
Can my love be warmed to praise.

“Praise they Saviour God that drew thee
To that cross, new life to give,
Held a blood-sealed pardon to thee,
Bade thee look o him and live;
Praise the grace whose threats alarmed thee,
Roused thee from they fatal ease,
Praise the grace whose promise warmed thee,
Praise the grace that whispered peace.”

Conclusion

As we celebrate our nation’s freedom on Independence Day, let us thank God for Christian patriots like Francis Scott Key whose influence shaped the course of America’s Christian heritage. His stirring poem written in the midst of armed conflict became our national anthem in 1931. Only in 1956 was Key’s dream for a God-honoring national motto realized when President Eisenhower signed over-due legislation approving “In God We Trust” as America’s official motto.