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Are We Producing Modestly Vain Ladies?
September 28, 2009
By Stephanie LeBlanc
We Apostolics tend to pride ourselves on our outward
modesty. Ladies typically wear skirts and sleeves, maintain long hair, and are
often sans jewelry. That is our outward appearance, our unspoken witness to the
masses. But are we really conducting ourselves and dressing ourselves in the
manner in which we should?
Standards are often differently applied from church to
church and convictions are extremely personal, often causing people to get
quite defensive when confronted. Well, here’s a confrontation. To get to the source of the Apostolic Movement’s oft-touted
modesty rule, take a gander upon I Timothy 2:9:
“In like manner also, that
women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not
with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array,” is what the King James Version states.
The Message succinctly yet beautifully words it this way: “And
I want women to get in there with the men in humility before God, not primping
before a mirror or chasing the latest fashions but doing something beautiful
for God and becoming beautiful doing it.”
I chose to quote this verse from two translations
side-by-side to emphasize the fact that quite often we can quote, recite and
regurgitate the Word from the King James Version without ever considering its
real-world application. Let’s think about it hard, especially us ladies. Is
this verse being followed?
Youth Congress Issues
All it takes is a look at pictures from Youth Congress, camp meetings
and/or Sunday evening services to show that although our young ladies claim to
be modest, and judge their modesty by their skirt length, the actual concept of
modesty as detailed in I Timothy is buried by hemlines and bobby pins.
The hair is there: the bigger the better. Coifs primped and
posed and laid in place with the help of enough Freeze It to put our own
Pentecostal hole in the Ozone Layer. Girls line the mirrors in the bathrooms
making sure that their style looks put together and stands out compared to the
others.
Conversation after the Word goes forth includes compliments
on various aspects of one’s outfit, hints and tips to achieve a similar look,
and a feigned humble response on how it was just thrown together.
American Modesty or Apostolic Modesty?
Is this really modesty? Are we instilling values in younger
generations with which Jesus would be happy? Instead of discussing theological,
doctrinal, or even societal issues, the conversations that abound among most young
Apostolic ladies cover how to wear makeup without it looking like makeup, what
color is in this season, how to wear accessories without them being considered
jewelry, and any other myriad of ways to push boundaries that they’re only
following for tradition’s sake.
Can we really feign ignorance as to why there are so many
backsliders in the younger generation? The answer lies not in the fact that
modesty in whatever form one chooses to view it isn’t being followed; let’s
skip the legalism. It’s a lack of pure, unbridled passion for Jesus and living
for Him. Arguably, if one truly is after God’s heart, everything else will fall
into place.
Going one step further, if one really has a modest spirit as
the Bible instructs, outward modesty will develop not because of generational
obligation, a pastor’s preference, or even an organization’s guidelines. Rather
it will develop out of a sincere relationship with the Holy Ghost.
However . . .
This is not to say categorically that all Apostolic youth
are shallow, superficial, and “in church” solely out of habit or tradition. And
this is also not to say that taking care of one’s appearance is not important. But
think about it from an outsider’s perspective—the perspective of someone
that you hope to reach for Jesus.
What would an outsider see as more important to the
Apostolic movement—our love for Jesus or our flair for fashion? How would
the insane fashion show that has become such a substantial part of Youth
Congress look to someone who isn’t “in church”? In order to be effective
witnesses, should we not look into the hypocrisy that is our modest vanity?
ninetyandnine.com
Stephanie LeBlanc is a youth leader at a small home missions church in Louisiana. She spends most of her days chasing around a crawling baby and/or youth
group. Still, she finds time to live like she's in Little House on the Prairie - much to her husband's
delight. Subsequently, she has started every sentence of this bio with an
"s" just to see who's paying attention.
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