On Sunday, June 12 I preached a sermon on modesty in general, and especially on appropriate attire in worship.  From the many strong, positive responses I received immediately following the service, and for at least a week afterwards, it is clear that I touched a nerve and addressed a need. 

Given the constraints of the Sunday morning worship hour, and the fact that I am addressing a mixed audience that includes many children, I often have to omit material from my sermons.  That was especially true with a subject such as modesty.  Here on my web page, however, I am freer to include some of those comments, so here goes:

In my sermon I reviewed Solomon’s description in Proverbs 7 of the wayward wife intent on committing adultery, and especially focused on his comment in verse 10 that she was “dressed like a prostitute.”   I then made the comment that, given the current fashions in our culture, if a woman was dressed like a prostitute today, she would fit right in! 

What I didn’t have time to say is that I was not simply reflecting my own opinion, and I was not even expressing an exclusively Christian perspective. Jennifer Moses, a Jewish writer and the mother of teenage daughters, recently published an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Why Do We Let Them Dress Like That? (March 19-20, 2011, p C-3).  In it she asks:

“Why do so many of us not only permit our teenage daughters to dress like this – like prostitutes, if we’re being honest with ourselves – but pay for them to do it with our AmEx cards? 

With the exception of some Mormons, evangelicals and Orthodox Jews, scads of us don’t know how to teach our own sons and daughters not to give away their bodies so readily.”

Moses also describes the world of 12- and 13-year-old American girls by saying,

“In a few years, their attention span will turn to the annual ritual of shopping for a prom dress…..(h)aving done this for two years now with my own daughter, I continue to be amazed by the plunging necklines, built-in push-up bras, spangles, feathers, slits and peek-a-boos.  And try finding a pair of sufficiently ‘prommish’ shoes designed with less than a 2-inch heel.”

Many, many cultural observers, both Christian and secular, have noted the extreme sexualization and objectification of young women in American culture and fashion.  Or, to use Solomon’s terms, more and more women are “dressed like a prostitute”!

The January 13, 2009 edition of the El Dorado News-Times ran a letter to “Dear Abby” that was written by an individual in Florida who works for a larger multinational corporation.  The writer said “I continue to be shocked at the way people dress” then related the story of “Disco Dolly” who ignored the company’s written dress code and showed up for work in “a sheer, low-cut, sleeveless blouse with a micro-mini skirt and strappy sandals.”

The author then offered a series of wardrobe suggestions, including theses:  “Dress for success, not sex.  Women should not dress like streetwalkers.  Leave the sexy, short, filmy dresses, cleavage-baring blouses, and spaghetti straps for personal life.  This is an office, not a cocktail party.”

“Make it fit.  Anything that hugs the body too tightly is not right for the office.  We have a woman here who looks like a sausage stuffed in a floral polyester casing.  It’s hard to take her seriously.  The same goes for a man in tight pants.  Ditto for loose and low-slung pants showing underwear or thong.”

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Our Vacation Bible School is scheduled for Saturday, July 9, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. VBS is a great learning experience for kids, so please bring your children! 

Don't have any children?  Your grandchildren will love it, also!

Don't have any grandchildren?  Invite the neighbor's kids - after all, they need to learn about Jesus, too!!

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Have you noticed the new lighting array in the Family Life Center?   It really fills a need by illuminating the previously dark areas around our podium.

The new lighting was made possible by an anonymous gift from generous Christians here at College Avenue.  Our thanks to the donors, and to Mark Toombs, our A/V deacon, for arranging for the purchase and installation of the lighting.

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Each year I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generous support that makes Camp Kurios possible, but I don't always have the opportunity to tell you specifically how generous you are.

According to Alan Meadows, the treasurer for the camp, College Avenue people gave $38,024 to underwrite this year's three sessions of camp.  And that money was given above and beyond your regular weekly tithes and offerings!

Because of you some 210 kids had the time of their life and learned more about God. 

Because of you, dozens of children with no previous exposure to the churches of Christ, and sometimes with very little experience of "church" at all, learned about God's people.

Because of you, many of our teens experienced the joy and maturity that comes with providing significant service in the name of Christ.  

No wonder I am so proud to be a part of College Avenue!

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We are counting down the weeks till “Kick-Off Sunday,”  which is always the Sunday after Labor Day.  On September 11 we will kick off our fall Bible classes, begin a new cycle of Growth Groups, resume our Sunday night youth ministries, and collect the “Change for Children” coin cans for the Children’s Homes of Paragould.

We will also have a fellowship meal that morning after worship.  I enjoy our Sunday night preaching service during the summer, but I miss the experience of being in a small group!  Every year I have the opportunity to get to know a whole new circle of brothers and sisters, and I’m looking forward to starting up again!

-Dan

Bookshelve:  So, what am I reading this month?

Jesus & the Gospels - Luke Timothy Johnson

Billy Yank - The Life of the Common Union Soldier   John Bell Irvin

Einstein's Refrigerator

01-11-2009

College Avenue