Now that summer is here, expect a rush of people, Christians among them, heading to the beach to cool off.
And once again, the controversial question in the headline of this article will be in the minds of Christian girls heading to the beach or swimming resorts for church retreats and vacations.
Should they maintain modesty by wearing T-shirts instead of bikinis?
John Piper, founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary, addressed the issue in a recent podcast.
He said he prefers to tackle this issue by starting with God, not with rules or guidelines.
"I will just say this to any woman, any man who dresses inappropriately: Until God has become your treasure, until your own sin has become the thing you hate most, until the Word of God is your supreme authority that you feel to be more precious than gold, sweeter than honey, until the gospel of Christ's death in your place is the most precious news in the world to you, until you have learned to deny yourself short-term pleasures for the sake of long-term joy and holiness, until you have grown to love the Holy Spirit and long for His fruit more than man's praise, until you count everything as loss compared to the supreme value of knowing Christ, your attitude towards your clothing and your appearance will be controlled by forces that don't honor Christ," Piper said.
The respected author and theologian offered these three tips:
1. Modesty should start with the staff and leaders of ministries who should serve as models for other Christians.
2. Ministry leaders should quietly talk to the parents first "instead of attacking things at the most painful point of the way the girls and boys are dressing."
3. Christian leaders should "cultivate the joyful sense that modesty is beautiful" and "renounce any mindset that modest means frumpy."
Piper says based from his own experience, "I can testify without any doubt that at every age of my life, my masculine life, my hungry life" that "sexy dressing of women is less attractive than modest beauty. Of course, it makes the eyes turn, but there is a world of difference between making men's eyes turn with sexy dressing and being attractive as a beautiful or a handsome person."
