Of Skirts and Pants, Deference and Judgment, Movies…and Romans 14
Posted On May 7, 2006
Perhaps this will spark an interesting discussion. Here is an illustration I had in my sermon notes for “Do not judge (Romans 14)”. (See post for April 30th.) I didn’t actually use this illustration in it’s fullness, but a friend asked me recently for clarification, and this is what I wrote:
The “Skirts and Pants” illustration was under the point “How do little things destroy?” I know many sisters in Christ who believe that it would be immodest of them to wear pants. They believe that they should wear skirts only, and their conscience would be violated to wear pants of any kind. I personally do not have a problem with women wearing pants, as long as they continue to look feminine and are not immodest. (too tight, etc.) I do not believe that Scripture condemns the wearing of pants for women. I consider it to be a relatively small issue. (Of course, it would probably be bigger if I were a woman, or had daughters.) 
However, if for some reason I, or perhaps one of my sisters, were to cause a female friend to wear pants against the dictates of her conscience before God I would be at least beginning to destroy the work of God in her. (In a certain sense.) That would be sin to her, just as it would be sin for the man to eat who “eats with offense.” Now, this is a relatively little thing. Wearing a pare of pants is not as bad (from our perspective at least) as sleeping with a man outside of marriage. But this “little” sin could cause this sister in Christ to travel down a path that would lead to much destruction and damage of the good work God has done in her heart.
Perhaps she would start wearing tighter and tighter pants. Perhaps she would then wear shorter skirts. Maybe she’d like the new found attention she would get from lustful men and boys around her. She’d then fall into doing worse and worse things for that attention until she WAS sleeping around and being immoral! Those things always start with something little, and that little thing in this illustration was simply putting on a pare of pants against the direction of God. (Now, of course immorality and immodesty comes from the inside, from the heart. The outward appearance is not a cause, it is an effect. What is in the heart is expressed outwardly. That must be kept in mind and I don’t want to be misunderstood.)
So what started out as a little thing has ended up “destroying the work of God”. Paul was trying to tell us, rather than cause such a thing to happen, just don’t eat meat. It’s not that important. Consider the most important things, the eternal things, and let the little things go. Does that help you to understand better?
I also mentioned “Movie Store” in that point. This is from my own life and might help to make this even more clear. There was a time in my life that I went into movie stores. My family would rent movies and watch them sometimes. I had my own card because I was often sent to the store with siblings to pick one out. I began, when my parents were out of town, and eventually even when they were home, to rent bad movies on my own and watch them late at night when my family was asleep. To make a long story shorter, after a time of repentance and confession, I sensed God telling me that I should make a vow. I vowed to never again enter a movie store. It was just too great a temptation for me. If the family wanted to rent a movie, they would have to send someone else, or I would wait in the car, or something. There is more to it than that, but that’s the “jist” of it. That vow helped me greatly. (Though it was not THE solution certainly.) I have tried to maintain that commitment by God’s grace.
Now, going into a movie store is NOT a sin! It’s a rather little thing for most people in the world, even most Christians. They think nothing of it, it’s normal. But for my weak conscience it would be sinful. Because of my weakness in that area, I am forbidden from entering. It’s not because I am “holier than thou”, but because I am weak, that I do not enter a movie store. If I were to enter one because of a well meaning friend, or because I thought it was no big deal, “because all the other Christians were free to do so,” that would be wrong, and would begin to lead me down a path of destruction. All for such a little thing. Let us not destroy one another for “little things”.
I realize this is pretty long, but I just felt like going at it. In fact, I might just post this little “sermonette” on my blog. Of course, when I post long ones like this it means that my other posts are moved further down and people aren’t as likely to read them. 
Oh well.
Of course, when I post long ones like this it means that my other posts are moved further down and people aren’t as likely to read them. Oh well. About The Author
Preacher Dad
Jarod has been a pastor, construction worker, restaurant manager, ministry administrator, children's story teller, author....in no particular order. At heart he is passionate about the Truth, and has been called to proclaim that Truth from an early age. He is committed to his wife and eight children, and seeks to have a lasting impact upon the future by discipling his family. He blogs at PreacherDad.com on parenting, preparing, and cultural impact.
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Hey Od– Wow!! What a great post! You definitely get 2 eProps (and 2 thumbs up) for that one. Anyway, thanks for your honesty! Keep up the good work!
Hello! I was reading trufflequeen’s site and came across a comment of yours…. I just have to say what a great post this is. It is nice to hear from a young man on the subject…there is so much out there from parents and teachers…all of it good, but it is refreshing to hear it from someone close to our own age! Thanks for being willing to share God’s thoughts in your heart with others!
“Now, of course immorality and immodesty comes from the inside, from the heart. The outward appearance is not a cause, it is an effect. What is in the heart is expressed outwardly.” EXACTLY!
This post brought to mind 1 Cor. 6:12-20 All things are lawful unto me but all things are not expedient (or profitable): all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any….Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body….Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid…..
Great post! :-} Thanks for your honesty and not backing down from the truth…
Awesome post!
You mentioned the blogring “Random Ramblings of Asian Americans”, and you belong to another called “Asian American Christians”. These are obviously meant for only a particular race of people. Now, I don’t particularly have a big problem with people of the same race who want to make a club with certain rules. As you pointed out, they have common ground on which to build a relationship. That doesn’t bother me, in and of itself.
What bothers me is that if someone were to make a blogring called “White Caucasian Christians”, or “Thoughts and Ideas from White People”, it would likely be considered racist. All kinds of people would be offended. So in our culture it is fine for every race to circle the wagons and enjoy their common ground, except for white folks.
Any ideas as to why? Do you see this as a double standard? What is the deal? Shiopeitience, I am genuinely interested in you opinion on this topic. You seem to have a clear and intelligent, though unique, perspective on the issue.
Hahaha…Jarod, you brought up a good question, and one that has actually crossed my mind before, but never really bothered to think about. So I’ll try to be “clear and intelligent” here and think about what you’ve addressed.
Is this a double standard? I would say both yes and no. Certainly it does seem rather hypocritial for society to be fine with loud proclamations of “Asian Pride!” or “Black Pride!” or…most recently “LATINO PRIDE!!!!!” but totally jump all over a simple peep of “White Pride!”
Those two words: “White Pride” manages to create an uproar and lashback that any other “Ethnic-Pride” doesn’t. But I think that it does this because it gets way too close for comfort to the idealogy of White Supremacy, which has a basis in ethnocentrism and a “desire for hegemony” -meaning the dominance of one group over another. White Supremacy is a racist belief that those of light and fair skin were superior in intellect and class and humanity than those of colored skin. This conviction alone, if you look at history, has been the basis of a lot of violence and senseless killing of non-white people. I’m thinking…KKK, and the horrors of the Third Reich of Nazi Germany.
I think maybe the issue is that society, in this modern, tolerant, accepting, pluralistic, open-minded, diversity-valuing age wants to distance itself as much as possible from anything that even RESEMBLES what caused the atrocities against non-whites in the past. You have to remember that whites DO (or did…) make up the dominant culture…and perhaps this dominant society feels the need to be non-judgmental about others. Maybe the issue is wanting to appear tolerant towards minorities. Maybe it goes too far in trying to do that, at the expense of the people and values who made this country what it is today.
Now that I think about it, I recognize in myself a sort of “victimized” thinking–that white people are bigger and more numerous and that it is the WHITE PEOPLE who holds the power in the country. Maybe a lot of other non-white people think the same thing, and so the “Ethnic-PRIDE!” movement is just a defensive thing, where we feel the need to validate our existence in a country dominated by whites. But it’s not ALL just a defensive thing. We DO take pride in who we are: the unique experiences that make us the “bridges” between cultures. We understand that there are certain things we go through that neither our parent culture or the dominant WASP culture doesn’t. That’s what makes us proud.
So with that said, I’ll step out and note that while “White Pride!” sounds awfully racist to me, something along the lines of “Proud of my German Heritage!” or “Celtic Women all the way!” doesn’t. Heck, even if you wanted to do “Country Boy from Indiana and Proud of It!” I would say “Go you!.” To each their own. When you say it like that, it becomes a matter of identity–about who YOU are, and what you value, and how you identify yourself. That’s not threatening.
That’s how I view calling myself an Asian-American. To me, it’s a matter of identity. And maybe in the end, that’s really what it all boils down to–a respect for yourself, and a respect for the humanity of others.
So, those were my thoughts, on the fly, off the top of my head.
nice post man. That definitely helps in terms of making sure that my flesh doesn’t take me down roads that I’d rather avoid.
Amen!
(I met you at the Mother’s of Promise retreat, in case you happen to wonder who I am)