What’s the Real Goal of Modesty?
This article originally was posted at Elizabeth Esther’, a wife to her college sweetheart, mother of five, and published writer. It is reproduced in its entirety here by permission. Original posting entitled: What’s the Real Goal of Modest? (Or: my own personal poverty project).
Now that I’m fully committed to not purchasing clothes for myself this year (in order to better help those in need), I’ve found myself re-examining the topic of feminine modesty. Modesty is a Big Deal in conservative Christian circles.
But I wonder: what if we’re missing the point?
What if the point of modesty is NOT to show the world how different/holy/religious we are but to better enable us to clothe the poor?
Clothing, after all, is something of an obsession for humans. We use clothing as language. What we wear tells others what we value and who we are. In fact, we judge others by the clothes they wear.
Instead of relying on clothing to project a certain image–what if Christians decided to dress simply in order to better clothe the needy? What if Christians decided to let their actions (not their clothing) define their image?
When I read conservative Christian blogs, the emphasis on feminine modesty often seems to be about refraining from provocative clothing. And I get that, I do. But I think that perspective also misses the bigger issue: shouldn’t dressing modestly be more about freedom from fashion consciousness altogether?
For example, if I give up clothing purchases for an entire year I could use that money to save lives in Africa–or just buy lots of shoes for a struggling single mothers in my own city.
And anyway, isn’t the real point of modesty supposed to be a conscious detachment from anyone’s definition of fashion? Sometimes I think conservative Christian women are just as guilty of promoting fashion, albeit of the modest kind. I’m not saying this is wrong, per se. I’m just pointing out that, like the secular fashion world, savvy business people have realized there is money to be made in the "Modest Fashion World," too.
Do we obscure the charitable goal of modesty when we turn "Modest Fashion" into business? I think we might.
One of my heroes, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, consciously chose to abandon the nun’s habit she’d worn during her years as a Loreto sister. Instead, she wore the simple, ordinary dress of an Indian woman: a plain white sari and sandals. Did this kind of ordinary modesty help her better serve the streets of Calcutta? I think so.
What if the real point of modesty is not so much about what we wear as much as it is about how it frees us to help and serve others?
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?
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That’s an interesting look at things, and I think that’s a great thing to do. But I really think it’s all of it. And I don’t think modesty is, ‘a detachment from anyone’s definition of fashion.’ If you’ll look at Proverbs 31, it says that ‘her clothing is linen and purple,’ and that, ‘all her household is clothed in scarlet.’ Don’t get me wrong–feeding and clothing the needy is IMPORTANT. But I do think it is about not showing off the bodies that God clothed in the Garden.
I agree that modesty is freeing. Fashion is fleeting, so I always go for clothing that is simple, classic, and comfortable. That way I don’t have to get clothes as often and can spend my money in better ways- in service to God.
Very interesting article! I’ve never heard it put that way before. That’s a great goal to have (to not buy clothes for one’s self for a year and give to charity instead)! :)