I grew up in a conservative holiness home, where my brother and I were taught that it was not right(or modest) for men to wear shorts. I understand that my parents are trying to teach us what was right but I always wondered why I could wear a skirt 2 inches or more below the knee, and still be modest, while my brother couldn’t wear shorts to the knee without being immodest. One person I talked to said, “Well, its just not professional. Nobody wants to see a guy’s hairy legs.” But when he is not in a situation that demands him to be professional, is it ok for a guy to wear shorts?
A lot of people say no. So I have another question. Is it ok then, for women to wear skirts that come up to their knee, or even 2 inches below their knees? If its completely modest for a woman to wear a skirt that short, why can’t men wear shorts that reach their knee, or 2 inches below the knee?
It is common knowledge that men are more tempted by sight. So shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t the men be wearing the shorts to their knees, while the women wear skirts to the floor?
I have thought about this, and I can’t come to a satisfying conclusion. I don’t feel the conviction to stop wearing skirts that show any of my legs, yet it seems like the logical conclusion. Even aside from the guy’s shorts issue, I’m not sure women should show their legs. Some men are very aroused by looking at a women’ legs; others don’t find it to be a problem area for them. So my major question is, can men wear shorts and be modest if women can, or is it immodest for men or women to show any of their legs? Please feel free to leave a comment about what you think is right, or just your personal convictions on the subject.
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5 comments:
Modesty is a very touchy subject to talk about. I think that when Christian guys wear shorts, are they being an example to the non-Christians? I know of some guys that played basketball during the summer at the park and out of the 15 guys they were the only one’s wearing pants. Since it was during the summer it was very hot so it made it worse for them. The Bible says that we are supposed to be separate from the world. So does that mean dressing like the world, would we be separate from them?
Are we being a good example to non-Christians when we discuss issues like this. Some discuss this issue quite often. I would suggest that, in the grand scheme of things, this doesn't really matter. Modesty does matter. How many inches below the knee? I laugh.
First of all, in response to Liz's comment. If Holiness guys don't wear shorts simply to set themselves apart then why don't we all just wear uniforms to let the world know who we are? Or why don't all girls wear prayer caps so people know we are Holiness? That in and of itself isn't a solid enough reason.
I think the most important step that can be taken in assessing whether something is acceptable for a Christian or not, is to look at it from the BIBLICAL standpoint. What does the BIBLE define as modesty.
Its easy to place the "rules of the house" that you were brought up with on the same level as Biblical mandate. The Bible, speaks of immodesty, the original language suggests that "nudity" is the thigh and the torso.
In looking at this, we can see that the absolute MINIMUM for standards of modesty is that these areas are NOT to be exposed.
This is why skirts on women should always at least be to the knee...so that they adequately cover the thigh. So...is it "Biblically" wrong for a guy to show just as much leg by wearing shorts that adequately cover the thigh? No.
This is my theory: When men went from always wearing pants to wearing shorts, it wasn't knee-length basketball shorts like we're used to, it was short shorts. That was a bit of a shock to the Holiness movement and they knew that was wrong. Then over time, mens shorts got longer. So for today's Holiness family I think alot of it is respect for the standards that have been set in place. I don't believe that knee-length shorts on men are wrong , but because I respect my movement and my family, my boys probably won't be allowed to wear shorts.
Also, us Holiness girls are used to "watching our dresses"; being careful how we sit etc. Men wear pants so it never matters, if they wear shorts it's likely that people could see up the leg of the shorts or that it would become indecent due to guys not thinking about how their sitting. I mean, come on, we don't want guys to always have to be thinking about that too. lol
Like I said at the party the other day, good blog. lol. I've thought about this issue before.
To Zach, I think its important for non-Christians to see that we care about things such as modesty.
At the extreme, it would not be good for girls to be walking around dressed like hoes, saying they're Christians, because the Bible does very plainly say that we should modest.
I think Heidi did a very good job and I agree with her that guys shouldn't JUST not wear shorts to be separate from the world.
On my own note, I do see an issue with skirts. Are they really more modest? Like, if you don't sit exactly right, people can see up them. Or if the wind blows, WHOOPS, guys got a glance. So I don't really know what I think, I grew up wearing skirts, and I still have problems with it. Heidi tells me about every day in English to watch how I sit. :) Which I'm glad of, and thankyou. Lol. BUT ANYWAY, I don't think girls should necessary wear pants, maybe shorts under skirts or something? But there is still a measure of immodesty.
Or, since I'm babbling about controversial subjects that I'm not really sure how I stand on, I'll just say more. Pants on guys, are definitely more modest, for one, they aren't skin tight like the jeans made for women, and theres no way we can see up em.
And since guys are the one with more of a problem with lusting, and like Diane said, girls expose their legs by wearing skirts, does that just really make sense? Not so much to me.
But I don't really have a solution. I'm just babbling.
Personally, I think it is okay for a guy to wear shorts (as long as they are past the knee of course) The Biblical standard for modesty is to the knee so I feel it is okay for guys to wear shorts. There are those who are strongly against them, and I don’t think they are necessarily wrong. I think we should use good discernment and allow God to speak to each person individually on whether it is wrong or not for guys to wear shorts.
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