Southern Homemaking

“Whether you realize it or not, you and everyone else have a dress code. You will either have a dress code by design (meaning that you have thought through the moral and philosophical implications of your dress code), or you will have a dress code by default (because you have let others do the thinking for you and have de facto accepted their conclusions) — but you will have a dress code.”

The Public Undressing of America
By Douglas Phillips

Henry Van Til once observed that “culture is religion externalized.” By this he meant that the culture of a nation reflects the true faith of that people. The way a people live their lives, the way they communicate, their philosophy of work, and their approach to aesthetics all reflect the standards and priorities of the people, and those priorities are dictated by their true faith.

This is why we must recognize that even dress is “religion externalized.” Cultures that worship nature and treasure sensuality tend to dress immodestly. Those which make an idolatry out of material possessions often fall prey to the foppish enslavement of high fashion. On the other hand, cultures which embrace true Christian piety will seek to make personal holiness the driving standard for their dress code. They will develop clothing which emphasizes biblical principles like distinction, functionality, and modesty. In short, dress is not neutral.

Furthermore, dress standards and dress codes are inescapable and inevitable. Whether you realize it or not, you and everyone else have a dress code. You will either have a dress code by design (meaning that you have thought through the moral and philosophical implications of your dress code), or you will have a dress code by default (because you have let others do the thinking for you and have de facto accepted their conclusions) — but you will have a dress code.

Until the twentieth century, most Christians understood that dress standards were inescapable. But with the rise of antinomianism (the rejection of God as lawgiver), the resurgence of Gnosticism (the belief that God is not concerned with physical things), and the widespread acceptance of the neutrality postulate (the notion that the Lordship of Christ over human action only extends to “spiritual” matters), many twentieth century Christians have simply allowed themselves to be swept away by cultural trends, rather than following the biblical admonition to take every thought and action captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ.

It must be clearly understood that every time you hear someone rant or rail that it is inherently “unfair” or “legalistic” to have rules pertaining to clothing, that such individuals are directly and unequivocally attacking the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Whether they realize it or not, they are in effect saying: “My dress standard is a neutral zone. Jesus does not speak to this issue.”

Of course, it is entirely possible to be legalistic. The legalist is one who creates laws and rules foreign to Scripture by which he hopes to bind the consciences of men. Alternatively, he is that individual who teaches that one’s entrance to Heaven is predicated on submission to a code of conduct. These teachings of the legalist are contrary to Scripture.

The real choice in the debate over standards of dress is not between legalism and license, but between God as lawgiver or man as lawgiver. Once that debate is settled and the Lordship of Christ is freely and boldly proclaimed over our dress standards, we can get about the business of studying the Scripture to discern how we can wisely apply the many diverse and relevant principles revealed in Scripture to the issue at hand.

Because the Bible teaches a doctrine the Reformers called “the sufficiency of Scripture” (namely, that God has given us in Scripture all that we need for our faith and practice), we can be absolutely confident that the Bible is sufficient for us to know how we are to dress in a Christ-honoring manner relative to our culture, our gender, and our station in life.

Implicit to this notion is the idea that there may be an infinite number of God-honoring approaches to dress, relative to a specific culture, as well as an infinite number of Christ-dishonoring approaches to dress. The critical issue will be applying the unchanging principles, precepts, and normative patterns of Scripture to the ever changing facts of our cultural circumstances.

One of the most important of these issues to be addressed is the question of modesty and nakedness. The Bible has much to say on this issue. In fact, the Bible begins in Genesis 3 with the revelation that fallen man is to be covered and that public nakedness is a sin. In past centuries, Christian peoples were often noted for their modesty and heathen peoples for their immodesty. Today, the line between the professing Christian and the savage tribesman has become increasingly blurred, as more and more “Christian” people resort not only to the pagan practices of scarification, tattoos, and body mutilation, but have thrown off the “restraints” of modest dress in favor of the trendy and the physically revealing. The result is that modern America has been publicly undressed. What is worse, Americans have come to think of nakedness as normal and acceptable, even preferable.

This brings me to a book published by the Vision Forum, entitled Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America. The author, Jeff Pollard, is a brave man. He has dared to tackle one of the great sacred cows of modern Christianity, and in so doing he has risked censure, disapproval, and subjecting himself to the inevitable cries of “legalism.” To this I reply: Thanks be to God for raising up men who will speak the truth in love, which is exactly what Jeff does.

With winsome gentleness but uncompromising boldness, Jeff Pollard helps modern Christians to understand the historic origins of our modern trend towards nakedness, and the implications of these trends on the people of America. This is a critical book for any parent who hopes to raise sons and daughters who will remain morally pure in a culture that worships the flesh.

[Note: LAF carries this booklet on the "Support LAF" page. It is so clear, scriptural, and easy to understand that we recommend it as often as possible. We wanted to reprint Mr. Phillips's article to show others why Mr. Pollard's book is such an important one and why this topic isn't just "old-fashioned" or about legalism.]

Originally published in the Vision Forum e-newsletter. Reprinted with permission by LAF/BeautifulWomanhood.org. Reprinted thence by permission here. Original article: The Public Undressing of America