Mary and I have been asked to serve as advisors to the Purity and Modesty discussion forum planned for the upcoming Incite conference. Incite is an online conference targeted at Generation Z and Millenials in the church, ages 18 to 35, but is open to all interested. It’s scheduled for November 6 and 7 but will include sessions throughout the week leading up to the conference. It will include Friday and Saturday night lessons and breakout forums on Saturday, including the Purity and Modesty session, but also sessions on Racial Injustice, Mental Health, LGBTQIA+ and other difficult subjects facing young disciples and leaders in today’s world. (To register for Incite, click here.)
Our role is as advisors to the panelists who will be presenting the forum, so we will not be teaching. However, to prepare for advising the group, I spent some time today considering a few scriptures that deal with purity and modesty.
The organizers of the session recognize that views in the past on dealing with purity and modesty have been focused on how to avoid sexual sin and sensuality, and on not causing others to struggle, especially for men related to how sisters dress. They want to think beyond the focus on what to do and consider how a new generation of disciples and leaders should view the “why” for the topics of purity and modesty.
The elder advisor role is to make sure their teaching stays Biblical and to review the script they’re developing for the session. Our prayer is that the session helps younger generation disciples better understand the purpose and benefits of purity and modesty in their Christian walk.
Purity… is in how we live our lives
In 1 Timothy, Paul gives instructions to his young protege Timothy about ministry and how to lead the church in Ephesus. In 1 Timothy 4:11-12, Paul encourages Timothy to set an example for the disciples and not let any of them look down on him because he is young.
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV)
Here Paul mentions purity (hagneia) as part of a list that includes other parts of our daily life. Speech, conduct, love and faith are all areas others can see in us by how we live and act. We can set an example in how we talk and act, living spiritually and serving others. We can also show our example of love and faith to those around us. Can we say the same about our example of purity in how we live?
Much of how we view purity is influenced by the sin that causes us to struggle with purity. As a result, we tend to view purity as a reaction to sin, or as something we don’t discuss except when asked or in dealing with issues of sin and repentance.
Instead, we need to view purity as part of our daily living, as we do in the other areas. We shouldn’t just talk and act spiritual when around certain people or in reaction to someone challenging us about our words and actions. We also shouldn’t only address love and faith when we’ve been unloving or feel lacking in faith. Likewise, our purity should be actively shown and should be evident in our lives, not just when we have an issue with our purity or for a special event or discipling time.
Purity… is in how we present ourselves and others
If purity is to be evident in our lives, then others should see it in how we present ourselves. As “God’s special possession” , we are a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” .
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)
The word for holy in 1 Peter 2:9 (hagios) looks similar in the Greek to the word for pure used later in 1 Peter 3:2 (hagnos). Purity is a matter of holiness, and is related to how we present ourselves.
Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
1 Peter 3:1-4 NIV)
1 Peter 3:1-4 discusses how women should present themselves to be submissive to their husbands, especially those that are not disciples. He emphasizes that the outward appearance is not as important as the presentation of the inner self, a “gentle and quiet spirit” that shows a purity and reverence toward God.
This passage is often quoted in the context of sisters dressing with modesty. It’s interesting that the word translated modesty in the NIV isn’t mentioned here, but is only mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:23 as part of a passage on presenting unpresentable parts of the body with modesty. The Greek word translated modesty is euschemosyne, which can be defined as “presentability”. Clearly modesty is about presenting ourselves in a pure way.
Note that this goes beyond the context of sisters dressing modestly. It’s about more than how our choice of clothing can cause others to struggle. It includes presenting ourselves in a way that shows God’s purity and holiness to the world around us. We not only need to present ourselves as holy, but also present one another and the church as holy and pure before a corrupt world.
…just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
Ephesians 5:25b-27 (NIV)
Modesty and purity are about how we present one another, as Paul mentions in the context of husbands and wives in Ephesians. We should strive to live lives of purity so that God and His church are presented and glorified as holy and blameless. Our standard should not be avoiding ways we cause our brothers or sisters to struggle, but should be presenting ourselves with a modesty that honors God’s holiness.
Purity… is in how we think
In addition to living pure lives and presenting each other holy and blameless, purity is also about how we think. Paul tells the Philippian church to rejoice, rejoice always and again, rejoice. To do this, he instructs them on how they should think,
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
Paul’s list of what to think about in the midst of rejoicing includes whatever is true, noble, right, lovely, admirable and excellent, but right in the middle is whatever is pure (hagnos). Our purity before a holy God is supposed to naturally be in the way we think.
We know that when we think impure thoughts it leads to sin and takes away our joy. However, if we instead think about what is pure, it leads to rejoicing in the good things we have in God.
Final Thoughts
Purity and modesty must be part of our culture in the church and are counter-cultural to the world around us. By making purity integral to how we live, how we present ourselves and how we think, we can avoid making it a subject that only gets attention through our failures, but is a part of our life dedicated to pursuing holiness for God. Be an example of purity in how you live, present your purity to show your faithfulness and think about pure things to rejoice in the life you live serving a merciful and holy God!