A Woman Is Not an "IT"

I just read an article about "Modesty in the Church". It was a very good article for Christians, unfortunately, the article wasn't about a "Christian" woman dressing inappropriately, It was about a visitor to a church coming in dressing that way. I understand it is a struggle for men, to be quite honest, its a struggle for women too, but that's a subject for another blog. However, this article refers to the reactions of Christian men; what standards are they being forced to hold up to? 

A comment in the article was, "After all, Sunday mornings were supposed to be a time when Christians should feel safe from temptation, not worrying whether it will sit next to them."

 Really? Really? there is so much wrong with this statement I don't even know where to begin. I guess I will start with the fact that  the church is not a place "to be safe from sin". I hate to tell you this, but sin will always be crouching at our door and it is our responsibility to seek the presence of God and allow the Holy Spirit in to keep it at bay.The church is not a place where we can bubble wrap ourselves to protect us from the world it is supposed to be a place where we hold each other accountable and build each other up in the faith. It's a place where people come to seek the presence of God and get to know the love of our Creator.

Now lets talk about the authors use of "it" in this statement. I sincerely hope that was a typo. The woman was NOT AN "IT". she was a human being and Jesus loves her just as much as he loves us. to diminish her to an "it" contributes to the reason why us woman have to overcompensate in modesty because of the weaknesses of men. The woman who was the inspiration for this story was most definitely not an "it", she was a visitor, someone who may have been seeking  a loving God and yet just because of the way she was dressed, was probably met with sneers and whispers, instead of the loving arms of the church. Didn't Jesus hangout with the prostitutes and tax collectors.

This article shines a light on something much deeper than modesty. It's the hearts and thoughts of the "mature" Christians. They selfishly were so wrapped up in their own sin struggles they more than likely missed an opportunity to bring someone into the Kingdom. 

 I have 4 beautiful daughters and I'm the spiritual mom  to at least 10 other girls, so I'm all about teaching modesty. That's why I read the article , and it was a good reminder to Christians. But just as you cant tell an orange to dress like an apple, you cant write an article to Christians based on something a non-believer did. That is just being judgmental. Jesus came for the broken, He came for the hurting, He came for the sinners. We, HIS Church, are supposed to represent Him; but instead, the broken, hurting, and those trapped in sin are met with judgement and hypocritical jeers if they try to approach our God. Maybe instead of judging the actions of those who don't know God the church needs to be dealing with it's own temptations and sins. If we were a victorious church the inappropriate dress of  someone seeking a loving God would not be an issue.