Sundayword BY PROSPER TINGINI
Fashion evolves with time, like everything else.
God created man and woman in the naked form, but of all His creatures, only humans hide their nakedness. It is also not surprising that most other living creatures can openly indulge in sexual activities in the open while humans instinctively prefer some secrecy for such. Any public show of such affection is considered indecent.
There is surely an intellectual gap between other animals and mankind and this needs to be preserved.
The instinct to dress up or hide our intimate parts from view can be traced back to the Garden of Eden. Man and woman were created naked just like all other creatures.
Initially there was no indecency to it. Adam and Eve could interact and play together without the knowledge of “sacredness” of any parts of the human anatomy. This is still the case if you put young children together. Both sexes of young kids can openly play together without any awareness of their nakedness, until they mature to a certain age. As they grow into puberty, they begin to realise that certain parts of the body should be covered and not be exposed to the view of the opposite sex.
Genesis 3 v 1-7 tells us of the story of how the serpent changed the dynamics of nakedness for both man and woman.
The fall from grace started as follows: Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘you shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, less you die.’”
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But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.
Before eating of “the forbidden fruit”, mankind had no knowledge of what was good or bad. That knowledge came after eating of it. The sacredness of the forbidden fruit made it imperative that certain parts of the human body needed to be covered, hence Adam and Eve made haste to sew fig leaves together to appropriately cover themselves. Let us not dwell on the arguments of what this forbidden fruit was in reality. Let the literal sense of it prevail.
The book of Genesis goes on to tell us that after God confronted Adam and Even while in hiding from their transgression, and of their whereabouts, Adam answered: “I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I am naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10). Adam’s remarks clearly shows man or woman should not parade themselves in public while scantily dressed.
Remember that the two of them had sewn fig leaves together as aprons to cover themselves, yet they still realised they were not adequately dressed to face God.
The knowledge they had acquired made them realise that it was improper to be insufficiently dressed, that is why they went into hiding.
God does not tolerate scantiness in dressing. Even after Adam and Eve had dressed themselves using fig tree leases, He still saw some indecency in their dressing. God could still see through some their dressing in the same manner we can also see through some of the “see-through” fashions of today. God then proceeded to cover them fully.
Genesis 3:21 reads: “And the Lord God made for Adam and for Eve garments of skins, and clothed them.” It is clear that Adam and Eve had already clothed themselves, though inappropriately.
Adequate and proper dressing is thus what the Lord wants.
Moving around in scanty dressing is not only an affront to God, but to humanity itself. Mankind was made in the image of God in the nature of our intelligence, morality and other behavioural traits.
There has to be a dignity to our dressing, in the same manner as the Lord dressed Adam and Eve, not leaving areas close to our sacredness exposed.
God hates public nakedness in humans. It would certainly be inappropriate if you dress scantily in places of worship where His name abides.
We see every day some women and some young men openly flaunting their bodies in places of worship, exposing themselves to the public and to the Lord. They have no shame and even go to the altar to receive the body of Christ (holy communion) and drink the blood of Christ (wine) barely dressed, as if without a conscience or respectability.
In Exodus 20:26 the Lord commands: “And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.” Our dressing should give respect to our holy places of worship, if not to the generality of the public.
I have observed with disgust the fashion industry producing some outfits that are meant for brothels and selling these to the public in the name of fashion trends.
They promote indecency among both adults and the youth and corrupt their minds to promote sales.
The gullible public buys in to their adverts promoting sexual attractions based on the show of body parts, to induce lust in the opposite sex.
They seek to advance freedom of choice or of human rights, to lure customers. Attraction based on the human anatomy, leaving nothing for the imagination, is now the norm.
There is now the growing belief among women that the more you exposure your body, the more confident you are. This is because the women themselves have come to believe it, as if it’s a fact, hence a large number have fallen into the trap.
Yes, some men fall prey to such dressing, but most of it is just lust — a desire to sample the goods and leave. Few marriages come out of relationships based on lust and most such relationships don’t last long. Few eligible bachelors would take a woman home to meet with their parents as a prospective bride when they are scantily dressed. Women please listen, learn and be warned.
We also have youngsters who go around dressed in trousers hanging below their bottoms, exposing their underwear. Which woman in her right mind would take a man dressed like that to meet with her parents as a prospective husband? It is clear that such dressing takes away the dignity and can be used as a measure of character. Let’s all dress decently to uphold the morality of humankind.
Prosper Tingini is the president of the Children of God Missionary Assembly. Registration in progress for those who wish to undertake Bible Studies or train as Ministers of Religion. Contact 0771 260 195 or email: [email protected]
