Nudity in the Church

I've just read a post at christianpost.com entitled, "Too Much Skin? Christian Minister Talks Lust, Modesty, Fashion", by Katherine Weber. She, in turn, was writing about a post a pastor in Ohio made on his blog, the title was, "Butts and Boobs". His post was about the way young people dress during the spring and summer months.

In a nutshell, his post was about the way young women and teen dress during the warm months of the year. Basically, whether intentionally or not, they dressed to entice lust. This was a good article and I suggest you take a look at it.

One of the best lines in the article was, "The Ohio minister added that men will always, on a physiological level, have lustful feelings toward women." That's right. I don't care who you are, sir. You are programmed to find women attractive. We see a woman showing a lot of skin and we men are naturally prone to desire that woman.

Christians have the Holy Spirit and the desire to follow God to help us avoid lusting after women, but we do fail. How many times have you read or heard about a pastor caught in a sexual predicament? It's not as if that pastor set out to fall in this manner; but men have a natural desire for women. And the natural urges of a man are hard to tame.

Pornography is a multi-billion dollar business these days; why is that? It's because it preys on man's most primal desires. Evil men take advantage of weaker men or of men who have no desire to control themselves in this area. Most men enjoy porn because most men do not know God nor His Son. 

As Christian men, we should despise pornography! Just as we should despise women who go out in public half, or more, naked. The church should be a safe haven for men where we don't have to guard our eyes and fight lust with every turn of the head we make.

But, from my experience, pastor are too afraid of offending someone to enforce the Bible's dress code. I currently attend a church where one of the teen girls wears the shortest of shorts almost every Sunday. Why isn't the youth minister saying something to her? Why isn't the Senior pastor saying something to the youth minister about not saying something to her?

I attended a mega-church in Texas where a very attractive woman sang in the choir; she was always on the front row wearing an extremely short skirt or dress every single Sunday. I commented time again to my wife about the pastors allowing that to continue. Finally, I mentioned it to the pastor, telling him that I didn't appreciate her apparel; only then did it change.

Another time, My family was seeking a new church home in Bellevue, Washington when on our third visit to a church, the pastor called the winner of a cook-off to the front of the church. the winner was the 13-year-old daughter of the associate pastor (she was introduced as such) and her attire consisted of a T-shirt and jean short cut off at her crotch! Can you imagine a pastor allowing his daughter to dress like a slut?!

The church has really fallen down in this area. Could it be because even pastors are enjoying the "eye candy" that is flaunted at us today? If the church does not present a safe haven for men, what will?

Pastors, stand your ground!