{"id":362,"date":"2008-08-14T14:49:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-14T18:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=362"},"modified":"2013-06-26T16:44:25","modified_gmt":"2013-06-26T20:44:25","slug":"the-beauty-of-modesty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=362","title":{"rendered":"The Beauty of Modesty"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

David and Diane Vaughan. The Beauty of Modesty: Cultivating Virtue in the Face of a Vulgar Culture<\/a>\"\". Nashville, TN: Cumberland House, 2005.<\/div>\n

The issue of modesty is an important one for our churches today. Barry Maxwell a couple of months ago provided a helpful post<\/a> on this issue in our churches and homes. At about the same time as Barry’s post I was reading this book by the Vaughans. I had first encountered David Vaughan through his excellent book on Patrick Henry<\/a>. I was interested to see what he and his wife had to say on modesty and I was not disappointed.<\/p>\n

This is an excellent, careful, biblical book that would be good to make available to the families at your church. The book develops in three parts: “The Need for Modesty”\u009d, “The Nature of Modesty”\u009d, and “The Nurture of Modesty.”\u009d They root this virtue solidly in the biblical teaching of holiness as a proper outworking of the gospel. There is no mere moralism here; rather there is exposition and exhortation to applying the gospel to all of life, to living purely unto God and to being aware of how our behavior impacts others.<\/p>\n

The fact that there is too little difference between the modesty of the church and the world is a compromise of the gospel. The Vaughans write:<\/p>\n

“If immodesty is the incarnation of a pagan worldview, then why are we seeing so much immodesty among Christians? …The answer is that we are experiencing the cultural captivity of the church.”\u009d 39<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“…what we are witnessing is a sweeping secularization of the church in her very mind and morals.”\u009d 44<\/p>\n

“Modesty matters because it is an expression of our worldview and a measure of our sanctification.”\u009d 46<\/p>\n

This is so true.
\nThe book then discusses the need to be shaped by biblical truths and discusses in much detail the role of parents, particularly fathers, in training children in understanding the value and message of modesty. Along the way this is then a great book simply on parenting. I recommend this book highly.<\/p>\n

In closing here are a few other representative quotes:<\/p>\n

“In light of the value God places on marriage and fidelity, immodesty is no small sin. It is not simply a silly and vain form of self-display. It is a snare to serious sin.”\u009d 80<\/p>\n

“When it comes to finding a man, no attention is better than the wrong attention. A modest woman, on the other hand, is not only communicating her respect for the institution of marriage, she is also telling all would-be suitors that she is not cheap.”\u009d 81<\/p>\n

“…in teaching holiness we will be restoring modesty, for holiness is its soil.”\u009d 155<\/p>\n

“…an immodest worshiper is an oxymoron – a contradiction in terms. . . . It is a frightening thought, but if a woman comes to church dressed to get attention, then she is competing with Christ.”\u009d 157-158<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David and Diane Vaughan. The Beauty of Modesty: Cultivating Virtue in the Face of a Vulgar Culture. Nashville, TN: Cumberland House, 2005. The issue of modesty is an important one for our churches today. Barry Maxwell a couple of months ago provided a helpful post on this issue in our churches and homes. At about …<\/p>\n

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