The danger of a Christian culture

We as Christians have a fine line we walk. We desire to be right, not just right but righteous. This desire, though noble, often leads us in the wrong direction. We often confuse biblical principles with societal norms. I have seen too often where we have taken what is culturally acceptable and claimed it to be the biblical principal. One of the ones that is commonly discussed in my house hold is the idea of wearing a tie to church. (Which I do.) The Bible never claims that men are to wear dress slacks, a button up shirt, a tie, and a dress coat to come to church. In fact there are no dress requirements at all in going to church. There were dress requirements for the priests in the temple as they offered sacrifices. There is also a principle that we should bring God our best, which is where we get the idea that men should wear suits to church, but we must remember that the suit itself is an American cultural idea of a man's best attire. 

One of the major things to note is that culture changes depending on where you are, who you are with, and it changes over time.  The easiest way to see how culture has changed over time is to look at what is considered modest for a woman.  It used to be if a woman showed her ankles or wrists she was considered immodest.  Now our culture can't seem to agree on what is modest.  Is it immodest if she shows her knees? lower thigh?  mid-thigh? Daisy dukes (ok that one is definitely pushing the lines?)  Yet most people including many Christians would not have a problem with her wearing a one piece bathing suit which rides even higher than the daisy dukes.  If we were to go to the middle east the woman showing more than her eyes is considered immodest.  In some primitive tribes woman walk around without shirts with out batting an eye, no one in their culture finds them immodest.  So clearly we can see how culture can be different through time, in different places, and with different people. 

There is a biblical principle about modesty.  1 timothy 2:9-10 " in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, ¹⁰ but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works." Interesting that what Paul says is the adornment of modest apparel is "good works."  Petere says it this way in 1 Peter 3:3-4 "Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel ⁴ rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God."  Peter notes that our concern should be on the inner person, the modesty that is within, the word merely was added by the translators because Peter was not saying not to wear clothing at all.  God says in 1 Samuel 16:7"
But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'"  The Scripture never really gives definitive "this is what modest clothing for a woman is." 

 Some people will make the argument that we are not to cause our brother to stumble, and so a woman should dress in a way that a man will not lust after her.  However the woman's clothing does not cause men to lust after her, the men are responsible for guarding their heart, and controlling their own desires.  If a man is going to lust after a woman she could be completely naked or completely covered up it won't change the man's heart.  Again we have a cultural issue where make the man's lust the woman's fault.  The same is true that a man who has decided to guard his heart will not lust after a woman even should she be naked in front of him.

I use modest and dress as an example of a greater problem though.  Too often I see believers making their culture the standard instead of the Bible.  I even see some of them twisting the Bible to try to fit their standards.  During Jesus day this was what the religious establishment had been doing.  They tried to make their laws supersede those of scripture.  Their laws initially were an attempt to comply with scripture.  Over time though they had built so many laws up trying to be righteous, that they had lost righteousness in the mix.  They no longer had God's standards.  They were measuring all the wrong things.  

Let us make sure as we are dealing with others, especially if we are discussing morals and standards, that we make sure that we are arguing from the Bible, which means actually being able to take a person to the scriptures and point out where it says that.  Let's be willing to look beyond our own culture, and look at what God really said was right and wrong.  It is good to desire to be right, but only God can determine what is right.  Thank God for His word which tells me so.