. . . we shouldn't confront the pornographic culture as head-wagging moralists, but as broken-hearted evangelists. We should stand against the Hooters corporation, not only because it rips apart the moral fabric of society, but also because it renders women created in the image of God as one more "product" to be bought and sold.
This means that our churches must be the kind of places where desperate women -- in whom the rest of the world sees no value beyond body parts -- can find a Messiah who can liberate them from tyranny.
What would it mean if our churches stopped encouraging our own teenage and preteen daughters to dress like Hooters Girls? What would it mean if we insisted that our young girls insist on being treated with the dignity with which they were created? What if fathers and brothers and uncles took seriously the command to guard such dignity, even to the point of turning away from buying someone else's daughter as a "product" on the cover of a sports magazine or a fashion catalog? What would it mean if our senior adult ladies took time to share the Gospel and a cup of coffee with the young woman who thinks all she has to offer is a tight T-shirt and a miniskirt?
This would mean that we would be following the example of Jesus of Nazareth, who refused to allow a Samaritan woman to continue defining herself by her sexual availability to men (John 4:17). It would mean that we would signal what Jesus has already shown us, that the way of sexual "freedom" really enslaves. It would mean that we would follow Jesus in heralding a kingdom made up of redeemed tax collectors, prostitutes, and, yes, maybe a Hooters Girl or two.
Amen. I was thinking the other day that Hooters girls--and the phrase can apply to an increasing number of teenagers and pre-teens and even elementary-school girls today wearing provocative clothing, or lack thereof--are one of the least loved groups in our culture. They obviously get a lot of attention. A few moralists loathe and resent them. But most just lust over them--either wanting to look like them or wanting to be with them. And their parents don't love them enough to guide them toward mature modesty.
One of Michael Horton's book has the title, Where in the World Is the Church? which of course has a double meaning. And the question certainly applies with regard to this issue.
If you have or know a pre-teen or teenage girl, an excellent move would be to buy the book Girl Talk by Carolyn Mahaney and Nicole Whitacre Mahaney, and have a mature godly older woman--her mother if possible--work through it with her.
Another helpful tool included in their book is a "Modesty Checklist." According to the Sovereign Grace newsletter I received today, that checklist has been updated:
The updated checklist can be downloaded in PDF format from our website. If you are interested in other resources related to modesty, the website offers a message by C.J. Mahaney called "The Soul of Modesty" in audio or article form. Additional comments and testimonies on modesty can be found in PDF form on our website.I encourage you to check out these resources. May God lead us all to maturity in biblical manhood and womanhood--not using one another or encouraging others to use us, but serving and loving each other to the glory of God in Christ.
