The Biblical Importance of Modesty

          I had almost forgotten about the existence of modesty as a public high school teacher in the eighties and nineties. One of the first things to surprise me when I came to work at a Christian college was that there were still modest young women in the world. Now, why was I surprised, and why did I appreciate it so much, and why did I mention women and not men? The Bible is always a good place to start.

            Paul says to Timothy, “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God” (I Timothy 2:9-10). Peter says something similar: “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight” (I Peter 3:3-4).

            Esther records a moment in history when a woman refused to have her beauty paraded before a group of men:

On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him…to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. But when the attendants delivered the king's command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger. (Esther 1:10-12)

The Bible doesn’t say whether Xerxes or Vashti was in the right in this disagreement, but it does say that Vashti lost her title as Queen. That she was not killed, however, at least suggests the possibility that Vashti was right in defending her modesty.

            And while scripture (and even our own culture) seems to focus on the modesty and beauty of women, men are not free from dealing with issues of appearance: “Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’” (Genesis 39:6-7). Shortly thereafter Potiphar’s wife accused Joseph of trying to seduce her—he was sent to prison for it.

Physical Beauty is Not Shameful

            The Bible speaks of the importance of modesty and the limitations of beauty. Is it saying, however, that physical beauty is something that should not matter to us at all? If it is, then there’s no place for the Song of Solomon, a book which celebrates romantic love in marriage, including the pleasure of enjoying a spouse’s physical beauty:

How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Mount Gilead.
Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
not one of them is alone.
Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth is lovely.
Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.
Your neck is like the tower of David,
built with elegance;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle
that browse among the lilies. (Song of Solomon 4:1-5)

We may not see the beauty in the description of hair like goats and teeth like sheep, but trust me when I say it’s there—this is erotic love poetry celebrating the beauty of a woman (see 5:10-16 for the wife’s description of her husband). Scripture should always be read in relation to other scripture. When talking about modesty and beauty, we tend to focus on Peter and Paul. A full reading of the Bible shows that physical beauty matters to human beings and that, especially in marriage, we are allowed to celebrate it. Indeed it is because beauty matters, that we should be concerned about modesty.

            We’ve laid a biblical foundation for modesty, one that acknowledges the need to be modest but the goodness of beauty in the human body created by God. Next month we’ll look to answer several questions: 1. Why does modesty seem to matter more for women than men (and does it really)? 2. What is a true biblical attitude of modesty? 3. How can we be modest in a culture where fashion is so often immodest?