Several years ago there was a Time magazine article reporting on the rise of camps and resort facilities for nudists. It was portrayed as a “conservative” activity. A couple of folks quoted or referenced in the article were described as “conservative" Christians.
The point of the article was to make a case that nudism (the way it was presented it seems appropriate to append the suffix at the end making it an “ism,” or philosophy) has nothing erotic about it. In fact, the article offers anecdotal evidence that growing up in nudism deflects the erotic tendencies and connotations of nudity for those who grow up in a clothed environment. They even equate embracing nudism with having “no shame.”
But nudity is not a matter of how one feels about it. I can perfectly understand how humans can dull the discomfort that Adam and Eve felt when their “eyes were opened and they saw that they were naked.” Given our sinful natures we are always finding ways to justify our not seeing things the way God sees it.
In truth, what is under consideration when we take up this subject is not a lack of clothing per se, but the pervasive eroticism in our culture that is only heightened by the explicit attempts to display more and more flesh, or to direct attention to what lay underneath (or isn’t underneath!) the outer layer of clothing. This reality is something that we as Christians must be very careful to not “buy in to.”
We can resist this is several ways. One is to examine the presentation of ourselves to those around us. This would begin with an examination of our heart. In a teaching about the behavior of a woman who lives with an unsaved husband, Peter enjoins “chaste conduct” and goes on to say: “Do not let your adornment be merely outward -- arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel -- 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” (1 Peter 3:3-4). While the apostle has a specific goal in mind in this teaching, it is not difficult to see how the soul is placed above the body. Man looks on the outside but God the inside (1 Samuel 16:7) and a beautiful spirit is more attractive to God than outward adornment.
Now, I want to be careful here. I do not wish to suggest that we cannot make ourselves attractive, but when how we look becomes more important than the state of our soul, things are out of order. And it is hard for me to imagine a Christian, who is working on the improvement of his or her soul, desiring to present themselves in ways that are designed to provoke sinful responses on the part of others. So the first thing we can do to resist the eroticism of our culture is to develop godliness in our souls.
The second thing is to take it the next step and examine our wardrobe. Does what we wear demonstrate that we have bought into the pervasive eroticism of our culture? Do we own and put on clothes that are designed to draw attention to the parts of our bodies that are meant only to be seen by our spouse? If so, then we have bought into the ethic that is working hard to cast off the restraints of modesty. We cannot control everyone else’s response (there are those who would find the illustrations in “Alice in Wonderland” erotic), but what is in view here are clothes that are specifically designed to present the body in sexual ways. We really ought not to be wearing such things.
The last thing I would suggest is to not partake of the erotica of the culture. This involves, at the least, not looking at pornography, not ogling people as they walk down the street, resisting sexual fantasy, not blithely viewing eroticism in television and films (a PG-13 rating is no guarantee against erotic content), turning your eyes from suggestive advertising . . . well, you get the picture.
Remember this requires wisdom. It would be too easy to just demand a dress code of some sort or to go live in the woods. That is not the point. It begins as an issue of the soul. God will give his people wisdom as to how they might “serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28).
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