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BY STEVE HOFFMAN
Is it a sin to tell women that it’s a sin to wear yoga pants? I don’t know if I would go that far, but I do think it is wrongheaded for many reasons that our discussion of modesty and lust often get reduced to telling women what to wear.
Every year about this time, online theobros think it is their Christian duty to remind Christian women that they have bodies and that Christian men are attracted to their bodies. These men, very concerned for their brothers in Christ, urge their sisters in Christ to dress “modestly” by avoiding leggings, short shorts, summer dresses, bikinis, and anything that might cause their brothers in Christ to “stumble.”
Essentially, they tell Christian women that if they dress immodestly (according to what standards is difficult to ascertain, but leggings are definitely out) they will cause their brothers in Christ to lust. It will be their fault if a man commits the sin of lust because of something that they wore.
This is an area of my thinking that has changed quite a bit over the years. A while ago, I may have been joining those theobros in telling women what they can’t and shouldn’t wear. But God has helped me see this issue much more clearly and in a way that takes into account that women are, you know, human beings created in the image and likeness of God.
I think that telling women that certain ways of dressing are sinful is beyond nonsense for many, many reasons:
The Bible Tells Women to Dress Modestly But Not in the Way we Think
The Bible does in fact instruct women to dress modestly. 1 Timothy 2:9 says, “I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes…” But notice what Paul, the author, draws attention to: gold, pearls, expensive clothes. In other words, rather than telling them not to show off their bodies, he is telling them not to show off their wealth.
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