Women’s Wednesday–“At Least it’s a One-Piece…?”

My birthday is in the summer – July 17 to be exact. As a “summer baby” you miss out on a few things that other kiddos get to have or do. I remember in primary school a child would get a cupcake on his/her birthday at lunch. No cupcake for me … And as I got older, other kids were getting their permits and licenses during the school year and could finally drive themselves (free of mom or pops) to school! Not me, I had to wait until the summer…

But, there is one thing that many “summer babies” do enjoy … POOL PARTIES.

In fact, my parents had (and still have) a lovely pool in their backyard; so, we hosted our fair share of celebratory swimming soirées. With boys and girls. Swimming together. As teenagers. Yep, mixed swimming. At the time, I didn’t see any problem with it. Afterall, I always considered myself the modest one of the bunch -- my swimsuit was a one piece – not like those other girls wearing revealing bikinis!

Imagine this purely hypothetical situation with me. Your doorbell rings. You peek out the curtains to see who is there and to your shock and amazement, it’s Jesus. You look down at your duds and realize that you’ve just changed into your one piece swimsuit for a pool party. What do you do? Do you open the door to the Lord wearing what the world may tell you is a “modest” one piece bathing suit –even though it reveals all of your legs, all of your arms, part of your back, and part of your chest? Or do you hang your head low and quickly dash to your closet to put on a sari or dress to cover up the parts you are ashamed to be exposing in front of Him? Or does it even bother you (Jeremiah 6:15)?

You see, while that situation is PURELY imaginative, the point is that if a particular article of clothing would be shameful to wear in front of his physical presence, then you’d better be ashamed to wear the same in front of others right now. At this very moment. Because, the Lord sees all.

Besides imagining the above scenario to back up this point, let me guide you to two main reasons why a one-piece (however modest it may “seem” in comparison to a bikini) is still not a good idea in front of others:

1) You (and I) are told to dress with modesty and propriety [1 Timothy 2:9, 10] and to be chaste and discreet [Titus 2:3-5]. What does it mean to be modest or to dress with propriety? In the Greek, these two phrases together would mean to dress orderly, of good behavior, [with a sense of] bashfulness [towards men] and in awe or reverence towards God. Does your one piece fit the bill here?

2) To avoid being a stumbling block. I’m sure you’ve heard (and maybe dismissed) this reason a jillion times. But, just because we as women may have become “numb” to one piece bathing suits does NOT mean that males are.

In a recent survey¹, a quarter of males disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement “one piece swimsuits are modest” – that means they think they’re immodest! Sure it’s only 25%, but it’s means that men are still affected by them!

One 17 year old had this to say about one piece swimsuits: “Part of the issue is modest versus it still attracts my attention. In contrast with bikinis … yes it is “modest”, but it doesn’t mean I don’t stumble on occasion.”

Another 17 year old added “It is better than a lot of what’s out there, but it still shows a lot of leg.”

What I hear these guys saying is that the world has gone so far on the side of immodest that a one-piece is “modest” in comparison to a string bikini, but not TRULY discreet and chaste. The first commenter even admitted that a one piece can still be occasion for stumbling. This means by dressing immodestly, you could be a catalyst for a brother in Christ (or anyone else, for that matter ) to commit sin. [Matt 5:28] Sure, the sinner has a responsibility in this. But how would you feel knowing that your stubborn insistence on wearing what you want to wear was an aide in possibly preventing a brother from reaching Heaven?

(Curious about what guys thought about bikinis? In the same survey, 84.3% agreed or strongly agreed that bikinis are IMMODEST.)

It may be a process for you to change your thinking. It was for me. You may be screaming inside right now, fighting the logic, saying, “But, I don’t want to give up swimming!” I would suggest that you don’t have to. Find a secluded beach and go there dressed modestly! We recently visited Jekyll Island and had yards and yards and yards of beachfront completely to ourselves, so we did not have to view the indecent dress of others. I wore long shorts or capris and a breezy sleeved top. Did I have any less fun because I wasn’t exposing myself? Absolutely not! I still had my fun, but I didn’t have to worry about leading anyone astray. I hope that you will consider the same when the water calls for you this summer!

~Martha Howell

¹ Modesty Survey. http://www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey/browse_27.