People get offended rather easily. It is not the aim of this article to offend anyone. Rather, we would like for people to stop and think about a topic that, quite frankly, people take for granted, or they give little or no thought to it. This is not the only topic people treat this way. We could ask the questions, "Who told you what to do to be saved?" or "Who tells you how to worship?" These are serious questions. However, not many people give these questions serious thought. They assume they know the answer, and then they act on their assumption.

Often, when we ask the question of an adult or teenager, "Who tells you how to dress?" the answer is, "Nobody. I choose how I want to dress." Although each of us chooses how we are going to dress, we want to dress in a manner that will be approved by the people whose acceptance we seek. So, the real question should be, "Whose acceptance do you seek?"

As a Christian - a follower of Christ - we should seek God's acceptance. He sets the standard of righteousness, holiness, and godliness. God's word reveals the standards of salvation and true worship. God's word also reveals the standards of modesty and nakedness.

When Adam and Eve sinned, "...the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings" (Gen. 3:7 NASB). "Loin coverings" is from the Hebrew word, chagowr or chagor and (feminine) chagowrah or chagorah, and is defined, "1) a girdle, a belt, 2) a girdle, a loin-covering, a belt, a loin-cloth, armor" (Brown-Driver-Briggs). When God asked Adam concerning his whereabouts, Adam responded, "I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself" (Gen. 3:10 NASB). Adam and Eve knew that the "loin coverings" they had made for themselves were not sufficient to cover their nakedness. God did not correct Adam. In fact, the necessary inference is that He agreed with him. Genesis 3:21 reads, "And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them" (NASB). The word "garment" is from the Hebrew word, kethoneth or kuttoneth, and is defined, "a tunic, an undergarment; a long shirt-like garment usually of linen" (Brown-Driver-Briggs). It is translated, "coat," "garment," "robe," in the King James Version. The KJV translation of "coat" and "robe" is consistent with the amount of covering that would be supplied by a "tunic," "a knee-length garment with sleeves, a round neck, and a loose body worn by men in ancient Rome, or a similar garment worn during the Middle Ages," (Encarta Dictionary). The nakedness of Adam and Eve was not covered until God "clothed them" with a garment that covered them from the neck to the knees.

In addition to the garment God provided Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness, we are well served to consider an additional garment God ordered to cover the nakedness of the priests, when they stood above the people. In addition to the tunic the priest was to wear, God ordered "...linen breeches to cover their bare flesh; they shall reach from the loins even to the thighs" (cf. Ex. 28:39-42; 20:24-26 NASB). Clearly, God considers the exposure of "the loins even to the thighs" to be one area of nakedness.

The "loin coverings" Adam and Eve made for themselves did not cover their torso and, most likely, did not adequately cover them "from the loins even to the thighs." Adam and Eve were honest enough with God to admit that their garment left them naked. Many of the garments that are worn by both men and women today leave them naked in the eyes of God. Those who revere God will wear garments consistent with a tunic, i.e., covers their shoulders, has a round neck line (i.e. a neckline that does not expose the nakedness of the chest), and covers them to their knees.

God has the right to tell us what to do to be saved, how to worship Him, and a hosts of other things, including the right to define nakedness. The question is, are we going to dress in a manner consistent with one who professes godliness (cf. 1 Tim. 2:10), or are we going to dress in a manner consistent with the style of the day, but exposes our nakedness?