Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Should a Christian woman (wife) wear tight sexy yoga pants?

Is it right for a Christian woman (wife) to wear sexy tight pants that show off the form of her body?
Everywhere you look, you see women running around in tight compression pants, yoga pants, and skin tight leggings. I have even seen women wearing them to church. Some of these pants hug every curve and crevice of a woman's body, leaving very little to the imagination. These pants are turning men and women's heads, and attracting a lot of attention. I've heard some Christian women talk negatively about the women wearing these tight pants, saying that it is not appropriate. And then months later, I've seen these same women wearing similar tight pants.

Is there a bible verse that can tell us whether it is right or wrong for a woman to show off the form of her body, such as what happens when a woman wears skin tight pants?
The answer can be found in the Song of Songs (Solomon) chapter 6 and verse 13. A chorus of people in the presence of King Solomon call out to Solomon's wife and they say, "come back, come back, that we may gaze (look) at you." The entire book of Song of Songs is a love story between a husband (Solomon) and his wife (a Shulammite), which also includes a chorus of people at various times throughout the book. We don't have to guess they were looking at, because the very next verse Solomon starts to describe the beauty of his wife from Song 7:1-9. He describes her feet and the curves of her hips in verse 1. Her navel and belly are mentioned in verse 2 and her breasts in verse 3. The description of Solomon's wife's body happens over and over again through the book of Song of Songs. The detailed description of her body was pretty graphic for biblical times.

Cameras and televisions did not exist in Solomon's time. Instead, the media that was used to communicate with people was writings and songs. As you read through this book of Song of Songs, you discover that Solomon is proud of his wife and he is calling out to his friends, to the chorus to look at his beloved wife and how beautiful she looks. Furthermore, Solomon had this written down, so that other people would be aware of her beauty. God chose to preserve these truths in His Word and we have an entire book of the bible devoted to the love story of a husband and wife, which includes showing off and describing the body of a woman.

If King Solomon lived today and was the ruler of a modern nation, I believe he would be using our modern media (TV, Internet) to show off the beauty of his wife to the world, much like he did with the media that was available to him in his period of time.

If the bible can talk about the curves of a married woman's hips, and a chorus of people call out to the woman to come back so they can get a better look at her...then I think the bible not only allows a woman to show off her figure, but that it promotes it. There is an entire book of the bible (Song of Songs) that has been given to us as a guide and God's own Holy Word describes the form and shape of a woman's body several times.

One last thought, the chorus of people ask Solomon's wife to come back so they can look at her, which implies that she was leaving or at least moving away from them. It would appear based on the next sentence that Solomon's wife came back to them, because she asks them a question in the last part of verse 13. She basically asks, "Why do you want to look at me, and look at me in the same manner as an intimate (sexy) dancer?" Solomon's wife doesn't ignore the people's request, she is curious and goes back to ask them a question. In doing so, she is allowing them and giving them more time to look at her.

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2 Comments:

At 7/17/2014 5:23 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Do you believe this group of people were 'the daughters of Jerusalem or a mixed crowd. I've read where it would have been unthinkable for a respectable Jew to put his wife on display like this.Just wondering

 
At 7/31/2014 11:34 PM, Blogger SAM said...

Esther used her beauty to win a contest and was put on display by her husband (King Xerxes or Ahasuerus), although he was not a Jew. King Solomon, son of David, was a Jew (Israelite) and served as the King of the Nation Israel. Solomon's actions and words recorded in the Song of Songs (Solomon) indicates that he also talked about and showed off the beauty of his wife, which is similar to what King Xerxes did with Queen Esther. Father Abraham had a beautiful wife and he did not request that she cover up her beauty, which led to some trouble with a couple of kings. I think there is enough evidence in the bible to show that biblical views of showing off beauty are different than non-biblical. The Jews (Pharisees) came up with lots of additional rules and ideas that were not biblical. They even used their religious traditions and rules to accuse Jesus of wrong doing. No respectable Jew would hang out with tax collectors, sinners and sick people that would defile them!

When King Solomon is talking to his friends (chapter 5), I believe it is highly likely they were Jewish men. The palace would have likely employed both men and women servants. The guards would have been men and would be posted around the palace. Therefore, I think this scene would have included a mixed crowd of both men and women of the Nation of Israel. It is possible the group of people were the daughters of Jerusalem or young women, but then in the context that raises questions about why a group of women would stare and make those type of comments?

If talking about the beauty and showing off the beauty of a woman is wrong, then why did God choose to preserve and make Song of Songs (Solomon) part of His Holy Word and Bible? At one point in history, Song of Songs would have served as a guide (set of instructions) for young Jewish men and women. I don't know what other people have written about respectable Jewish practices, but I know what the Bible says not once, but at least two or three times.

 

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