On the dressing of females

Terms:
"1. Immodesty: indecent, esp. with regard to sexual propriety; improper
2. bold, impuedent, or shameless"
"from Latin immodestus 'unrestrained, excessive,'"

Not + modest
" 1. having or showing a moderate or humble estimate of one's merits, importance, etc.; free from vanity, egotism, boastfulness, or great pretensions.
2. free from ostentation or showy extravagance
3. having or showing regard for the decencies of behavior, speech, dress, etc.; decent"

Decent:
"1. conforming to the recognized standard of propriety, good taste, modesty, etc., as in behavior or speech.
2. respectable; worthy
...5. suitable; appropriate"

Intro.
This is such a visceral issue for religious women. I'd like to look at it a bit analytically.
Immodesty really has to do with the cultural expectations of what a "decent" woman wears. I personally would use the word as little as possible because it is so loaded. 
Perhaps break it down to: acting in a way to draw attention to one's sexuality, particularly in dress. Here we can isolate the issues as a mix of sensuality and vanity, not just cultural expectations. [And of vanity, there's a lot more to be said than just this.]
* * * *
Why dress sexy/ sensually/ provocatively?
Well, it's complicated:
Issue 1: The flesh
Issue 2: Admiration/ acceptance
Issue 3: Love/ security
Issue 4: Power
Issue 5: Class rules
Issue 6: Identity

ISSUE 1: The flesh... the desire to make sure things go well for ME, and being ready to use all available resources for my happiness and well-being (as I perceive it). The selfish desire for power, attention, and admiration.

This would be THE issue for an average male walking around without a t-shirt so girls can see his six-pack or for someone secure, self-confident, and well-loved. However, for teenage girls, it's a bit more complicated.

ISSUE 2: It naturally (not just fleshly) feels good to be admired, accepted, approved of by others and by one's self. 

"I'm normal, okay, fit in, pass inspection."

This is where it gets sticky:
Women in our society are primarily valued, admired, accepted, approved of by others for our bodies.
Seriously.

Please understand what this means. Our entire economy and way of life (in the US especially, but in a modern culture) is driven by advertising. Advertising is a world of abnormally beautiful people.

Women are used more often than men to sell products, so our culture, consisting of average men and women, is accustomed to seeing beautiful women constantly.  This means our expectations of women are conditioned by overexposure to abnormal beauty; We expect a woman to be beautiful.

In our culture, that means we get used to seeing 5'10" models with 35/25/35 bust/waist/hips. This is not just talking about pretty girls, who will always be among us. These are women who have "won the genetic lottery," spend much of their time working out and cultivating their looks, and are airbrushed- pinched in, smoothed out, and enhanced by computers- who fill our attention as much as very motivated, psychologically astute advertisers can manage.

http://www.today.com/style/ideal-real-what-perfect-body-really-looks-men-women-2D79582595
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/most-models-meet-criteria-for-anorexia-size-6-is-plus-size-magazine/
http://www.beautyredefined.net/photoshop-phoniness-hall-of-shame/

Our society expects women to be beautiful. People in general do not primarily expect women to be intelligent, kind, or hardworking; they assume she ought to have a nice looking face and body. Our society shows over and over again (music, commercials, movies, tv) that we don't care so much what a woman thinks/does, but how she looks. This varies according to one's circles and age, but teenagers are the most vulnerable demographic to advertising, peer review, and incredibly superficial, shortsighted reckonings of humanity.

What does this have to do with sensual dress? Because sexy and beautiful are synonyms. Whatever a girl's natural beauty rating, sexy is just a clothing choice away. A beautiful woman could turn men's heads in sweatpants; any woman can turn men's heads in the right outfit. Sexy means she at least feels beautiful.

ISSUE 3: Desire for love/ security
Among all the women I have known, the constant life goal, whether admitted or not (but usually admitted) is to find true love. And by love, they mean a romantic relationship with a man.
This involves 1) being picked and 2) maintaining interest. The desire for this outweighs all other goals, desires, and life ambitions. The fear of not being picked and the shame of not having a man's attention outweigh all other achievements, successes, and virtues. (Please multiply this times a factor of 10 when talking about teenagers.) If you find women who honestly disagree, they are very unusual. This desire/ fear is encouraged by virtually every movie, TV show, many novels, untold songs, teenage society/gossip, and most religious groups.

This means things look very precarious for an ugly woman. (And all women find themselves ugly at varying times.)

(Beautiful girls, too, have the added pressure of "if you've got it, flaunt it" and the knowledge that they could easily get even more attention, and from more interesting people, if they would just work it. They have the added temptation of knowing they could compete in the world's games. They've got what it takes to go far.)

I have no idea if most men would count finding true love as the very highest of their life's goals. Very few would admit it, I think. But let's consider: What does an average man need  to be accepted by an average female?
1) No physical deformity; decent looks a plus
2) A minimum of social skills, including confidence (Less if we're talking about teenagers!)
3) No excessively odd habits
4) (Here’s the important one) Pays attention to the girl
5) A job/ potential (N/A to teenagers!)

What does a girl need to be accepted by a guy? (Perceived):
1) Looks
2) Body
3) Looks
4) Nice personality

Keep in mind that the average woman, let alone teenage girl, (I hypothesize) finds a man as being THE KEY to
1) immediate happiness
2) love
3) security/ worth as a human being (that being picked!)
4) future dreams

Yes, feminists have some good points. Would a man make the same list? Dubious. And if he did, all he needs to do, basically, is not be weird and talk to a girl in his range.
Seriously.

ISSUE 4: Understand the lack of power a woman has over her happiness, if she defines it as listed above.

SHE MUST ATTRACT A MAN, OR...

(Your family's not going to get you out of this one. Dad's not going to find someone for you in exchange for two cows. Neighbor boy next door's not going to pick you because you have a strong back and are of childbearing age... [Ha. Except boys get desperate, too. Girls don't necesarily know this, however. I still remember the exhilarating epiphany I had that not all women who get married are skinny. I'm not joking.])

So, a girl looks at her resources.

From her childhood, but especially after age 12, she looks in the mirror and assesses her assets: eyes, lips, hair, shape,  legs, eyelashes, eyebrows, arms, stomach, feet, shoulders...

Society has some pretty unrealistic expectations for feminine beauty,  but there are a few things women at least have in common...

We might not be a size 0, but biologically, we all have shape and skin, just like the ideal woman does.
Our looks might not be fantastic, but we can do our makeup/hair/clothes/ whatever in a certain way, just like the "beautiful ones." ("Models" is a very accurate term.)
Be perfect as they are perfect. Or at least copy the perfect ones.
Your future depends on it.

ISSUE 5: Some of the rules of dressing is a class issue. (I theorize here.)
Professional/ upper classes show enough skin to look good and to maximize their power, but not enough to look desperate (weakness). They are not more modest; they are more self-conscious.
Lower classes aren't that self- conscious, and their girls don't know the rules.

The upper classes dress in such a way as to make them available/ attractive... to certain types. Others need not apply, however much they might want to.

Lower classes aren't trying to exclude anybody, but they do exclude without realizing it: the upper/ professional classes.

ISSUE 6: Appearance is a function of identity. We associate a person with their body; we are our bodies.

In history, dress indicated ethnicity, social standing, work.

Now, it's supposed to reveal you- your personality, tastes, opinions. (Remember that people don't generally ask women for these things. Clothes are a "voice" for a woman's internal self. Our bodies could be identical to a robot's and no one would care; our clothes are us.)

We accept that people expect looks and a nice body. Our clothes are what we want people to think of us.
"Associate me with ____________."
Group identity: "I am a member of ____________."
Friends: "I am ____________ type."

Teenagers especially pick an adjective...
- Hipster - Athletic - Designer - Punk/ metal/ rocker - Hip-hop
- Vintage - Preppy/ classy   -Sexy -Unique/ artistic -Country
- Dramatic - Edgy - I-don't-care/ casual
...and find clothes to correspond.

* * * * * * *
So. When someone tells us to be "modest"...
DOG WHISTLE! Here are the panic triggers:

ISSUE 1: Die to flesh.
ISSUE 2: Don't be admired.
ISSUE 3: Love/ security quest... handicapped
ISSUE 4: Power limited 
ISSUE 6: Be weird. (But my identity...!)  Alienation/ differentness from the rest (and most people don't want to be different)

+ resentment...  Why do I have to conform to other's rules?! This is exactly what the Muslims do! Make the women cover up because the men won't control themselves. The men are the problem. Why the body shaming?! Why can't I just do what I want? "Why is my freedom being judged by another's conscience?" / “This is sexist!”

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/26/opinion/drexler-loyola-memo/
* * * * * * *
TRY INSTEAD:

Issue 1: Re: The flesh

Be alive to God. He gave you your precious, valuable, useful body for more than being wanted.
Use your body to live, not just appear!
Serve others with it!
Enjoy it!
Appreciate it!
Be strong!
Love your brothers with it.

Eph. 4:17-2417 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of[d] the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
***
1 Thessalonians 4:3"3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. 7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. 8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given[a] us His Holy Spirit. 9 But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;
***
Romans 13:1010 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
***
Galatians 5:13
13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 
***
(On not being either immodest nor modesty-pharisees, but in all things both free and loving):
 4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. ...
7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and rose[b] and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 
10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.[c] 11 For it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”[d]
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
14 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 Yet if your brother is grieved because of your [clothing] food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your [clothing] food the one for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For he who serves Christ in these things[e] is acceptable to God and approved by men.
19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of [clothing]food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. 21 It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.
1 Corinthians 8
9 But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. 

Issue 2: Re: Admiration/ acceptance

Be admired for the right things.
- Kindness
- Honor
- Humor
- Intelligence
- Virtue
(The hidden, imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit,
which are precious in the sight of God.)

May your dress facilitate this admiration, not distract from. Dress nice, just not sexually. Present yourself as a lady, not an object.
(Proverbs 31 is as intimidating as a Victoria Secret model to Christian women, but look what she's admired for!)

Issue 3: Re: Love/ security

Love/ security/ future in Christ-
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God knit us together in our mother's womb. Foreknew us before the creation of the earth. Willed us into existence. Made us to love us and to have us become one with Him. He has plans for us, good works foreordained for us to walk in. Abundant life. Joy. Love. Family. Bearing much fruit.

No one else died for me, bled for me, prays for me, or has invested/ given so much for/in/to me...

He is my end, my home, my peace.

Eph. 1: 3-143 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both[a] which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who[b] is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
* * *
All of Romans 8, but especially:
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[b] with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”[c]
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Issue 4: Re: Power

Virtue = power under control
Use your body to serve others, not as a tool for self. Sexuality is a gift, not a matter of advertising. It is a gift from God and subject to His limits, not our own.

Also, humility: it's not about me and my awesomeness. Fight pride, covetousness, desperation by being thankful to God for all His gracious gifts; our happiness is not dependent on our exploitation of our own resources. Trust that He is good and will be good.

Philippians 2: 22 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
***
Rom. 6:1212 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
***
1 Corinthians 6:1919 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body[c] and in your spirit, which are God’s.
***
1 Timothy 6:1111 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
***
Isaiah 40:6The voice said, “Cry out!”
And he[b] said, “What shall I cry?”
“All flesh is grass,
And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades,
Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.”
***
Proverbs 31: 30Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
***
1 Peter 1: 1313 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”[c]
17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit[d] in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,[e] 24 because
“All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man[f] as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.”[g]

Issue 5: Re: Class rules

Straight up fact: People judge you on the basis of your looks and clothing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5xFD1bFujg
(Trailer for TV show "Love, Lust, or Run"- Women come in with their own "look" they think represents them (usually risque or hard core). They find out what people on the street really think of them. Then, they're made over to a look that represents them, but that others can "love". This is prime time TV.)

People look down on provocative clothing.  The issue is not whether they should judge you or not. This is very pragmatic: they will. They will assume things about you. Read articles. Take a survey: show pictures of different women to different people. What adjective would they use to describe each one? What would they assume?

Yes, dear, you will get attention if you wear that, but what kind? (And please remember that you are not going out into a world of attractive, decent men in your age/ interest range. The majority of people who will see you are not people you'd want to attract sexually for a variety of reasons. You might think they don't care or think about you. Most won't. But some might notice you. You will come in contact with women, old men, middle aged married men, jerks, womanizers, adolescented perverted boys, young children, and the brief slice of eligible men you might have in mind. You don't know what they're thinking, but better to dress in a way that represents you well.)

"Dress for respect." "Dignify the profession." etc.

Dress in a way that doesn't make you/others uncomfortable. Think of it as a subset of manners: acting in a way that fits the occasion and makes others comfortable. Consider the occasion. Consider the context. Learn the "rules". http://careerservices.calpoly.edu/content/student/attire4hire
http://www.salisbury.edu/careerservices/Students/JobFair/Dress/Dress.html

This is where it gets practical: find examples of classy ladies. Emulate their style. Go shopping.
http://www.kohls.com/sale-event/womens-career.jsp

http://www1.macys.com/shop/womens-clothing/womens-business-attire?id=39096&edge=hybrid

http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/womens-clothing-wear-to-work

Learn to dress well. Wherever you go, clothing should not be an issue. Dress so you don't stand out in a bad way, but where you'll be accepted for yourself.

Issue 6: Re: Identity

You are more than your clothes. 
But you can still wear pretty/ creative/ nice things you feel comfortable in. You ought to feel comfortable enough leaving the door to forget about what you look like for the rest of the day. No burkhas necessary. You were called to freedom, bros.

Only, do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another.

Glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
...For you were bought at a price.

Part 3: On Knowledge

Intro here.
Part 2: On Virtue: here.
Part 4: On Self-control

recap: 2 Pet. 1 gives us a list of qualities that, if we practice them, we "will never fall": Be diligent to add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge... self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, love.

My presuppositions: Not only do these qualities come from faith, they also strengthen it. They keep our faith from being ineffective, unfruitful, or generally good-for-nothing. They help us become farsighted and to remember we were cleansed from our former sins.

My questions: Why? How?

Quality two: Knowledge
Knowledge, here used, will include learning, wisdom, and understanding. [Note: One of the reasons it's taken so long to type up "Part three" is the sheer audacity of me having anything to say on knowledge. But, by that token, i'd never write about anything at all except maybe cute quotes from Mexicans and my dreary, carnal responses to mundane life, the latter of which is not interesting at all and would totally disuade me from ever writing. so, pretentious or not, here's "knowledge".]

"Knowledge is power" is a oft-repeated 20th century mantra. I think, po-mo or not, it's true.

Because, you see, we, as God-believing Christ-followers, wrestle not against flesh and blood but against...

1) the flesh's persuasions, petulance, and occasional outright mutiny,
2) the devil (et al.) insinuations and position papers on us and existential reality,
3) the world's perspective and provocations,
4) ignorance's blindness, dimness, and shortsightedness,
and
5) bad theology's hallucinations.

These are enemies to clear-seeing, fruitful, enduring faith in Christ. On a good day, they can get to us. On a bad one...

Is there a defense? How can we fight them? Do we just have to, as I tell the kiddos, "Suck it up, and take it like a man?" What if the enemies don't fight fair? What if we're too puny and inexperienced to fight, eh, the vast and vicious, devastatingly clever enemies of mankind?

Vicarious experience... and having to learn the hard way.

This is speculation, but I think Job's suffering was greatly, greatly exacerbated because he came before the Psalms chronologically and not just in the table of contents.  Moses, David, Asaph had tough battles made worse because they had never read the Gospels. Heretics have suffered for lack of catechism. People have lost faith for lack of Lewis, Shaeffer, Ravi. People daily go crazy for lack of truth.

...and, for those living A.D., (especially us inhabitants of the year of our Lord 2012), the horrifying and hopeful thing is that it doesn't have to be.

Not that knowledge would have made those early heroes' suffering go away, but that suffering was added on top of what they were already going through. Yet, we benefit from them because they were "constructing knowledge" through their experience. A hard way to do it for them, but we are blessed and taught because in the midst of hardship they were honest, they had faith anyways, and God taught them His mercy existentially.

***
Today, people still suffer for lack of Psalms, Gospel, catechism. Not just that, people go to hell and refuse heaven because they do not understand... God, reality, themselves.

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you..."

Our ignorance is inexcusable. Christ is the Image of the Invisible God, the Word of God, the Logos, the Expression of the Eternal Father. He is not hidden; He is revealed. He is not far; He is so near, so close, that grasping just a little, we might lay hold of Him.

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life--
the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us."

He is the ultimate possible experiential knowledge. (Christians, in an ironic way, actually are a type of empiricists. We just include data compiled before us and accept that this is one experiment that will take a while before we get the results back on.)

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

But that is not to say we do not compile as much information as we can about those things we hope for, the things we don't yet see. We want them. We're rushing toward them with all the strength we can find. Why would we not want to know more about them?

Faith is not for people who want not to see, not to have evidence. It is for those who are frustrated by our own finiteness in such a vast universe and near such an infinite God. It is for those who want to know as we are known but understand how far we are from that.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork."

The Holy Spirit is our wisdom and counselor. The universe (place) and life (time) compose our classroom and school day. Christ is our theme; the Scriptures are our source. The Church and her theology are our tutors. All knowledge, all questions, all experience are word problems on the test, needing right application of truth to "get them right."

One of the most amazing, freeing things I've ever been taught is that "all truth is God's truth." Dios es, as the Hispanics say, grande. He's really that big. Much of the Christian life is a fight against our misunderstanding of God and reality.  To refuse to seek knowledge- of any healthy kind- is to choose to embrace ignorance, to choose to underestimate Christ, and to choose to be content with fallen, "natural" misunderstandings... presenting one's mind as idiot prey to obliging predators.

And, as a man thinks in his heart, so he is. If our thoughts are erred (and they will be), we will err- in decisions, in actions, in worship, in communication of God. We will turn away from the God who fills heaven and earth because our world is too small for that to mean anything to us.

To refuse to seek knowledge is to hold myself up as sufficient and complete... to proclaim that I've got divinity "in my bag," and " 'No, thank you,' past couple millenia of God-seekers, 'no, thank you' past six thousand years of human recorded experience, 'no, thank you' brilliant investigators of the natural world, 'no, thank you' deep meditators on the human condition, 'no, thank you' new revelations of reality...

...my 24 years hodge-podge of public schooling, leisure reading, undergrad sometimes-studies, chance conversations, and weekly sermons are sufficient to 'get' God... to handle life... to make good decisions and participate in the Divine Nature."

No, thank You, I shan't have any more. I'm fool.

***
Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will keep you. Love her, and she will guard you.

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.

...Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life...

The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens; by His knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge... fools despise wisdom and instruction.

All truth is God's truth, but theology is most necessary of it all. Pitting theology against "real" knowledge of God is a damnable false dichotomy. People with experiential knowledge of God and bad theology have been victim to sad and unnecessary suffering and sometimes apostasy. Christians turn away from the real God because they've believed gossip about a fake one.

...because everyone has theology; just not everyone has good theology. Yes, it's possible to know God and not know systematic theology as such, but that's only because God has had mercy and taught systematic theology to that person on a one-on-one, need-to-know basis. Yes, it's possible to know systematic theology and not know God, but that's like saying it's possible to be married to a stranger. Possible, but definitely not the purpose of the institution.

Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks,

"How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? 
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?"

...for the simple are killed by their turning away, and the 
complacency of fools destroys them.

If physics and poetry can provoke us to worship, good night, what do you think some good commentary will do?! There is much to say on the study of God. Maybe I'm not the best to say it, but I must say something, if only to myself. If we read anything, we ought to read truth about God. Beware having a shallow source pool. If it's true, it's probably been repeated. If it's false, it's probably been refuted. Seek God to give guidance. Be humble (it shouldn't be hard, reading the thoughts of some of the deepest people this earth has known) and seek, seek, seek truth.

Reason is a gift from God. If something is true, especially if something is true about God, it can hold up under intense pressure. Don't be afraid to question or to be dissatisfied, just remember you don't have to refer to God in 3rd person while doing so. Endure ambivalence and uncertainty, but don't get used to them; ultimately, they're temporary.

Above all, the purpose of theology is worship. Worship God when you "get it." Worship God when you don't. Worship God when something clicks. Worship God when you think you're a few screws short and have few hopes of finding them. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, not merely of those who have all their theological ducks in a row. Intellectually discontent or high on a God-epiphany, remember and rejoice that God rejoices to hear: "To whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life..."

Addendum: for the knowledge weary

January is Sanctity of Human Life Month

What to do now?

"Now" being everything you read in a news magazine, hear on the radio, see promoted on youtube, witness your loved ones saying, doing, and turning into, worry about in the car, pray about in the morning, want to curse in the midday... all that makes cynicism look realistic. all that makes godlessness look like a beast devouring nearer and nearer to where you are...

What to do?

"Bind up the testimonies," Isaiah said to his community in a similar moment. Now is the time for prayer and fasting, for this kind of demon cannot be bidden to leave otherwise.

Now is the time for love and mercy in your family, your neighborhood and your church.

Now is the time to be winsome and childlike.

Now is the time for gentle speech, wisdom and trust.

Now is the time to say you have absolutely no idea how the future will pan out, and what exactly you and the church will be doing next year: "whereas you do not know about tomorrow -- what is your life?" (James 4.14).

Now is the time to protect the weak and to care for the broken earth.

Now is the time to care for the little things, and to eschew the great opportunities.

Now is the time to leave off theological speculation and ecclesial reorganization, and do the simple things of repentance and thanksgiving.

Now is the time to be poetic, and prophetic ...

... and to learn what peace is so you have some of it to give away.

- blessing of God upon Father Jonathan, here

Part 2: On Virtue

intro here.
part 3: on knowledge

recap: 1 Pet. 1 gives us a list of qualities that, if we practice them, we "will never fall".

My presuppositions: Not only do these qualities come from faith, they also strengthen it. They keep our faith from being ineffective, unfruitful, or generally good-for-nothing. They help us become farsighted and to remember we were cleansed from our former sins.
My questions: Why? How?

Quality One: Virtue

Definitions:
Virtue, according to Oxford, is "moral excellence; goodness." * Strong's lists this using as "arete" (a big deal for the Greeks) which is: 1) a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action; 1a) virtue, moral goodness; 2) any particular moral excellence, as modesty, purity.

When I think of virtue, I also think of Proverbs 31: early riser, hard worker, trustworthy, compassionate, wise, kind, generous. Someone who demonstrates good stuff on the inside and outside.

*Not really catechized, the best i can expound upon the historical virtues is to say go read Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book III. He lists them as being faith, hope, charity, prudence, temperence, justice, valor. (That's a translation from Spanish, the only version of the book I have.) I haven't read the book in a while, so I'm not going into depth on them.

Connection to faith:
"With the merciful, You will show Yourself merciful;
with the blameless man, You show Yourself blameless,
with the purified, You show Yourself pure;
and with the crooked, You make Yourself seem tortuous (twisted)"
 
To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure...
The pure in heart shall see God...
 
So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
 
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts... for My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways.

You thought I was altogether like you. But..."

***
When we sin, we obscure our vision of God. We were made like Him, but we've spent many, many decisions trying to mar the family resemblance. Making ourselves familiar with sin, we cannot now look at ourselves and assume God is like us. We choose to understand evil, to advocate for the devil, to sympathize with the flesh (an unreliable narrator if there ever was one)... instead of understanding God, communing (having in common) with Christ, and reasoning with His Spirit.

But we don't have to. When we are born again, we receive a "new" nature... a new natural, a second childhood, a new relationship with the Father we were always meant to adore. We have a second (first?) chance to be human, really, really human, in a good way, and as God-similar as the quinessential man Himself, Christ Jesus, showed us we could be. And the new relationship means that instead of obeying the first impulse that pulses through our brains, we learn from God how to be, how to do, how to grow into ourselves... We don't even know what all that will look like, except to know that when Christ appears, we'll be like Him.

So we seek to be like Christ. We become imitators, as dear children, of our newfound Father. But the crazy thing is, like Lewis said, people usually become what they pretend to be. Women are not born nurturers; but give us some kids, we pretend to be motherly, and end up BEING, thinking, sounding like our own mothers in all sorts of ironic, unexpected ways. Leaders might have leaderly tendencies, but a whole lot of confidence is just "faking" it, until all of sudden, one doesn't have to fake anymore. Everybody else really does need to do what we tell them to do, and we're going to make sure they do and convince them to want to. Our habits make us... identities don't just form habits; it works vice-versa as well.

What's it to do with faith?
When we seek to live virtuously- not just conventionally, but really to do, love, think, want what is good for us and for all, so help us God- we'll find our brain, our soul, our selves are changed. Deciding to love others will become so quick that we won't even notice the decision; we'll think it automatic, sort of like Someone else we know whose every work is done in kindness. [Let me insert: when we imitate God's goodness, we need to think a lot about motive. When has God ever done anything out of guilt? Responsibility, yes. Guilt? No. Fear? No. Obligation? No. Duty, responsibility are fine as long as we do something because it's a part of who we are. It's a function of identity, not image. God upholds His character but is not out to gain anyone's approval. He does good because He is good, He loves good, He wants to see good, He loves to have us see good, so on. There's a lot to it; I haven't thought it all through. Why does God do good?] As we do good, we'll be thinking, "Now, why am I doing this?" and we'll see the good effects and understand, "Oh. That's why God likes this." As we stand resist evil, we'll see it's ugliness and desperate power struggle. "Oh. No wonder God burns against this stuff. And I used to crave this?!"

When we do right actions from a right heart, we'll find we understand God a whole lot more. Instead of wanting to mistreat someone, and feeling God is going to get us for it, we'll love that person, and understand how we'd hate for that person to have to deal with crabbiness, like that of which we are capable. His thoughts won't be so alien to us as before. Instead of thinking, " 'Sell all you have and give alms?!' Ouch, how harsh, how radical," we'll think, "Man, look at all this stuff. Is there anything good I can get out of it before it all burns? I won't miss it..." By being like Him, we'll start thinking like Him. And people who think alike, duh, understand each other.

God our Father, without Whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, will be more recognizable as we seek to become more recognizable as His children. We won't just say "Let God be true and every man a liar." We'll notice, more and more, "In the midst of liars, God is true!" We will become not just positionally on His side, but on His side by identity, by thought, by deed. Not having decided just once to trust Him to save us, we'll have trusted Him day after day to save us, to change us, to help us, to give us strength, to give us love, to shut up this whining old man, to grow into the new.

Faith will not be us leaping awkwardly  in the dark because we feel it's what we're supposed to do, or even because it's our only hope (what faith is at the beginning). Our faith will be a relieved jump through the dark to the One we recognize in a world of strangers, someone we understand in a senseless world. True virtue helps us never fall because it trains us how to jump instead .

Untitled (Intro)

thought one:
"Then there are some statistics that we get from places like Barna Group and Rainer Research—these are Christian organizations that study church involvement patterns. They say that by the time someone who is raised in the church reaches their 30th birthday, there‟s an 80 percent chance they will be disengaged from the church."
~ Drew Dyck, family life today

background:
i cite 16 as the age when the existence of God really started working some major changes in my mind and life. (that was wordy, but i don't really have a better way to put it.) almost immediately, almost funnily, i started to worry about other kids, like me, raised in the church but living in a world where dark and deceptive forces (influences, ideas, desires) wanted to blind them to the light of God.

but now there is a new horror in my neighborhood... not of kids not accepting the work of Christ, but of brethren rejecting it. and part of the horror is this: how do i know i won't do the same? i've met my loyalty, and i am not impressed.

thought two: factors

last summer, my brother, his family, and some inlaws were discussing Romans, and one person asked, "Well, why do people leave Christ?"

Indeed. Do they misplace their faith... "lose" it? Is faithlessness a disease? Does it just attack people? Is it some inherent weakness in their particular faith (gulp)? If we could figure this out, couldn't we find hope for some preventative medicine at least, if not an antidote?

Gary turned the question over to us. My elder nephew voiced his opinion:

"Lack of self-control."

This does not surprise me from said elder nephew. He's a pretty hardcore man-child. Just memorized "If" by Kipling, and very appropos the poem to his early-rising, systematic-reading, mountain-climbing self.

Though probably true, the comment sounded harsh to me, as i'm not quite so hardcore as he. Then, hardcore or not, i read II Peter 1, and i thought again.

It talks about supplementing faith with
~virtue
~knowledge
~self-control
~steadfastness
~godliness
~brotherly affection
~love

Wait, "self-control"? I thought of Benja and paid more attention. Now, i like lists, and i like to think about the lists in Scripture, but this stood out... and here's why.

8For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.


That part:
You.
Will.
Never.
Fall.

Whoa. That made me do a double, a triple, a multi-take.

thought three: but what about grace?
In recent times, i am very, very wary of legalism and strident about grace, so i had to think about that in relation to the text. Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

 It is God, God, God and His grace and Holy Spirit and love and the work of Christ that saves.

We just trust Him.

However, that trust in Him is not
inevitable,
indestructible,
or even as constant as grace.

It is a gift of God, but one that is to be guarded and developed, (not by the flesh, but by cooperation with the Spirit.) When we are faithless, (just like when we are loveless, joyless, unpeaceful, also things worked in us by Him) He remains faithful (because that is how He is). However, faithlessness can lead to despair and denial, in which we refuse God's grace, and He denies to override our wills. At that point, we're not just suspecting bad things about God, we choose "No God." Faithlessness is a very bad and dangerous place to be. You're standing over an abyss, held only by God's grace, and contemplating commanding Him to let you go.

So.
Our faith isn't everything, but it is the means of everything- to and from God. And if it is so important and yet non-inevitable, how to keep it, take care of it? How to cherish this gift Christ has given us?

Defining terms: Faith = trust in God to be God... to be good, loving, righteous, true, saving. And the above list of "good things" are supplements to that trust... (Hokily, I think of vitamins.) These qualities (virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, brotherly kindness, love) energize, strengthen, work with, and refine that God-worked faith to be something enduring and precious to God... that we will never fall.

This is part one.
Part two, forthcoming: On Virtue