A Progressive Christian’s View On Modesty REFUTED!

Hey guys, Colin here, and welcome back to the channel where the Bible and critical thinking meet to give you real Christian commentary about the things that matter. Thanks so much for watching, let's get into the video.

So today we're doing yet another video on the sex-positive, progressive Christian Brenda Davies. Her channel is called God is Gray, which is in and of itself a very blasphemous title, but that's beside the point.

This video is going to be about her perspective on modesty. And you're probably curious, I know I was, what exactly does a progressive Christian think about biblical modesty anyway? Well, let's see. We're going to review this video using three biblical points.

The Subjective-Standards Argument About Modesty

Number one, Brenda's view on modesty is, well, let's say unique. Watch this.

My second thought on modesty culture is its subjective standards. Modesty can be so inconsistent, you guys. For example, I went through puberty nice and slow. I was waiting forever to see a curve anywhere.

Meanwhile, there's another girl at my church who developed very quickly. Her and I, no exaggeration, could be wearing the exact same outfit. T-shirt, bra, you know, jeans that aren't too tight. And she got called out again and again and again for causing her brothers to stumble.

So her example here is that one girl at her church went through puberty faster than her, and therefore they could be wearing the exact same thing, but one would be considered immodest while the other is considered modest.

And this is, in Brenda's opinion, apparently an unfair and inconsistent standard. And if that is the case, then it really should be rebuked. Psalm 106, verse 3 says, quote, Blessed are those who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times, end quote.

But let me clarify for you that this problem that Brenda highlights in the church and calls out evangelical Christians for, it's not an inconsistent standard at all. In her story, one girl goes through puberty quickly and the other does not, and therefore one has more body to cover up, so to speak, in order to maintain modesty.

So if they were wearing the exact same clothes, one would be dressing immodestly and the other would not be. That's not an inconsistent standard, guys. That standard is completely consistent. In this hypothetical story, the person who was dressing immodestly was corrected for that.

And that's okay. Why should the church correct the girl who is not dressing immodestly just because she has the same clothing on as the other girl? If one of their bodies fits in these clothes in a way that is deemed immodest by the church, and the other does not, that would account for the different reaction here.

In fact, it would only make sense to correct the person being immodest, even if it's unintentional. Let me offer you an analogy. Let's say one child takes a candy bar from a store, and another child takes the exact same type of candy bar from the exact same store.

Now let's assume that only one of those children gave money to the store's owner before they took the candy bar out of the store. Is it inconsistent? Is it unchristian for only that child to get in trouble?

After all, they both took the exact same candy. And they both took that candy from the exact same store, right? Well, yes, technically. But that doesn't take into account the important context of the situation, namely, the fact that only one of them paid for it.

In the same way, if two women are wearing the same garment, but only one of their bodies fits that garment in an immodest way, it is entirely fair and entirely consistent to only correct the person who is dressing immodestly, again, whether they meant to or not.

This progressive Christian is simply drawing attention to certain factors in these stories that are the same in both people, while ignoring the most important factors that make the two distinct, namely, which person is actually being immodest.

The "My Existence Is Causing Sin" Strawman

And this brings us to point number two. In this next clip, Brenda talks about how dangerous immodesty in the Church can be. Watch this.

We really can't imagine, if we haven't been in that situation, how damaging it can be to be told that your body, just your mere existence, is causing other people to sin.

So here, Brenda says that the danger of Christian modesty in many churches is that we're telling women that just their existence itself is causing other people to sin. The reality is that this comment is a total strawman that utterly misrepresents the view that most churches and most Christians these days have on modesty.

When a church asks a particular female member in their congregation to wear more modest clothes, they're not telling her that her existence itself is wrong. All they're saying is that they want her to wear more clothes.

And this whole overreaction is really something that characterizes much of the sinful culture's response to Christianity on many more issues. You hear this stuff all the time if you're a Christian. You Christians call people out for certain sins, but what you're basically saying is that you don't acknowledge the people who commit that sin as human beings.

You think their very existence is terrible and horrible, and they should just go die. But no. That's not what we're saying at all. That's not what we said in the slightest. At least, that's not what we said if we're in accordance with the Scriptures.

Genesis 1 .27 says, quote,. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. End quote. As far as I know, virtually all Christian churches hold to the doctrine that declares all people are made in God's image.

So surely no consistent Christian could say that human existence itself is bad. Yet Romans 3 .23 still says this, quote,. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. End quote. Thus, the Bible is not telling people that their existence itself is bad or wrong or that they should just go die, but rather that the way they choose to exercise their existence, the way they choose to live their life, is in rebellion to their Creator and they need to repent.

I find that this strawman argumentation and emotional overreaction is not very helpful or accurate in the slightest. And this brings me to point number three. Brenda then talks about a popular Bible verse that people use to defend modesty.

Watch this.

Romans 14:13 and the Question of Stumbling Blocks

We are still called stumbling blocks. We get this from Romans 14 .13, some nerdy Christian slang for you. Therefore, let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, I guess we're ignoring that part, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

And let me show you how dangerous that thinking can be.

So she quotes Romans 14 .13, which says, quote,. Therefore, let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. End quote.

And she says that those in the church who use this verse to say that women who dress immodestly are stumbling blocks to men, well, those who would say that are actually not interpreting the verse correctly, because the verse also says that we should not judge other people.

But there's a problem with this progressive Christian exegesis of the passage, if you can even call it that. If saying that someone's actions are a stumbling block to other Christians is judging them unbiblically, then this passage itself makes no sense.

The passage rebukes Christians who are being stumbling blocks to other Christians, which is exactly the kind of thing that this progressive Christian apparently disagrees with. But the passage also says not to judge one another, which basically would mean that there's literally no application of this passage at all, at least in the progressive Christian view.

The verse refutes itself. If not judging others means you can't call someone's actions a stumbling block, then the Bible is actually violating its own standard here, because the passage itself calls certain people's actions a stumbling block.

This is yet another thing that is very typical in many progressive Christian circles. The whole idea that it's always sinful, it's always wrong, to judge other people. If you read more than a few Bible verses taken out of context, though, you will soon find that the Bible does not say that it is always sinful to judge others.

Rather, it says that it is wrong to judge them according to an inconsistent or unbiblical standard. That's why John 7, 24 says to quote, The Bible does not tell us to never judge, but rather that we should judge according to fair, honest, and biblical standards.

And I want you guys to consider this as well. This is all coming from a progressive Christian. We all know that this worldview is wrong. These unbiblical arguments are really just coming from progressive Christians, right?

But think of how many of these arguments are actually popular within many evangelical churches as well. Think about what those arguments were for a moment. The first was that the church's position on modesty is bad because it's subjective.

Modesty is different for everyone, so don't force your modesty on me. The second was essentially that telling women to be modest is like telling them that their whole existence is causing someone else to sin.

In other words, you're being mean and hurtful by telling them to change their clothes. The third was that when you tell people to be modest, you're actually judging them, so stop being such a judgmental person.

I would wager that many of you have heard all of these progressive Christian arguments coming from people in Christian churches with doctrinally sound statements of faith. Maybe you've even heard it from churches you've attended.

And I'm not necessarily blaming those churches either. What I'm saying is this. As Christians, we need to stand up and fight against this rising tide of progressive Christianity that seeks to reinterpret the Bible in absurd ways so that we can please the worldly culture and allow behavior in the Church that is condemned in Scripture.

This is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. And please pray that Brenda and other progressive Christians like her would repent and turn to the truth of God's Word. Thank you so much for watching.

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