A different perspective on how we come across in our interactions with others came to mind today. In the past, I have tried to think through what constitutes modesty, humility, etc. But I think I may have been missing a big element in this. While I have given consideration to the idea of who defines modesty as the culture in which one lives, this new thought (new to me anyway), puts a wider aspect to the idea.
Anytime we do anything in which someone else perceives us, we are communicating something. We might believe that we are communicating one thing, but in reality we may very well be communicating something entirely different, possibly even exactly opposite.
The question then is, who's definition matters? We can ask the question, what is being communicated?
As a teenager, I had long hair. I was emulating the appearance of those I thought were admirable. I genuinely liked my appearance. I wasn't doing it because someone else was. I looked the way I did because I liked it. Being a relatively uneducated American teenager, I didn't give any thought to the negative impression this cast upon me. Now it may be wrong to judge someone by their appearance, but we do it all the time. In both positive and negative ways.
When we look or act or speak a certain way, that behavior communicates something. What is being communicated differs, often drastically, from one culture to another, and from one time period to the next. Consider the word "gay". One hundred years ago, if someone referred to themselves as "gay", the message was communicated that they were happy. But the use of that word today communicates a very different message. The same can be said of "queer", "nice" and many others.
In the realm is appearance, the wearing of tattoos communicates a message. Tattoos were once the category of sailors. A little later, Hell's Angels or other bikers claimed them as their own. Any woman with a tattoo was probably of ill repute. But that message has changed today.
Or consider the wearing of earrings. Again, at one point, this was the jewelry of sailors. Then later, if a man had one earring, he was probably part of the homosexual community. But again, that message has changed.
One may balk at the idea of the world or culture defining things. It may be true that the church should be leading a culture, but here in America, at this point in time, the church is not leading, so we have to deal with it. But if we are going to act in love, we need to be aware of what message we are communicating by our words, appearance and actions.
Instead of merely following the words, appearance and actions of pop culture, we should give some thought to how we can communicate a message contrary to worldliness. By looking, talking or acting mainstream, we might not be sinning, but is that really our only goal? What about being a light to the world around us? Is mere "comfortable imitation of the world" enough?
Give some thought to the message we can communicate by our words, appearance and actions. Give some thought to the difference we can make on those around us. It's not enough to merely "be". We should aim for being Christ-like.
Anytime we do anything in which someone else perceives us, we are communicating something. We might believe that we are communicating one thing, but in reality we may very well be communicating something entirely different, possibly even exactly opposite.
The question then is, who's definition matters? We can ask the question, what is being communicated?
As a teenager, I had long hair. I was emulating the appearance of those I thought were admirable. I genuinely liked my appearance. I wasn't doing it because someone else was. I looked the way I did because I liked it. Being a relatively uneducated American teenager, I didn't give any thought to the negative impression this cast upon me. Now it may be wrong to judge someone by their appearance, but we do it all the time. In both positive and negative ways.
When we look or act or speak a certain way, that behavior communicates something. What is being communicated differs, often drastically, from one culture to another, and from one time period to the next. Consider the word "gay". One hundred years ago, if someone referred to themselves as "gay", the message was communicated that they were happy. But the use of that word today communicates a very different message. The same can be said of "queer", "nice" and many others.
In the realm is appearance, the wearing of tattoos communicates a message. Tattoos were once the category of sailors. A little later, Hell's Angels or other bikers claimed them as their own. Any woman with a tattoo was probably of ill repute. But that message has changed today.
Or consider the wearing of earrings. Again, at one point, this was the jewelry of sailors. Then later, if a man had one earring, he was probably part of the homosexual community. But again, that message has changed.
One may balk at the idea of the world or culture defining things. It may be true that the church should be leading a culture, but here in America, at this point in time, the church is not leading, so we have to deal with it. But if we are going to act in love, we need to be aware of what message we are communicating by our words, appearance and actions.
Instead of merely following the words, appearance and actions of pop culture, we should give some thought to how we can communicate a message contrary to worldliness. By looking, talking or acting mainstream, we might not be sinning, but is that really our only goal? What about being a light to the world around us? Is mere "comfortable imitation of the world" enough?
Give some thought to the message we can communicate by our words, appearance and actions. Give some thought to the difference we can make on those around us. It's not enough to merely "be". We should aim for being Christ-like.
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