Modest: Men and Women Clothed in the Gospel by R.W. Glenn and Tim Challies is a book I had greatly anticipated reading. Like most other Christian women, young and old, I have read much on the subject of modesty. I felt very much like Gloria Furman when I picked up the book. In her review of Modest, she wrote:
I have never read an entire book devoted to the subject of modesty, but I’ve read several articles and chapters on the subject. These articles and chapters focused on things like bathing suits, movies, wedding dresses, and lipstick. And none of the articles ever began like this book does: “In the pages that follow, we will not focus on your wardrobe.”
And that's one reason I found this book refreshing. It was so different than much modesty material today. Instead of focusing overly and only on clothes, these two sage pastors showed how modesty is a part of all of life and must be rooted in the gospel. They wrote in what was the heart of their message:
When it comes to modesty, we [today] define the term too narrowly (our first mistake) and then surround ourselves with rules like "only this low," "at least this long," "never in this combination," and "never so tight that _____ shows." In fairly short order, the gospel is replaced with regulations. Indeed, in this particular area, the regulations become our gospel - a gospel of bondage rather than freedom. The truth we are missing in all this mess is that the gospel of grace informs and gives shape to what it means to be modest."
And I agree. I absolutely believe that modesty is first an issue of the heart and, like all other areas of choice in a Christian's life, must be rooted in the gospel. I echo Gloria Furman again wholeheartedly when she wrote,
I’m thankful for this book because I've personally come to a greater appreciation of how my personal behavior and choices are an outflow and entailment of the gospel.
Modest is less about clothing than it is about the heart, less about one area, more about all of life, less about law, more about grace. And that's what I love - but also have a bit of a problem with. At the beginning of their final chapter, Challies and Glenn wrote,
Despite everything we've said in this book - even after all the language about how modesty can't be captured in a set of rules - be honest with yourself. At some level, don't you expect us now to give you a set of rules? Or at least a list or some really concrete, specific guidelines? At some level, don't you wish we could? ... For our own sakes and for the gospel's, we will not go there. To give you any kind of list would simply replace immodesty with legalism; you might feel better for a while, but we'd all be missing the heart of the issue."
This is where I disagree. A list is not legalism, and asking ourselves (and other women) "how low is too low" and "how tight is too tight" can be very appropriate. In fact, I highly recommend a practical list of clothing questions called the Modesty Heart Check by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters. Yes, I understand the point Challies and Glenn are focusing in on (i.e. that modesty is about the gospel of grace, not the lists of legalism), and I recognize that when offering a criticism, it is difficult for one who has never read the book to understand the proper context of just one quote, but this is a theme that has weaved its way through the whole book. I understand Challies and Glenn's point, but, unless I'm misunderstanding them, I believe their ardent desire to stay away from any kind of modest clothing guidelines is ultimately unhealthy. Just because modesty is rooted in the gospel of grace does not mean we can't ask practical questions about what clothes we wear. I believe it is honouring to God to ask these questions! It's true, lists can be legalistic. But they don't have to be.
So would I recommend Modest? Yes. There's much good stuff in here. I particularly loved their chapter, "Why We're Not Modest," and their biblical reasons for the rampant immodesty today. But I would caution anyone reading it to be aware of Challies' and Glenn's biases and to recognize them accordingly.
Buy Modest here.