I recently picked up “Modest: Men and Women Clothed in the Gospel,” co-authored by R.W. Glenn and Tim Challies. At the time of this review, it is $0.99 on the Kindle, $5.99 on the Nook, and $8.99 for paperback. As the title states, this is a book that deals with the issue of modesty in the lives of Christians. Glenn and Challies are both followers Reformed Theology (which is more or less the fancy way of saying Calvinism), so there are hints of Calvinism in the book, though not overbearing in anyway. This book is clearly meant to reach out to anyone rather than being a defense of Reformed Theology. I’ve read a decent amount of articles on Challies’ blog though, so decided to pick up his book. Modesty is a BIG issue at the moment, with thoughts coming from all different directions and positions, and I found this book to be fairly refreshing in the sea of blog posts and books about the issue.

       There are many good things to say about this book. First, it is short. It isn’t a burden to read through because of this, and isn’t theologically heavy. There is a time and a place for heavy reading when it comes to the Bible, and all Christians should strive to reach the point where they explore these writings and can comprehend it though. One’s modesty, which is more than just how little or how much we wear, but also our speech and treatment of others, is one of the more fundamental and basic aspects of Christianity, and should be deserves a fairly simple treatment.

       A second aspect of this book I appreciated was the focus on the fact that modesty is, in many ways, defined by culture. That is not to say that culture overrides what the Bible says about modesty in any way, but culture certainly plays a part. Consider I Timothy 2:9, where Paul calls hair braided, fancy jewelry, and expensive clothes immodest and not part of the Christian appearance. Would we still, in American culture, call these things immodest? Would we tell a sister with braided hair, or a golden ring, that she ought not wear those? What if a Christian moved to a location where men wearing shorts were immodest, and women not wearing dresses were immodest. Should Christians say that they can wear whatever they want as long as it is not Biblically immodest? No, God still expects us to bend to our culture’s concept of modesty as long as it does not transgress God’s lines for modesty.

       Third, I was thankful that the authors focused on modesty as more of an issue of the heart, and in response to the gospel of Christ, rather than just trying to meet the standard of a checklist. Too often we can reduce modesty to just making sure a pair of shorts, a skirt, or a dress are a certain length or that our shirts don’t show too much at the top or at the bottom. Are those important questions to ask? Certainly so, but if we reduce modesty to nothing more than a checklist of how much we are showing of our skin, then we miss out on the reason WHY we are concerned with our appearance, and that is because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. The authors spend a decent amount of time on this, primarily focusing on the issue of idolatry. It seemed a bit drawn out until you reach the point of why they focus on it. More than anything, immodesty among Christians ends up being an issue of idolatry. It all comes down a desire to dress and act how I want to, and in ways that will benefit me in specific ways rather than out of concern for what God wants and the heart He desires us to have concerning our appearance. It is because of this that one can meet all the visual requirements for being modest, and still be immodest because their heart is geared more towards checking off a list, getting attention for how godly one’s garb is, or using their modesty to feel superior over the immodest.

       One issue that many seemed to have with Challies’ and Glenn’s positions in this book is that while they did a lot of good to set forth the truth that Biblical modesty depends on both the scripture AND the culture in which one lives, they seemed less than willing to set any sort of biblical standard in the book. For instance, they wrote,

“Yes, there are some biblical lines we ought never to cross. But under the authority of Scripture, good students of the gospel are sensitive to each situation and culture, and they respond appropriately.” 

       I would not have expected the authors to write out a numbered lists of “Do’s & Don’t’s,” but if one is going to make the claim that there are clear biblical lines that one should not cross when it comes to an issue, I do believe it is needed to include them. That being said, they did include something much like what most people were asking for in the appendix. The appendix was directed towards men needing to be modest as well, which is certainly something that is true. They wrote of men becoming immodest when they used their appearance, speech, or conduct to gain attention, show how much money they had, or how attractive they were. I believe this is the section that most people were looking for! The problem was that it is specifically says it is for men, and as it is the appendix, many people are probably going to skip over and ignore it. Rather than note it as something tacked onto the end for men, this section should have been one of the main chapters geared towards all. In the end, I felt the book lost a lot of the good force that it had because of this issue.

       Glenn and Challies’ book on modesty is one I would recommend to others. Does it answer all the question one would have about modesty? Not at all, but does a great job at making sure that, rather than sit back and judge others, we first assess our own modesty, both in appearance, character, and heart. Make sure to read the appendix though, whether you are a man or a woman, because the guidelines set within that touch greatly on what God expects from us as His modest people.