Articles
The Shame Of Nakedness
The initial reaction of Adam and Eve to their sin is an awareness of shame in their nakedness (Gen. 3:7, 10). Beforehand, when life was perfect and conscience was clean, being unclothed was inconsequential. But now, shame for sin extends to physical exposure.
This means that aversion to nakedness is more than cultural conditioning. Ungodly voices in society preach that shame of nakedness is merely a Puritanical hangover, that we need to get past our inhibitions and revel in the exposure of the human body.
And who are these ungodly voices? Chiefly, the Hollywood crowd, pornographic publishers and product marketers. We marvel when yet another film star admits to being squeamish at taking off her clothes before the cameras but then reassures us that she eventually got comfortable with it. What a great lesson in searing one’s conscience.
Our culture has this backward. From an evolutionary standpoint, it may not matter that a human is uncovered, just as we are not embarrassed to see naked animals at the zoo. But Paul says human nakedness is different: “And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty. ... But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it” (I Cor. 12:23-24).
Humans must numb themselves to natural sensibilities, things connected with spiritual failure and shame, in order to expose themselves or openly accentuate their sexuality before others.
It is significant that:
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David’s tryst with Bathsheba was set in motion when he saw her bathe (II Sam. 11:2).
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The demon-possessed man stripped himself naked, but when cured by the Lord “the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion [was] sitting and clothed and in his right mind” (Mark 5:15). To put it another way, people in their wrong mind take their clothes off in public.
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The execution of John was ordered after “Herodias’ daughter herself came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him” (Mark 6:22). We can rest assured that it wasn’t Salome’s deft footwork that led Herod to promise her 49.9 percent of the kingdom. Such feasts were drunken, debauched orgies that didn’t feature Celtic clogging.
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Condemned men were crucified stripped of clothing. It matters little whether they had a loincloth or were completely naked; the idea was to totally humiliate the victim in the process of execution. Having one’s clothing forcibly removed is a crime, but voluntarily taking it off is “art” or “theater” or “enlightened.”
The only permission we have to indulge the desire of our eyes for nakedness is with our spouses, for the feelings and actions aroused by such is not fornication. This is something different from the recognition of beauty in another, which even Scripture does (Gen. 24:16; 29:17; I Sam. 16:12; 25:3; II Sam 11:2; 14:27; et. al.). But lustfully engaging the imagination, mentally undressing and fantasizing about someone in prohibited ways is “committing adultery in the heart” (Matt. 5:28).
The problem is that we are confronted with depictions of suggested nakedness on every hand. It is a staple of advertising. (Many years ago, when I was becoming more aware of mature subjects, I remember innocently asking my mother, “How can a car be described as sexy?”) It is at the mall. It is at school. It is at the movies. It is ... everywhere. (I do appreciate Sports Illustrated giving me the chance to opt out of the annual swimsuit issue. Now there’s an oxymoron: swimsuit.)
In Eden, God stepped in to clothe Adam and Eve because even in their shame, they didn’t adequately cover themselves. We would benefit from a similar intervention today. But because this will not happen, we must mentally take steps to protect ourselves and resist the thoughts suggested by ubiquitous images of nakedness.
