| By Rusty Miller
"The minister, dressed in a great liturgical robe, stood before a simple
wooden cross. He gazed at the congregation before him, seated in folding
chairs or on blankets spread on the ground. A slight smile creased his
face.
"'We're going to do something unique this morning for a worship service,'
he said. 'We're not going to take up a collection.'
"And so began Sunday worship outdoors at the first Christian Nudist
Conference, a gathering of about 45 'naturists' from around the country
who believe that clothes do not make the Christian" ("'Naturist' Christians
gather to bare witness," Dallas Morning News, March 13, 1996).
What a world we live in. These nudists claim to believe that God wants
them to bare themselves in order to worship him. In fact, what they really
are intent on is convincing themselves that a sin they enjoy (i.e. exposing
themselves before others), is something God condones. It is no different
than any other attempt to explain away sin by claiming God is for it.
In a newsletter for "Christian nudists" called the Fig Leaf Forum, John
Kundert writes that Adam and Eve hid from God because they had sinned.
"'Nothing in these Scriptures conclusively shows that shame resulting from
nakedness played any part in this drama,' Kundert writes" (Ibid).
Apparently, the fact Adam and Eve sewed together fig leaves because
they knew they were naked (Genesis 3.7) does not constitute shame in the
mind of Mr. Kundert. In addition, the word of God's position on nakedness
is not confined to the first 3 chapters of Genesis (see Genesis 9.20-23
for instance).
The truth of the matter can be seen in the words of one of the other
participants in the conference. "I don't know if it is the Lord after me
or the devil after me.... I just feel if Jesus came back and saw me, he'd
be embarrassed" (Ibid).
When will we learn that all the attempts to justify it will not make
sin right in God's eyes. He is repulsed by it, and when we try to cover
it up, we fail miserably.
God does not approve of my sin and He does not approve of yours. And
when we fail to mourn our sins, we show ourselves to be incredibly ungrateful
for the love God has shown to us. We ought rather to be like David, who
said, "There is no soundness in my flesh because of Thine indignation;/There
is no health in my bones because of my sin./For my iniquities are gone
over my head;/As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me./My wounds grow
foul and fester./Because of my folly,/I am bent over and greatly bowed
down;/I go mourning all the day long" (Psalm 38.3-6).
It is embarrassing and disgusting for some to try to excuse sin by saying
that God somehow approves of it. God no more approves of sin than Satan
approves of Christianity. The two are diametrically opposed to one another,
and no amount of wishful thinking can justify a "Christian nudist."
Editor's Note: This article is from the June 1996 edition
of Abundant Life magazine, currently found at http://static.justchristians.com/abundantLife/061996/1.html |
