Liberty In His Presence

2nd Corinthians 3 vs 17 'Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty'


A friend of mine once invited me to the Sunday service in his church at the Muson center Lagos. His selling point was that I would be enthralled by the number of 'hot babes' in the service. He tried to be modest but his facial expression while he described the type of things women in his church came to church clad in, gave him away. It was obvious they were pretty skimpy.


I grew up in an orthodox church. We are not as extreme as some denominations I know but we have ground rules for modesty. Women are required to cover their heads for services, they are required to be appropriately covered up anatomically and they are not allowed to wear pants. You can say what you like about the seeming 'uptight' nature of the church but it has worked for them. And I appreciate their stand on these issues.


In my almost three decades in life, I have noticed how human beings take liberty for granted. Give them an inch and they'll take a mile. The uptight orthodox worship centers also appreciate the tendency of human beings to abuse privilege so better to nip it in the bud. There is a popular adage in Yoruba that says 'that which you do not plan to eat, do not bring close to the nose to perceive its odor'.


Yes, I admit the orthodox churches, as well as mine, are fraught with unwholesome traits like back-biting, adultery, fornication, slandering, etc, just like the unorthodox ones.  They at least make an effort to curb waywardness in the temple of God. Take it or leave it, it is hallowed ground and it is not a question of 'state of the mind' as some folks submit. I can't see your mind, it is your mammary glands I can see. I am not a wizard who sees 'mind things'. I am a full grown man with functional visual centers in my brain. I can see!


I am not a saint. All I am asking for is 3 hours of sanity. Three hours on a Sunday morning, to sit among 'brethren' and be ministered to without being embarrassed by the thoughtlessness and sheer insensitivity of some female 'worshipers'.



Interestingly, most of those concerned ignore passages such as 1st Timothy 2 vs 9 'I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves not with expensive hairstyles, or gold or pearls or expensive clothes' and promptly state the one I opened the article with. Liberty! 


Dear sisters, we have Monday to Saturday and even Sundays from 2pm to express the moral bankruptcy that now pervades our generation. I doubt a few hours on a Sunday morning of sane dressing will kill anybody. We must be careful how far we stretch the liberty we supposedly enjoy in the presence of God. Too much of anything is bad. 


While we argue that it really doesn't matter what we wear if our minds are truly set on God, it is important that we allow common sense prevail. 


It will be interesting to see how a half-naked evangelist walks up to me to tell me about the gospel of Christ. When she finishes 'preaching' to me, verily, verily, I say unto thee, I will not let her depart from me without collecting her number. All na 'follow-up'.


When a young man starts to confuse church with night clubs, you know for certain that the end is nigh.






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