In today’s culture you wear whatever you want to wear.  We see men with their pants almost falling off their body, (or now, as tight as they can squeeze into) and women that have no decency in their clothing choices.

Christians are easily sponged into the latest styles and fashions, no matter how revealing or seductive they are.  Many Gospel performers have let standards of  modesty in dress crumble.  This saddens me.  The lack of standard is also clearly evident in different music publications, printed and filmed.

FOGMA desires to be different.  I want our publications to be safe and God-honoring, for me and for others.  Therefore, Families of Gospel Music Association will always have a certain amount of "dress code".

Right off the bat, I want to say FOGMA will not control, dictate, regulate, or pressure you into a certain dress code or modesty standard.  What your group wears at your performances and daily life is your choice; FOGMA will not deny membership on this account (except in extreme cases as determined by FOGMA), nor does God love you any less or more.  But FOGMA will for its own publications and events require a certain standard of modesty.

This may be enough information for some of you, or overwhelm most of you, but if you would like further insight, read on.

"Where are you getting these wild ideas from?" you might ask.  The answer: from God’s Word, and having it as the framework of my world view.

In the beginning, God made us male and female.  In His gracious care, He gave each gender what we needed to live, feel, tackle our tasks, and to procreate.  God created all this good. (Genesis 1, 2, and 3) Listen to some of God’s Word . . . Gen. 2:25 "And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed."  (Note that the context of this verse is within the boundaries of marriage. Important!)  Gen. 3:7 "Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.  And sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths."  Note what happened.  With sin came shame.  With shame came the awareness.  And both Adam and Eve knew they needed some clothes!  Then Gen. 3:21, "And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins and clothed them."  Apparently the clothing Adam and Eve made wasn’t good enough for them, so God made them clothing.  (If you want to get really technical, it went from loincloths to garments.)  So, in our sinful state, you could say decent clothing is from the Lord.

Modesty is not first an issue of clothing, it is an issue of the heart.

Satan tempted man to doubt God, and man fell in sin.  More of God’s Word: "When man began to multiply on the face of the earth [which was commanded by God, Gen.1:28] and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive.  And they took as their wives any they chose." Gen. 6:1&2.  Man doubted God and His ways when he became sinful.  In Genesis 6:1&2, do you see how important image came to be?  In this passage, the men who followed God (Seth’s descendants) were led astray from Him by their own lusts, urged on by the culture around them (Cain’s descendants). 

So it is in our day and age.  Christian men and women are growing stale in their relationship with God because of sexual immorality and the lusts thereof.  We have lost the distinctiveness of Christian chastity and modesty in our outward faith.  We are lead to doubt the meaning and use of what God created for us in our sinfulness (clothing).  (Some interpret "sons of God" in this passage differently than I do, saying they were angels.  I believe this completely contradicts Jesus’ teaching on the nature of angels in Matthew 22:30, and the rest of the chapter.  God does use the term "sons of God" for angels in Job 1:6, 2:1, and 38:7.)

As visual witnesses singing the Gospel, many groups have also lost the drive to be set apart from the world’s standards of dress.  Now I’m not saying we need to re-introduce sackcloth to Wal-Mart or Kohls.  But groups nowadays (and I must say, of past days also) just let the necklines go slack . . . I mean, the standards slack.

I want to leave you with these verses, 1 Corinthians 12:23b, 24a. "And our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require."  I don’t like to "chop up" verses, but I am making a point here.  Paul is talking about the body of believers, and he is using the human body as a metaphor.  He clearly states that there are parts of our bodies we need to and do treat with greater modesty.  Why?  Because we love God, and we love each other.  There are certain parts of our bodies God wants us to keep within the boundaries of marriage (remember Gen. 2:25?) that are for no one else.  If you want more information on that sentence, read Proverbs 6:15-23.  It is love when performing artists dress nicely, stylishly, and modestly while presenting God’s love to audiences everywhere.  It is love for my Lord when I consider what images I am putting into my eyes, and the eyes of others that use FOGMA's website.  That is the "heart" of the matter!

Let me say, if you are dressing modestly from motivation by the Law, you have the wrong perspective.  God wants us to follow Him out of the Grace He has worked in our lives, and because of the salvation He has freely given us.  Because of God’s love we honor Him and His Word in our bodies (1 Co. 6:19-20).

Once again, neither I nor FOGMA will try to control, dictate, regulate, or pressure you into a certain way of dress.  That would not be love.  But for myself and FOGMA, we will have a standard of modesty.

In your submitted photos: if the necklines are too revealing, the skirts too short, and clothing too tight, FOGMA reserves the right to request another photo or edit the one submitted.  This is FOGMA’s standard of modesty, or shall I say, "dress code!"

I hope I have inclined you to consider the Word of God; may my words be taken in the light of His Word.

Keep the Faith!

Ben Garms, Pres.

P.S. If you have any question or comments concerning this issue, please contact me, I would love to hear from you!

Quotations are from the ESV translation of the Bible.