Nudey Rudey

Right; let’s tackle this nudity, nakedness issue.

I admit to being a little surprised – perhaps better yet, quite stunned, with the reaction that came through when we showed the movie the other night, with two scenes of what I would consider to be very modest nudity.

I do understand how things are when we are being brought up and parents like to keep us from misunderstanding some of the racier things we might see.

 I get that and I respect that. And I do understand the respect for others that goes with that. 

But guys – we’re all grown up now.

Naked is not, of necessity, dirty. That line of reasoning leads to the burkha (burqa etc).

I exist in a state of perpetual puzzlement that we can sit happily watching a DVD which has extremes of violence of almost every kind, but we should fast forward past a female breast.  I truly don’t understand what we think God thinks about us when we do this. Watching Bruce Willis exterminate half of some large American city (and the people therein) is apparently fine with God but catching a glimpse of a person in the state they were created is somehow naughty?

So I guess I’d like to start with some of the theology of it all, a la Rob Bell.

Genesis 2:

Just two people wandering around the Garden, naked as the day they were created and pretty happy with that state of being. The essence of Genesis 2 is the unity between God and people.

Genesis 3 – The Fall (that should have big, bad, minor chords)

Apple eating and much hiding and sewing of fig leaves because they were “afraid”.

So, the shame of being naked is somehow associated with the Fall – the descent into sin if you must. 

The question then arises; are we Genesis 2 or Genesis 3 people; Fallen or living in God’s grace?

The burkha is the great acknowledgment of our perpetual dwelling in sin – no part of the female form can be displayed because men are so out of control of their sexual impulses that the only way we can be amongst women is if they are dressed as a sack. Women apparently don’t suffer from the same impulses so I am perfectly safe in my shorts and jandals.

My suspicion is that the “Importance of Beginning at the Beginning” line of reasoning is to give us a vision of how the world is supposed to be.  Jesus brought a declaration of the restoration of that existence and Revelation acknowledges the promise of the fulfilment of it.

Does that mean that I think we should all walk around naked? Not at all. We should dress properly (and preferably warmly) for whatever occasion we might encounter. Our cultural and social norms have established patterns of attire which most of us choose to conform to – no troubles with that.

What would be a good thing, in my opinion, would be for us to become comfortable with our own bodies and comfortable with the sight of other’s bodies.

One of my early points of revelation around this issue was when the chefs from St. John’s College came down to visit us a couple of years after we’d finished college and were working in ministry. Garry and Ellen were late middle-aged by then and not utterly gorgeous physical specimens by any means.  The day was bright and Akaroa-warm, the sun was wonderful on the skin. Garry told us that they were members of a naturist group and asked if we minded if they stripped off. Somewhat astonished by this we said that this was fine and they just took their clothes off and we sat around chatting and eating and having a drink. After a couple of minutes we suddenly found that it was not uncomfortable at all. It seemed surprisingly normal.

I don’t belong to a naturist group; I don’t spend much of my time wandering around naked – if I do it is generally within the confines of our own four walls. I’m fairly conservative in lots of things but I think I have figured out that nakedness is not about sexuality or sin, unless I make it that. And I choose not to.