Nakedness

The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame (Genesis 2:25).

Years ago, a group a friends were discussing nudity. One person said that photos of naked women were indecent. But when asked how she felt about a painting featuring a nude woman, she said that was different—that was art.

We have conflicting attitudes about nudity. Pictures of naked babies are cute, but once that child becomes a teenager, such pictures are regarded as pornographic. Artists prize the nude body as an example of natural beauty, while many husbands and wives turn off the lights before they make love.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve wore no clothes and didn’t give it a second thought; there was no interest in clothing until after the first couple disobeyed God and became tainted with sin. Sin made them self-conscious, worried about how they looked and what the other person was thinking while staring at a naked body. Mutual trust was replaced with doubt and suspicion.

Because of sin, nakedness has become shameful and frightening. We want the comfort of being clothed because we worry that others will judge us on our looks, or that they will only see us as a sexual plaything instead of a person. What was beautiful and innocent has been made dirty and perverted. When we look with pleasure at a naked baby or a piece of fine art featuring a nude, we get a brief glimpse of what God intended for our body image.

So long as sin contaminates the world, nakedness will always be uncomfortable and provoke obscene thoughts. It is our sinful nature to judge each other based on outward appearance, and to regard other human beings as objects to give us pleasure instead of individuals to be respected. That is why we need Jesus’ forgiveness. We need His help to love each other as equals. We need His help to see beauty beneath the surface of another person’s skin. We need His mercy when we treat the sight of a naked body as just another thrill like the buzz we get from drinking alcohol or speeding down the highway. It is only with Jesus’ help that can we look at each other without shame or worry.