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Dress Your Best for the Preacher Boy: The IFB & Modesty
Eric Skwarczynski • Apr 17, 2020
"Big women shouldn't strut around in stretch britches showing their big. FAT. SELF!"
For the casual outsider from the Independent Fundamental Baptist Church, this is probably the last quote you'd expect to hear from behind the pulpit of a church.
For anyone inside the IFB, this type of language is par for the course.
The quote above is from Evangelist Larry Brown – if the name sounds vaguely familiar, you may recognize him as the one who smashed a television with an axe on the stage of First Baptist Church of Hammond.
If you were unaware that someone did that... well,
Larry Brown did indeed smash a television with an axe on the stage of First Baptist Church of Hammond.
Anyway, we aren't here to talk about smashing televisions with axes. We're here to talk about a favorite buzzword among the IFB – "modesty."
Anyway, we aren't here to talk about smashing televisions with axes. We're here to talk about a favorite buzzword among the IFB – "modesty."
In the IFB, generally "modesty" means a few basic things – skirts below the knee, no slits, no spaghetti straps, no cleavage, no open toe shoes, no two-piece bathing suits...et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And, if you haven't noticed by the short preceding list, there's a tendency to emphasize "female modesty" specifically – because women are FAR more capable of being attractive than men. Right?
But what's more fascinating than the "what" is the "why" of these dress standards.
Here are a few quick takeaways from consuming ample amounts of IFB preaching on modesty.
SEXUAL REPRESSION IS A REAL THING.
The thing you find yourself talking about A LOT is probably the thing you are thinking about A LOT, and IFB pastors can tend to spend a LOT of time talking about the female form.
Take a look at prominent IFB evangelist Larry Brown's big argument against "short shorts."
Take a look at prominent IFB evangelist Larry Brown's big argument against "short shorts."
Let's break down the message here:
"I thank God I didn't have a mama and grandmama strut around in their big, stretch britches, showing their big fat self.
I was coming down South Avenue, one day, and I had my mind on my business and I looked over there and there was a woman over there and a very, very, very large woman. I mean, she was wearing a shirt, said 'Home of the Whopper.' I mean she had already been supersized.
I looked over there and she had on shorts and, you know, I want to tell you what, beautiful, wonderful, women come in ALL shapes and sizes, say 'amen' right there. But for the life of me, why – especially – very large women
want to expose it
and emphasize it
and modify it, I don't know. I looked over there, she had her back to me and was bent over. There were gobs and rolls everywhere. And, I don't look back again, but I'll tell you, I had to take a rerun on this one
because I really thought it was an elephant with diaper
on when I first saw it. I really did. I mean, God have mercy."
The argument against “immodest” clothing is not because it shows too much, it’s because what it shows is not appealing to the preacher boy at the pulpit.
The sexual frustration is so painfully evident, and the amount of detailed attention paid to the female form by pastors and evangelists like Larry Brown should be a major alarm to the congregation.
I shouldn't have to say this, but when an evangelist spends a full 1:27 seconds behind the pulpit critiquing a woman’s butt that he had to "take a rerun on," and the response of your pastor is to just sit behind him and laugh, walk out of the service.
This isn't isolated either. Jack Schaap, now incarcerated for engaging in sexual intercourse with a minor, constantly preached about how women should keep their figure for the man they married.
One of the IFB founding fathers, Jack Hyles, constantly made sly innuendos and sexual comments from the pulpit – even toward minors. (See 1:35-2:05 of the following video):
FAR TOO MANY ASSUME WOMEN ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MEN'S THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS.
"I've counseled too many men to know that if we don't have everything covered just right, they aren't going to be thinking about the wonderful grace of Jesus." – Paul Chappell
These anecdotes and countless others fly in the face of the type of victim blaming IFB preachers have engaged in for decades.
This way of thinking is a key reason that female victims of sexual assault and rape are so often blamed for it. When you are automatically assigned the role of temptress because of your gender, the man will ALWAYS be looked at as the victim – even when he is, in reality, the abuser.
Rape can happen to anyone, anywhere, in any setting and it doesn't matter how long or short your skirt is, how much your blouse covers you, or whether or not you wear high heels, 100% of the blame should be placed on the shoulders of the one who made the chose to violate another person.
There is no such thing as "asking for it."
I separately interviewed two women recently for upcoming episodes of the
Preacher Boys podcast. Because of strict IFB teachings regarding women, the first had blamed herself for her rape. She thought if she had worn different clothes, been in a different spot, or acted differently she could have prevented it. The reality was, she was wearing scrubs with no makeup, was in her car after a long shift.
Sadly, it wasn't until years later she realized how the teachings she'd grown up with had skewed her thinking.
The other person I talked to was sexually assaulted three times – once every ten years across two different churches, with each time being covered up by whichever she was attending at the time. That's a pretty definite pattern, and it speaks more to the forms of churches she was affiliated with than to her.
These anecdotes and countless others fly in the face of the type of victim blaming IFB preachers have engaged in for decades.
THE BEST WAY TO DRAW ATTENTION AWAY FROM YOUR SCANDALS IS TO CAST SHAME ON OTHERS.
In Jack Schaap's
chilling final sermon, he called out parents for not raising their teens correctly, for being unaware of their teens sneaking out and having sex, and a host of other issues.
The tragic irony, Schaap had been preying on a 15-year-old girl in the church for well over a year.
He would be in prison just weeks after that message.
The tragic irony, Schaap had been preying on a 15-year-old girl in the church for well over a year.
He would be in prison just weeks after that message.
For many pastors in the spotted history of Baptist fundamentalism, the strong language in the pulpit has been a mere deflection from their personal transgressions.
Dr. Steve Pettit – president of Bob Jones University – a fundamentalist college in South Carolina, resigned on March 31, 2023.
The texts read as follows: "Please consider the following Bible commentary and commandments related to sexual assault. Scripture: Genesis 39:7-21 What MUST we do when someone makes unwanted sexual advances? 1. Joseph Refused 2. Joseph RESISTED 3. Joseph RAN. 4. Potiphars wife CRIED OUT. See Deuteronomy 22:23-27. Look at Jn. 8 For Jesus’s application in the NT. Note also that this was before Moses received the law. Common sense and human conscience tells us that this is proper. 5. Potiphars wife had EVIDENCE. A coat. 6. Potiphars wife REPORTED the attempt the SAME DAY. She told her husband when he came home from work. 7. Potiphar Went to the POLICE! Immediately. If someone knows to do good and does not do it then they have SINNED. This summarizes a message I intended to bring to our church family but have not been allowed to deliver. Summary: People accuse pastors of covering sin when they themselves did not follow the Biblical Instruction in Genesis 39. I have two other studies on this subject. The passages and topics are as follows: 1st. Pastors are not Policemen. Go to the police immediately to report a Crime! Go to your pastor for Comfort! Study Romans 13:1-6. 2nd. What Sins ought to be covered> See 1 Peter 4:8. Please pass this on to anyone and everyone possible! It’s time to unsheath the sword of the Word of God which is the sword of the Spirit. I should have asked for a copy of the police report when people came with accusations. I was asked to be a detective. Never again.
If you have a car stolen who should you call? Call the police. If you have someone breaking into your home who do you call? Not your pastor. He does not bear that sword of justice. It belongs to civil authority! If you were assaulted or molested and did not report it to Gods other ministers as taught in Romans 13 your car or house is evidently more important than the well-being of your family member. Who has done the cover up?
Please distribute this as widely as possible for the truths sake!!" *A little while later, Kingsbury sent another text*
"Don’t bother sending it to anyone. Thanks."
I know what you're thinking... "Oh great, another guy offering his unsolicited takes on purity culture. Just what the world needs." You're probably not off-base for feeling like that. The staggering amount of opinions swirling around the internet right now in the wake of the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting and, especially the now-deleted Matthew West song, Modest is Hottest are exhausting. But if you can find the patience within yourself, please hear me out, I won't be long. I got the less painful side of purity culture. All men do. That's just the truth. It's equally toxic (more on that in a minute), but it's less painful. The majority of the shame, extreme restrictions, and hurtful rhetoric tends to fall on the shoulders of young women. The same women, no doubt, who have been raising their voices to share their rightful hurt after watching Modest is Hottest and seeing it warmly received by many of their fellow Christians. On the surface, it's easy to miss why purity culture and the Christian conversation is, in fact, so toxic. It began, no doubt, in the minds of well-intentioned parents and pastors. It has been shared and developed by well-intentioned Christian authors. It even had a song written about it by a well-intentioned Christian musician that has been shared by well-intentioned Christian fans. But good intentions do not mean good results. As they say, the road to hell is paved with them. One could write a book on the reasons that purity culture and the church's teachings on sex and modesty misses the mark. In fact, several great books have been. I'd recommend those interested to read The Great Sex Rescue by Sheila Gregoire, Talking Back to Purity Culture by Rachel Welcher, Prey Tell by Tiffany Bluhm, or Recovering From Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by Aimee Byrd for a start. If you're not a reader, you can watch an interview like this one with Rachel Welcher.
The quote above represents just one of the gut-punching passages within Prey Tell , written by Tiffany Bluhm. The new book – releasing in March 2021 from Brazos Press – “explores the dynamics of power and lack of accountability that occur within many organizational contexts and encourages women and men to speak out in the face of unjust systems.” (Publisher’s Summary) Prey Tell is undeniably well-researched, but it also comes from personal experience. In the opening chapter, Bluhm recounts the terror of spotting her sexual abuser in public – the person she spent so long trying to avoid entirely – as well as the racially-charged mistreatment she experienced as an adopted child from East India.
IFB Sermon Clips on Twitter retweeted clip, confirming the identity. Cavanaugh's bio on Bethel Baptist's website reads: "Since graduating from Providence Baptist College in 2009, Bro Cavanaugh has served in several different ministries including: traveling with Dr. Dennis Corle and Revival Fires, starting a church in Nigeria with Missionary Mark Holmes, and traveling and serving as Camp Evangelist at Cedar River Baptist Camp. Bro. Cavanaugh joined our staff in 2017 and serves as the Bus Director, Dean of Students, and teaches the Faith Builders Sunday school class. He is married to Leah, and they have three boys – Marcus, James and Nicholas." It is notable that the founder and president of Providence Baptist College, has a history of inflammatory political rhetoric.
As most of you have seen, I had planned to lead a peaceful gathering of survivors at North Valley Baptist Church in Santa Clara, CA. The event was scheduled for January. After an immense amount of time and thought weighing it out, I’m making the decision to cancel the event. Sincerely, I can say that the motivation behind the event was a positive one. I know the motivation of those attending was also positive. The goal of the rally - like everything I do with the Preacher Boys Podcast - is to try to shed light on abuse, give a voice to survivors, and spark helpful conversations. My reason for cancelling comes from that same place. While there are extremely valid arguments that need to be made, and discussions about NVBC and other fundamentalist institutions that need to be had, I don’t feel comfortable about this particular forum for a few reasons. 1. Context is a crucial element for productive conversations. I try to be very careful not to place myself or others in situations where words can be taken out of context, misconstrued, or ideas can be misrepresented. I do not feel comfortable with the fact that anyone could take a picture of the peaceful gathering and position it as a riot, bitter people screaming at NVBC attendees, or people who hate church on some vendetta. Not one of these things are true, and I don’t want to give people the chance to say that they are. 2. Optics matter. I have been accused of attacking the Church at large, as well as Christianity and local churches broadly. The reality is, I am a strong believer myself. As such, I unashamedly love my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and His Church. I'm thankful for the reality of the Gospel and the truth of God's Word. As I mentioned in the first point, I don't wish to give others the opportunity to say that this is a full-fledged attack on the Christian religion in it's entirety. Nor do I want to give the signal to pastors that I am going to show up on their sidewalk with a picket sign the minute there is a disagreement. There are people within North Valley Baptist Church and congregants and staff in churches like it who are reaching out for help and guidance, many on the brink of leaving and finding healthier ministries. I don’t want to put those good transitions in jeopardy by giving the vibe that we are exactly how we will be inevitably presented to be. I don’t want to confirm isn’t the minds of those in the congregation that my goal is to persecute the Church at large. My goal is to help good people get out of bad situations. 3. COVID restrictions. COVID rates are on the rise in California right now, and even many within my family have contracted the virus. I also recently lost someone due to the disease. I don’t want to put risk on anyone, and also, want to respect the current mandates and CDC recommendations. Conclusion I feel like the potential cons of this largely outweigh any potential positive. For the sake of the cause at large, I need to take precautions to be - for lack of a better term - above reproach. I still want to project the truth as loudly as possible, but I want to do it in a way that is defensible against scrutiny or misrepresentation. For that reason, I don’t feel comfortable attaching the protest to the Preacher Boys Podcast at this time. I know that there might be disagreement with me, but I truly feel this is the best decision.
In 2013, Jack Schaap, 62, pleaded guilty to taking a 16-year-old girl he was counseling at First Baptist across state lines for sex.
Jack's guilty plea apparently wasn't enough to lose the favor of his devoted followers.
140 letters – written by family, staff, and parishioners – were submitted as exhibits to be reviewed by the judge as he carried out sentencing. They pleaded for lenient sentencing.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The information in this article was made available by Jonathan Grisham Burchfield, creator of Stop Pastoral Abuse. ( https://www.facebook.com/stoppingpastoralabuse ) TRIGGER WARNING: The following article contains descriptions as of sexual, and mental abuse toward minors, and one photographic piece of evidence of child abuse and neglect.
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Protester at Paris Hilton's peaceful march at Provo Canyon School holds a sign that reads, "The Kids You Abuse Today Will Be the Ones Who Take You Down Tomorrow.:"