“Something something body more noble than clothes… Something something foot more noble than the shoe.” -Michelangelo
Here’s something I will never understand about most Christians, especially Protestants: Why the squeamishness about the human body as a created object?
We marvel at the stars. We marvel at mountains and sunsets and the power of the sea. But when it comes to the Crown of Creation, the human body, we flail around and cover it up like it’s something shameful and disgusting.
Since when is this:
Necessarily more beautiful than this:
We were made in the image of God. Our bodies were crafted to reflect God. God Himself took on a human body when He came to atone for man’s sin. There is nothing inherently shameful about the human body.
So why cover it up?
Certainly sin has an effect of making us feel ashamed of it. The first thing Adam and Eve noticed after their Fall was their nakedness. The shame of sin sank so deep into them that they were ashamed of the very image they bore. Perhaps they felt they no longer reflected the God who created them.
Sin also creates ugly effects on the body. Gluttony and sinful lifestyles can stretch and mar the body. Death, decay, and aging itself are effects of the Fall. Clothing is one way we create the illusion that everything is fine, sin has no reach on us.
Perhaps the problem lies in our perception of beauty. We fail to see how, even with the marks of sin, God is still reflected in our bodies. The mind of God designed us, His hands formed us, and we are beautiful works of art.
If you ask me, I’d tell you we are the standard for what is beautiful in Creation. We should not be ashamed of the nude, rather we should rejoice in it and enjoy it just as we enjoy a sunset or a mountain vista.
Any less respect and we are shaming God Himself.