In recent times people become nude for various reasons and some of them are for religious causes. They believe that physical stripping away of clothes can lead to stripping away of sins, leading us to finding God. That’s an interesting perspective, but have we ever questioned the essence of the act, is that what God wants? I recently read an article that informs the top three naked festivals celebrated in Japan. One of them is the hadaka-matsuri, or “naked festivals,” are among the most eccentric of Japan’s happenings, featuring mainly male participants who cover themselves with nothing, but a loincloth known as a fundoshi. Hadaka-matsuri are intended to cleanse the impurities that a person has accumulated over the previous year and express hopes for peace in the coming year. Well, such acts are not exclusive to Japan. We hear about Naga Sadhus in India who are seen without clothes, their bodies covered in ash in severe cold. The writer in the news article states that the secret behind their ability to withstand extreme cold lies in the power of their spiritual practices, known as Sadhana.
Interestingly, Bible also records an incident about a man who was demon possessed and without clothes. Jesus meets this man from Gerasenes who lived in tombs and bound in chains. He couldn’t be tamed as he often would break the shackles. But the moment he meets Jesus the Bible records the demons within him cried with a loud voice saying, “what do you have to do with me, Jesus son of the most High God, don’t torment me!”. The demons recognized the true God. Jesus immediately commands the unclean spirits to come out of the man. The whole crowd witnessed something very significant which is quoted in the Gospel of Mark 5:16, “They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.” He was nude, lost his sense of dignity and hurt himself. But after meeting God, he was with a right mind fully clothed.
What this story teaches us is what really matters is the baring or stripping our hearts to God where all evil thoughts originate. We as humans do the opposite, we keep our sinful hearts in wraps and are willing to even lose our dignity to appease God with our physical acts. If nudity was important then all gods would be nude. Do you ever see that? Then why would a God who secretly formed you in your mother’s womb safeguarding your dignity would want to see you nude in public to appease Him? We fail to ask ourselves these obvious questions because our heart is not in right alignment with God. We feel we can appease God by being physically nude to cover our sinful heart. Our limited understanding of God’s sovereignty and awesome presence makes us come up with devious ways to dishonor Him.
A mere dipping in water whether hot or cold, being nude is not going to save our souls. We desperately need a God who is willing to accept the filthiness of our heart and has the purity to wash away our sins. We can find this in Jesus Christ who sacrificed Himself on the cross to do this for us. He lived a human life to know our frailties, died an excruciating death on the cross and rose again to be with us. You need this Savior if you are convinced that you are living a lie through your religious obligations. Come close to Him by stripping your heart to Jesus. He is willing to accept you as you are and radically transform who when you give your life to Him.
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