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Life of an Ordinary Aussie Woman

Thursday 26 November 2015

Green Eggs and Ham and a Call for Modesty.

The famous Dr. Seuss book ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ has 2 characters, the happy-go-lucky ‘Sam-I-Am’ and the unnamed protagonist, resistant to eating Sam’s green eggs and ham.

The usual reading of this famous poetic children’s story reveals to hesitant and suborn kids that it’s okay to try new things, like a new food. This teaching is fine, but today I want to talk openly and frankly about modesty, especially as it is now almost summer here in Australia, and want to use this book as a basis for what is now a controversial topic, seeming to be awkwardly avoided by many.



I do love to discuss topics that are important for the church. I get tired of the same old conversations about the weather and like to offer perspectives that may not be generally added to many conversations. I will warn you however that my traditional, now considered by some to be politically incorrect view, will perhaps challenge you but for that I am unapologetic. So let’s get back to ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ for a different perspective…

Sam’s entrance at the very beginning of the book is regal. Sam is standing on the back of another character being carried around while tipping his hat like royalty to those he passes, holding a sign stating his title, ‘I-AM-SAM’. I AM is the name God calls Himself when speaking to Moses, it is written without vowels in Hebrew to English as YHWH, from which when we add vowels for pronunciation we get Yahweh. In English Y also gets substituted with J and W for V, which is why we also have Jehovah…so Yahweh and Jehovah both are the same name meaning; I am who I say I am…I AM…like Alpha and Omega; the beginning and the end.

So right at the beginning of this story we have a character who presents himself as a wise king or as someone equating themselves with God. The second passing by Sam immediately does is on a second new beast, while holding a new sign in red, ‘Sam-I-AM’. This rightly infuriates the moral protagonist. We could think even more creatively and imagine Sam as the false prophet in Revelation riding the 2 beasts mentioned.

Okay so now you have a choice to either stop reading, as this may be too much a stretch for you, or to keep reading and see what this has to do with modesty…I hope you stick with me a little longer as I don’t think I’m really too crazy!

So, after the 2 passes by, Sam immediately begins to tempt the moral protagonist. Immediately we think ‘yuck’, green eggs and ham are rotten and understand why the unnamed character refuses the offer. We can identify that Sam is now the false prophet as God NEVER tempts us (James 1:13) and know that the enemy tempts us just like Adam and Eve in the garden and Jesus in the wilderness. The unrelenting pressure for the moral protagonist to concede to eating takes up 28 text pages! The weary protagonist does cave-in from the pressure and eats – yet when he does it is not a simple, ‘Oh you were right, they’re okay!’ It is like an immediate addiction, he will now eat them all the time and anywhere!

I can relate this pursuit to what the enemy and the world is doing today to all people, male and female, young and old in regards to morals and modesty.

I am frustrated to see even in the church so many people getting worn down and giving in…I see it from frightened parents, scantily-clad teenagers, and unwise immoral relationships from regular church attenders.

It’s almost summer here and I see girls and women showing cleavage and thighs. I hear men saying it’s their job to look away, yet also feeling sad that they need to. I see parents not parenting – scared their child will not attend church with them anymore and projecting their family’s problems onto others.

Yet I say to you young people today want to follow people of conviction!

I would NEVER say to you that it is okay to hit or name call your daughter if she is dressed scantily – I would ask you why have not you not loved on her more so that she does not crave this attention and taught her better? Also if your son in not modest, I would wonder why and what example you’re setting?


If a young person has a problem with what I am saying I would like to simply ask them, ‘How would you feel if I was at church with cleavage showing and was speaking with your dad?’ ‘Do you think that is me caring for my brother-in-Christ or his wife, your mum, my sister-in-Christ and their marriage?’ Let’s be honest.

Jesus said to even look at another with lust is adultery/fornication…See Matthew 5:27-30.

Scripture says to ‘flee sexual temptation’ in 1 Corinthians 6:18 which is why Jesus said to pluck your eye out if it causes you to sin! Of course Jesus doesn’t mean literally – But He does want us to know that we are to take lust seriously!! For once we get a taste, we can so quickly become addicted just like the protagonist in ‘Green Eggs and Ham’…The enemy does not want you or I to thrive in healthy married relationships, and enjoy our husband or wife the way God intended.

There is no freedom in wearing revealing clothing or going naked as that just makes you the object of someone else's sexual fantasy - true freedom comes from being grounded in Christ and educated to understanding the unconscious, biological responses to nakedness that occur and making wise choices to be treated as an intellectual equal to others!

If as a parent you are challenged by what I say, I would like to say to you that I am not saying anything that is not scriptural and that God is so gracious, every new day is a new opportunity to lead our families in God’s grace and love. Furthermore, I am not saying we need to go back to no pants for women, hats, or full-length blouses in summer! I am saying that we need to live in awe of our Holy God – I think we could do well to think of the priests serving wearing their albs in high church – We need to put on Christ and make no provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14), shining out His purity into this sadly hyper-sexualised world.


As always am always open to discussion, your sister-in-Christ, Melanie.


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