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love.
    Erin: You talked a lot in the package about balancing your religious beliefs with a dance that’s sexy, with a show that’s sexy. How do you do it?
    Me: I feel like a sexual woman. I’ve been married for eighteen years. I am a sexual woman, but I want to reserve certain things for my husband, so we did, I think, the best that we could with a rumba I still felt comfortable doing.
    Other than declaring my faith in Jesus Christ, that brief interaction became the most talked about part of my DWTS experience. For the most part, response to my statement was overwhelmingly positive. My Twitter feed and Facebook page blew up with comments from other women saying things like:
“Thank you for showing you can be a Christian and not a prude!”
“Thanks for saying that we as Christian women are sexual beings.”
“It’s because we want to save some things for our husbands that we don’t have to let it all hang out.”
“Thanks for showcasing that God created sex as a gift!”
“I am thankful for your candor. I see you as a role model for my teenage daughters who often hear a warped view of sex.”
    While the response was overwhelmingly positive, some people expressed genuine concern. Online and through my social media networks some people worried out loud that it was not a safe thing for me to be dancing a sensual dance with a man who is not my husband. Some argued that my public stance to live out my faith while on the show and my commitment to modesty were in conflict, specifically with this dance.
Did you know that married, Christian women are among the most sexually satisfied women? It’s true! A study conducted by the University of Chicago found that the most sexually satisfied women in the U.S. are middle-aged, married, church-going gals! Some have dubbed that study “the revenge of the church ladies”! 2
    Heading into the live show where I would dance the rumba, I knew there was the potential for me to ignite a firestorm of controversy. Remember those praying friends? I depended on them heavily, especially when I sensed that my convictions might not be universally received. During this week of competition I specifically asked them to pray that the modesty I portrayed on stage would be a good reflection of Christ and not lead to division in the body of Christ (a.k.a. the church), even if it didn’t fit the mold of what everyone thought I should or should not be doing. Those girls got busy praying, and God answered them by opening up a dialogue about what His standards really look like.
    What Is Modesty Exactly?
    I already knew that the opinions of others outside of my community weren’t good building blocks for my personal convictions. But their concerns helped me vet my own beliefs. I had to ask myself, what is modesty, exactly? What specific parameters are outlined for us in God’s Word?
    Modesty is a word found only a couple of times in Scripture. One of the most famous passages on the subject is 1 Timothy 2:9–10. The apostle Paul is writing to Timothy, a young pastor of a growing church when he says, “Also, the women are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense, not with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive apparel, but with good works, as is proper for women who affirm that they worship God.”
    This passage says that women of faith should be modest, but what is modesty exactly? We tend to reduce the conversation about modesty to a list of rules about what we should or should not wear, but the Bible doesn’t do that. Yes, this is a passage about what it should look like to be a woman of faith, but it’s not a dress code. There’s no hem length mentioned here. No black-and-white rules about sleeves or no sleeves or the exact right place for a Christian woman’s neckline. In fact, this verse is less about the kind of clothing we wear and more about God’s intention that we clothe ourselves with qualities that reflect Him.
    Notice that right after Paul tells