Question:
Greetings,
I have a few questions that I would like you to help me with if you please. I am a young guy, and I like being naked when I am home. Is this a sin? I stay with my mother and she doesn’t seem to care. I do put on some pants when other people come over.
Kind regards.
Answer:
What you wear or don’t wear when there is no one else around is up to you, though do be conscious that neighbors might see more than they should through your windows.
The general rule since the fall of man is that a person doesn’t expose his genitals to others. We make efforts to keep our privates private. Of course, there will always be times when it can’t be avoided, yet we should make efforts to minimize it. Being seen naked in front of others ought to trigger a sense of shame. “Your nakedness shall be uncovered, Yes, your shame will be seen” (Isaiah 47:3).
Consider the example of Ham (Genesis 9:20-27). Ham’s father, Noah, sinned by making wine and getting drunk. Ham accidentally walked in on Noah while he lay naked in his tent. Rather than be embarrassed by the situation, Ham went to his brothers. We aren’t told what he said, but it is likely he thought it was funny that their father was acting so poorly. I want you to particularly note Japheth and Shem’s response. “But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness” (Genesis 9:23). I’m sure that over the years there were many occasions when they might have seen their father without clothes. They could have just walked in and covered him up, but they were making a strong point. Their father was in an embarrassing state because of his drunkenness, and they refused to see their father lowered in their eyes. Thus, they went out of their way to make sure they didn’t see Noah uncovered. When Noah came out of his stupor, he condemned Ham for his behavior while praising Japheth and Shem for what they did.
It should not matter that your mother is used to seeing you naked in her home. You ought to cultivate a sense of privacy regarding your sexual organs. “On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked” (I Corinthians 12:22-24). Paul used how people treat the various parts of the body as an illustration of how different parts of the church should be treated. For now, though, let’s focus on the illustration instead of the application. There are parts of your body that are weaker and so you provide greater protection, such as your eyes or your scrotum. There are parts of your body that are less honorable — after all, your anus and penis are basically there for waste elimination, even though the penis has double duty as a sexual organ as well. Thus, by keeping these areas private, we are giving them greater honor than the rest of our bodies — we are treating them as special.