Church member crowned Miss Oklahoma

Emoly West, Miss Oklahoma 2010 (Photo from missoklahoma.org)

Emoly West of Edmond, Okla., was crowned Miss Oklahoma yesterday.
She will compete for the title of Miss America in January in Las Vegas.
West, 24, is a senior at the University of Central Oklahoma. She is the daughter of Jack and Stephanie West.
The West family attends the Memorial Road Church of Christ in Edmond.
Should she win the national title, she won’t be the first church member to be named Miss Oklahoma and Miss America. In 2006 Jennifer Berry won the crown — three months after she was baptized at the Skiatook, Okla., Church of Christ.
Bobby Ross reported on Berry’s faith journey:

Moments after her baptism at the Skiatook, Okla., church three months ago, Miss Oklahoma Jennifer Berry looked at her friend Debbie Kendall and smiled.

Jennifer Berry, Miss America 2006 (www.missamerica.org)

“Winning Miss America couldn’t be any better than this,” Berry told Kendall, a deacon’s wife who for 13 years has served as the traveling companion for Miss Oklahoma winners.
“I have never seen anyone so excited in my life,” Kendall said. “It was as if she had changed her crown for a halo and was just waiting for her next crown in heaven.”

During her reign as Miss America, Berry visited the campus of Oklahoma Christian University, where Tamie Ross interviewed her about her faith in God and her busy schedule.

• Feedback
  I have wondered what these Christian women in these pageants think about parading around in bathing suits, sometimes 2-piece, in front of everyone. Do they think it is acceptable behavior? Do they think that lust is not a problem? I am reminded of the story of Vashti in the book of Esther when I read articles like this one.

  Robert

  July, 6 2010

  I have to agree with Robert. Pornography is so prevalent in our society today that I believe Paul when he writes of what is expected of Christian women. Christ also says that a man commits adultery when he looks upon a woman with lust.
  How does one compete in a contest that is only about outward appearance and not the beauty of the inner being?
  I have been told that I am a beautiful woman, but it’s not a compliment. I believe my inner self is definitely more important and a true compliment that I would accept is that I have a heart for God and that my outward appearance is not as important. I am reminded of the song, “Let the Beauty of Jesus Be Seen in Me”.
  To be more Christlike, women should grow in the Spirit in knowledge, wisdom and truth.
  As a child of God we are expected to act in ways that are pleasing to God and not man. As Christians we are expected to serve others. I don’t see how being in the Miss Anything contest can serve our God or be pleasing in His sight.
  Berry and West were not counseled by older women in Christ Jesus to act in accordance with the scriptures. And Berry being a new babe in Christ really needed the encouragement of her elders and their wives to live in a way that is pleasing to our Heavenly Father.
  There is no greater beauty than that of a Christian woman who dresses modestly and acts in a manner that shows the fruits of the spirit in her life.
  In I Corinthians 12, Paul admonishes those in the church to work as one body. He also has a lot to say about spiritual gifts. In the last verse (v. 31) he says, “But eagerly desire the greater gifts”. Then he goes on in chapter 13 to impress the importance of love.
  From what I read in the New Testament, all Christians are not to be boastful or full of pride in themselves. We are to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord.
  These contests were made by men. When women wear lots of gold or expensive clothes they are not humbling themselves in the sight of the Lord, many do so to impress men. One can dress for the Lord, or, one can dress for man.
  Wearing a bathing suit with your family and friends to go swimming can be a humbling experience, but showing your entire body on stage to millions of TV viewers, plus those in the audience does not show humility of spirit.
  I have tried very hard in this blog to not be judgmental but to show that the scriptures tell women what is expected of them.

  Renee Shapiro

  August, 5 2010