What do you wear to church? Does the bible have any principles that might help us guide our wardrobe decisions?
The following principles guide my theology of Sunday attire: heart matters matter most, and church is about God.
1. Heart matters matter most. God doesn't look on the outside (1 Sam 16:7). He is concerned with the heart. Even a sleepy reading of the middle third of your bible will convince you of that more than anything.
1.1. God is not directly concerned with clothes. Clothing cannot be holy, or commend us to God. Therefore, dressing so that you honor God has nothing directly to do with color coordination, name brands, scents, or fabric.
2. Church is about God. Church is not about you. You should not be going to church in order for anyone to think better of you in any way. Church is about you meeting with God together with other believers. I want to be able to focus on God and I want others to be able to focus on God. Whether clothes help or hinder focussing on God should be our sole criteria.
2.1. Therefore, I should dress in such a way that I am able to focus on God. If my pants are too tight, I am unable to focus on God as I want. If I have a new necktie that receives compliments, then I am unable to focus on God as I want. If my shoes are too small, my shirt too thin, my sweater too thick, then I am unable to focus on God as I want.
2.2. Therefore, I should dress in such a way that others are able to focus on God without the danger of being distracted by my attire. If my gender-defining features are manifest, then others will not be able to focus on God as they have come to Church to do. If the color of my shirt is too bright, then others will not be able to focus on God as they have come to Church to do. If my perfume/cologne is too strong, then others will not be able to focus on God as they have come to Church to do. If my jewlery is too expensive, if my shoes too eye-catching or squeaky, if my attire is too formal, if my odor too malicious, if my hair-do too unique, if my ____ too _____, then others will not be able to focus on God as they have come to Church to do.
This then is the primary reason modesty is a must, simplicity is better, cleanliness is helpful, and comfort is holy.
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10 comments:
Funny that you should post this because I have been thinking about this topic a lot lately. I was actually going to write about it myself. Your thoughts are interesting and helpful.
Dave,
Refreshing viewpoint. Seldom have a heard it communicated at all. This is also a teachable understanding. Your points make sense and are memorable.
Dave, you're half-way there and that's a good thing. I am glad that you are doing the Hyacks retreat. As for the other half, I saw a program about the way that our military honors the fallen at the tomb of the unknown soldier. An honor guard spent eight hours shining his shoes and many other hours preparing his uniform not to impress others, but to convey respect for the sacrifice. "It is a visible sign of our ultimate respect," the soldier said. I think that what we wear often indicates where our heart lies. So, I disagree that itchy clothes certainly distract us from God. On another note, don't you think that the "clothes" that the Eternal Son of God wore were a bit confining during his sojourn on earth?
Dave,
Thank you for the comment. I'm familiar with that line of thinking. "What we wear often indicates where our heart lies." That may be true, but what we wear certainly isn't a primary indicator, nor one for which Jesus seemed to care. In fact, it seems that the only times he drew attention to clothes and their connection to heart matters was to castigate men who thought that they could demonstrate, by the apparel in part, that they loved God. And finally, Jesus certainly found his "clothes" confining; instead of His splendor and majesty, seen in Rev. 1, He looked regular. Instead of displaying our "splendor and majesty" *ha* we should purposefully look regular.
What would you wear if Jesus came to you your house? What would you wear if you were invited to the White House? Just like the High Priest in the Old Testament who would put on their splendar garments before going into God's presence in the Holy of Holyies, why not put on our best when we worship God? I'm not convinced that God wants me to be comfortable when I worship him.If your best is an old sweater, then wear it. If it's not, maybe you need to re-think how you go before the Lord.
I randomly happened onto this blog and have a couple of friendly words to say:
1) God must care about the outside if he went to such lengths when prescribing the form of worship in the tabernacle, then temple. Or would you argue that God's view of worship has changed so much between the old and the new testaments? One external and one internal? Hmmm...it doesn't seem to like Jesus sought to destroy but to fulfill the Mosaic teaching and religion.
2) Your 2nd section was entitled "Church is about God" yet both subsections concerned the worshipper's "focus" on God. Every time I read about people meeting God in the Scriptures, it doesn't seem like anything anybody could possibly wear could distract from their meeting God. Think about that for a second... Moses, listening to the burning bush for a second then being distracted by the scratchy material of his robe or even by a shepherd girl walking by! Sorry, but if the worship service is really about meeting God, then it truly does not matter at all what you or anyone wears. When God does decide to meet with you, it won't matter what is happening around you. I would suggest there is more to the service than simply a meeting of God with other people.
good discussion, I'll add the imagery of a whited sepulchre in Matt 23: 27. In the process of discussing frivolous fashion and even sacred priesthood splendar garments we run the risk of neglecting the cleansing of the inner man, issues of the heart and mind, which, if done sincerely I believe will lead to a natural desire to express respect to God in cleanliness, orderliness, and beauty.
God clearly says that we are to be modist in our dress...the world enjoys neglecting this command and it's sad to see...women disrespect themselves when they dress the way the world does. it's no wonder so many girls are getting pregnant, this obvious denial that God is in control is helping women all over teh world to dress as they please....another world view is that "it's my body. i can do what i want". but, since God created us and since we were made in the image of God, our body does NOT belong to us, it belongs to GOD. It is GODS body and we are to keep it pure...i'm 16 and i would never dress the way the world says is the "way". There is only one way to dress, and that is modistly. If you think that modist is wearing a low cut top and a mini skirt that goes up past your knees...you're soooooooooooo wrong. we need to respect God and dress according to what he says is proper!
Hello. I ran a random search on 'clothes that honor God' and this blog post came up. I found the post interesting and the discussion in the posts even more so. The quote I live by, in judging my clothes, I believe was Spurgeon. A woman once asked him what WAS the modest apparel the apostle Peter referred to, and his response was something along the lines of "Madam, if I notice what you are wearing, then you are wearing the wrong thing."
Interestingly, this cuts both ways ~ eliminated both the uber-modest cultic and the flagrant body flashing. I'm still pondering this issue myself, but have currently weeded my closet to only include those thing which, if so led, I could modestly raise my hands in worship at church, kneel to pray at the altar if necessary, and clap/sway to the rhythm of the music. I was shocked at how much was not appropriate when selected using these criteria.
You absolutely right dear in church god is not look you dress or color. But all are difference between religious and Christian clothing is that one is a physical piece of garment, and one is unseen; spiritual in nature.Thanks for you better idea.
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