The topic of how to dress for church comes up now and again, and I felt like addressing it in a blog today, so here goes.
I am one of those who feels like God loves us and accepts our worship no matter what we look like or how we're dressed as long as our worship is sincere and from the heart. With God, everything is all about the heart anyway. If you want to show up for church in jeans and a red plaid flannel shirt, go for it. Male or female. However, there is another way of looking at church dress that is also not wrong. You may want to think about this. Even pray about it.
I know that times have changed, customs have changed, hearts have changed...so how you answer the following questions is just going to have to come from your own stance in life. Here are the questions:
How do you dress to attend:
1. A wedding?
2. A funeral?
3. A 50th wedding anniversary celebration? Especially if it's your grandparents' or other close relatives'?
4. A professional or college ballgame?
5. A NASCAR race?
6. A tractor pull?
For my more affluent friends...yea, maybe even the snobs who may read this: (Not all affluent people are snobs, by the way.)
How would you dress to attend:
1. The opera?
2. A Broadway play?
3. A movie premier?
4. A presidential inauguration?
(As I said, times and customs have changed, so some of you would dress the same for a wedding as you would for a tractor pull; the same for the opera as you would for a NASCAR race, should someone who attends operas actually attend a NASCAR race.)
If Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, (and He is, according to The Bible) then let's see what the Bible says about dressing for church. I would think what Jesus said then would apply now, since He is unchanging. In the Old Testament of The Bible, the priests (our modern-day preachers?) were to wear some pretty specific clothing to perform their duties. Really specific. Down to colors and styles. Exodus 28 is one of the places you can read about that. Men and women both wore robe-like or tunic-like clothing with small differences in stylng for the two genders.
In the New Testament, I don't see it addressed a whole lot. However, James 2:1-4 talks about two men who come to church, one in finery and one in filthy clothes, so it appears that both styles of dress were acceptable. The passage is instructing people not to favor the more finely dressed man over the one in filthy clothes. Even saying that if you do, you've become a judge with evil thoughts! Yikes!
Now it's time to think. Who is someone that you respect a lot? Really...think of someone. Depending on who's reading this it could be one of many types of people...an old friend, a seldom-seen-but-admired relative, your favorite performer (writer/actor/singer/dancer, etc.,) the president, the king/queen of some foreign country, whomever. How would you dress to meet that person, whether for the first time or after many years? Personally, I would want to look pretty spiffy. After all, it would be a bit of a celebration for me.
Doesn't the King of Kings deserve more respect than anyone on this earth that we could possibly meet? Shouldn't we respect Him enough to show up in His presence looking like we respect Him? I know, I know...I've already said that with God it's always about the heart and not appearances...but, really, if we respect and love Him as much as we say we do, shouldn't it be obvious not only to Him but to everyone else? If we have the ability, shouldn't we put on not just the garment of praise (Isaiah 61:3) but a garment of respect for our Savior? Just a thought. I know you have your own.
June 20, 2018 - Update - I discovered today a great youtube video that I think fits this topic perfectly. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXbI_NdcBaU
