Clothing in Church

I need to get back to blogging. This silly MySpace competition with Victor was eating up all my "internet time." But now that I have soundly defeated him I can get back to blogging and I can use MySpace for its intended purpose - connecting with friends, not competing for friends.

So I'm going to begin a new little study on another issue in the church that I think people get really worked up about - the clothing we wear to church. Now, I will say that as a pastor/teacher I understand how Paul says to be "all things to all men" and that a speaker must understand and dress according to what will help him connect most with his/her audience. I get that. I want to look at the issue more from a theological/historical context and see why in the world people think that it is important to dress a certain way when they go to church. Respect, comfort, culture, etc.

My view is that one should wear clothing to church that is comfortable for worship so that they can give their all to God spiritually, emotionally, and even physically. I want to be able to raise my hands, get on my knees, and even lay on my face. This is difficult to do in a three-piece suit as I feel like I can't even move my neck from side to side in one of those things. I personally like to wear a collared shirt because this helps me feel a little "dressed up" while still feeling comfortable. That is just my preference.

This quote was interesting for someone with my perspective on the issue.

That it is shallow to judge by appearances is a well-known saying. That it is shallow to dismiss appearances is a lesser-known truth.
- Poet Yahia Lababidi, quoted in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and taken from The Week.

So I believe that I will show that clothing does not matter to God. I could be proved wrong though. But I also understand that to dismiss clothing altogether is just as shallow.

I hope to look next at the history of clothing in church and then what Scripture says on the subject and finally whether or not it should matter what the current cultural context of a specific church is for what clothing is worn.