More on Sunday apparel...

Submitted by David on Wed, 2006-08-02 11:17

I was forwarded a link to another post on attire for worship by the pastor of the PCA that I've been attending lately. A couple of paragraphs taken from it:

We seek to make sure that our musicians know their role is to draw attention to the surpassing greatness of God’s glory in Jesus Christ. That means clothing that would draw attention to them is inappropriate. Categories include clothes that are immodest, tight, “loud,” dirty, or sloppy. Of course, those standards are variable in different cultures and to different people, but usually every church has a fairly defined idea as to what qualifies. Regarding modesty, we want to avoid anything that accentuates or reveals what could be sexually alluring.

By the way, our pastors, who stand on the side of the stage as we sing, are dressed in a variety of styles. We purposefully want to communicate that we don’t believe a certain kind of dress equates to godliness. While we appreciate and respect the conviction some have that dressing up is a way of showing honor to God as we meet together, we’re convinced that God places the greater emphasis on the heart attitude behind what we wear, and that the church will always have a wide range of clothing (James 2:1-5).

This sort of attitude towards dressing for worship is one thing that has also been coming up in the church history class that I've been listening to lately. One of the things that's been discussed there was a push during the reformation away from the clothing of a roman catholic priest to more academic apparel in order to emphasize the role of preaching. Still, this also reflected a push to less specifically-ecclesiastical clothing.

Comments

quentin (not verified)

Sun, 2006-08-06 20:33

What I have to say has more to do with your previous post about Sunday apparel but I decided to post it here.

The comment that came up there had to deal with dressing for meeting the Queeen vs. dressing to meet God. WIthin that argument there are some items that need to be addressed:

1. When the Queen comes out to meet her "subjects" (i.e. the public), and you decide to go and see (or meet, in a way) her how should you dress? It seems that when the Queen is in public, the people dress however they want.

2. So, when the Queen

    comes to meet

the people, the people can dress in a way they deem important. Now, if church is about God meetingHis people, just as they are, do we need to put on special clothes?

3. If one argues that we are going to church to worship God and that His splendour and holiness demands our best including our dress/appearance, how does one reconcile with living life the rest of the week? Are we not always before the face of God? Is not life worship? Is not our work a type of worship? "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." (I Cor. 10:31) Life is worship.

4. Granted that Sunday worship is different in that God calls us to set aside a day for rest and worship does that necessitate my wearing of a suit? In my profession (teaching in Korea) my suit is my work outfit. Should I be wearing my work clothes to church? Perhaps one might say that surely if my students (or boss) "deserve" me in my suit, my so-called best, than how much more God. Well, I would disagree and say that God deserves my best in all my life and on Sunday to show that I care about him so much, I ought to differentiate between my work wear and my worship wear.

5. Indeed it matters not what we wear. If we do not detract from the worship by dressing inappropriately. I think we can all agree that immodest clothing is inappropriate. Ripped clothing also is probably out for the regular member, but is okay for the guy dropping in.

6. We need to walk a fine line between becoming pharisaical and too laxadaisal. What matters most is our heart and having a right relationship with God. You cannot clothe yourself with righteous clothes in the hopes of becoming righteous. I believe that as one grows closer to God, one will determine what the appropriate wear is for them. God created us to be individuals. There is no uniform for church. We are all prophets, priests, and kings.

7. Jesus is both our King and brother. Jesus is our Lord and Friend. We both worship and have a personal relationship with Him. Ought I be so formal with my friend? Ought I be so casual with my King? Balance.

8. These are merely reflections. Things to consider. At the end of the day, I think that we must make our personal decision regarding our worship apparel and let it not be a distraction to our worship. If we concern ourselves so much with these things we'll miss worshiping God. If we worry what our fellow believer is wearing, we have lost.

stainerman

Mon, 2006-08-07 02:41

Without getting into a long reply seeing as how I'm really tired and barely functioning...

Reading those verses in James, I noticed that the shabbily dressed man was poor unlike the rich man who dressed well. The poor man dressed that way as he had no alternative. If he had good clothes he probably would have worn them. Yes the heart is more important but I think you should make an attempt at dressing up but in no means does that mean you are required to have a suit and tie.

~Roger

David

Tue, 2006-08-08 00:49

It mentions that there was a poor man, but doesn't speak to the economic status of the man that is assumed to be rich. I don't really think that this is the point of the passage, but this might be something to consider in our credit-based society. Should we spend disproportionately on worship wear when it might mask an underlying unhealthy financial status. Should I buy a suit if I have a mortgage to pay off?