 Good Clothes
Last week, I began dealing with the issue of how we should dress in the gathering of the church on the Lord’s day. In this post, I want to go through a few passages that deal with this specifically. There are actually many more that we could consider about how concerned we ought to be about clothing in general in passages such as Matthew 6:25-33 and Luke 12:22-48, but here I want to deal with what the Apostles had to say about our clothing in the New Covenant Church meeting. The New Testament Principles Many will contend that we are instructed to offer our bodies in worship to the Lord (Romans 12:1). This is absolutely true, however, in this text Paul is not making a case for the attire they should wear in worship. Instead, from this point in the book of Romans through chapter 15, Paul is imploring us to act and behave consistently with the theology he has explained in the first eleven chapters. Romans 12:1 simply doesn’t have anything to do with the discussion of how to dress for the church meeting. Some may also point out that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and that we should glorify God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Again, I would agree wholeheartedly. The point that Paul is making in this passage is not about our clothing but our behavior. The passage actually is dealing with abstinence from sexual immorality, not our Sunday outfit. In both of these passages one must, at best, infer some implicit not explicit ideas about the way we should dress in church. As matter of fact, if we apply these passages to our dress then it would extend far beyond the worship service, because in both texts it is our whole life that is being discussed. So, are there any New Testament texts that deal directly with our clothing and how to dress in the church gathering? Yes! Since we have looked at two passages by Paul, let's start with his instructions. In 1 Timothy 2:8-10, Paul instructs the godly women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel. Of course, we must interpret what respectable apparel means. In different times and cultures that could be different. We do not dress as they did in the first century today. But thankfully, Paul helps us out by telling us that this respectable apparel is modest and self controlled. He also specifically points out that it should not be fancy and expensive. Which is kind of the opposite of dressing up. The Apostle Peter also speaks to this topic in 1 Peter 3:1-4 where he addresses the women and pretty much says the same thing as Paul. Peter even says, “Don’t let your adorning be external.” Meaning that the clothing you wear should not be the focus. James also gives us insight in James 2:1-7 where he points out that judging one another by the clothing we wear to the church gathering is a way of committing the sin of partiality. So it seems that the case for grace toward one another in the area of church attire is far stronger than that of “dressing up” for the church meeting. Modern Practice With all of that I have said the last two weeks in mind, it seems to me that we ought to encourage people to dress appropriately, by which I mean modestly and in such a way as not to be a distraction. Much of this will depend on the culture of the particular church. I think it is possible to under dress in some cases or over dress. If the congregation's regular practice is for the men to wear a collared shirt and the ladies wear dresses and the new pastor comes in wearing a t-shirt and shorts then that would be an unnecessary distraction. However, in a small rural community where most folks maybe don’t even own anything but jeans, a pastor in a three piece suit could also be a distraction. The men should dress as men and the women should dress modestly. The goal should be on humbling ourselves and dressing in whatever way, either up or down, so as to not be a distraction from our main purpose of worshiping the Lord and fellowshipping and edifying the saints!
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