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I have been nearly overwhelmed with reader response to the WFTD about praise music and casual grunge clothes. Interestingly the overwhelming majority, agree that many churches are going too far with their modern church services. Below is an example concerning proper attire:

“I feel the strong need to disagree with this. While ultimately God may not care how we dress or what we look like, or how we sing, he does care that we respect Him. If you’re dressed however you please, that means it’s all about you, not about God. You’re in effect telling Him “I don’t care enough to look good and try to respect You, I want to do what I want.” That’s the attitude that got mankind into the pickle we’re in now in the first place. If our worship is for God and not for us, why would we not want to be respectful, and dress in a respectful way?

One’s clothing signifies who one is. A man dressed in a military uniform (which is always neat, pressed, clean, and respectful when not in active combat) shows that he belongs to the military. A man dressed in gang clothing shows that he belongs to that gang (and causes many institutions to ban such clothing). A man dressed in rags you would assume is homeless. So if we are going to worship Him, would we not want to dress in a manner that shows we are Christians, and not members of the local heavy metal band? Do we not want to stand out as Christians? Jesus told his followers that they must be no part of the world, as He was no part of it. Should not our clothing help to set us apart?

How much time would you give a person who came to interview with you for a job if they couldn’t bother to dress appropriately for the interview?

Now I am not saying God would reject someone who came to Him because of their clothing. After all, God sees the person on the inside. However, once we have come to love Him, why would we not want to show respect for Him?

I’m not sure how most people view their church. I view the building we worship in as God’s house here on earth. When I go there, I have been invited into that house to worship Him. So if I’m going to visit the most holy, the Almighty God, the most-high being in the entire universe, how could I disrespect him by not looking my best? If you were invited to the White House to visit with the president, would you dare to wear casual clothes? You wouldn’t ask him to accept you any way you feel like presenting yourself. Why should God be treated lesser than a human? Wearing casual clothes is putting one’s own comfort first. Respect for God is more important that our own comfort.

1 Tim 2:8-10: I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

Beyond that scripture, I cannot recall much that deals with a Christian’s dress, other than that it should be modest. I do know that in the Israelite times, God had a strict code of dress for the Levite priests who served Him in the temple. The garb the High Priest wore was spelled out in detail, down to the fringes on his garment and the jewels on his chest piece. I think this shows that God does care about clothing, as He had a dress code for them, and wants His followers to be modest.

My point is that while God won’t necessarily reject someone because of how they dress, He wants it to be modest, befitting a Christian. He does care that you respect Him, and our love for Him should cause us to be respectful toward Him, both in deed and action (in this case our dress).”

Hmmm I think this was very well put and I thank this person for writing this. Personally I think our pastors have tremendous influence over our worship. It is a paradox in my mind that a pastor would wear a tuxedo to perform a wedding, (or as this gentleman stated, visit the president), and yet this same pastor wears old ragged blue jeans and a tee shirt to lead a service whereby we worship our holy God. Why afford more respect to others than God?

I’m not suggesting that we wear powdered wigs, knickers with white socks, complete with pilgrim hats where we must look like we just came over on the Mayflower during worship; nor am I saying that we must use an old King James version of the Bible and say thee and thou and I realize the times they are a changing, but God is God and we should reverence Him. God is not just another one of the guys. We should look our best.

I sincerely believe that in an all out effort to get youngsters into church some pastors have lost their way. Just as Joel Olsteen bases the foundation of his ministry around trying to make people feel good about themselves, let them dress however they like, do whatever they like, say whatever they like, and just know that God loves you and you will prosper no matter what is crazy. When Moses went up on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments and he did not return right away, the Jews went to their interim leader Aaron and insisted that they be allowed to make a golden calf idol to worship. Amazingly he conceded and they did so and then they proceeded to start wildly dancing and eventually to have a drunken orgy. To put it mildly, God was exceedingly angry about this as was Moses. The pastor, Aaron, listened to the people rather than God, (and common sense).

When I went to Israel all of the orthodox Jews were dressed in black suits and hats, Muslims were wearing full length black, and the Christian general populace almost to a person wore dark clothing. It is very hot over there and I could not understand why they all wore hot dark or black clothes in the high desert temperatures. I asked our guide and he stated it is the people’s desire to dress modestly in reverence to our holy God. The birthplace of religion still remembers and understands the nature of being respectful towards the holy God that we worship.

The Bible tells us that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. Many believe the word fear can be substituted with “respect”. Whatever… God is love but He is also fearsome and we should remember just whose presence that we are in when we go to church to worship. When we worship God we should do so in reverence, fear, respect, love, joy, praise, and thankfulness.

Exodus 20:18
Now all of the people witnessed
the thundering, the lightening
flashes, the sound of the trumpet
and the mountain smoking; and
when the people saw it, they
trembled and stood afar off.
Then they said to Moses, “You
speak with us, and we will hear; but
let not God speak with us lest
we die.”