In 2004, I began pastoring a little city church in the Deep South. Some seventy years prior to my arrival, the fellowship there had survived a significant church split that hewed the church in two and left an open wound that still festered in the memories of some. The church had been planted in the early 1900s in the neighborhood of a bustling textile mill and ministered to the salty, plucky, rough and tumble folks living in the shotgun shacks lining the streets around. The mill families that walked to church on Sunday were a poor, hard-working, brass-knuckled bunch. They were joined in worship by people who drove in from nice homes on the hill; folks in linen suits and chiffon dresses whose manners were genteel and whose speech was erudite. Both classes of people loved Christ but they found it hard to love and appreciate each other. There was little fellowship and a lot of tension. One of the happenings that lingered long in people’s memories as having contributed to the open hostility that would eventually split the church had to do with clothing. The stately families from up on the hill began bringing bedsheets to church with them. Before sitting down, they would cover the pew with the sheet. When asked why they would do such a thing, they remarked rather demurely that they did so to protect their clothing from the soot and grime the factory workers had left behind. While it was true that many in the congregation came to church on Sunday wearing what they’d worn to work the night before, it was also true that they often didn’t have anything else to wear. While it was true that covering the pew in a bedsheet was tactless and insensitive, it was also true that it was important to these folks to give God their best by wearing their best. In all, it was a mess.
I would love to know what the Apostle Paul might have written in an epistle to that little mill town church, but I think I can guess. He would have argued for humility, unity, and grace and would have scolded them for being so petty when the world around was lost and dying.
When it comes to the matter of what type of dress is appropriate for worship and whether or not church services should become more casual and informal or cling to a more traditional decorum, I confess to being a little worn out on the question of what to wear. It’s not true to say that it doesn’t matter – of course it matters. Nonverbal expression is just as important as verbal and clothing says a lot. It’s also not true to say that God only looks at the heart. God looks at it all and wants it all to reflect reverence for His word and a desire to please Him. That said, is there a standard and a code in all these things and are we crazy enough to try and adopt an approach? Is the sanctuary a living room or a throne room or both? Are we with our Abba Father in our jammies or before the King in our finest raiment or both? Now, to be clear, I don’t think it’s a top 20 issue, but I do think it opens up a fruitful line of discussion. We’d love to know what you think! Please take a moment to read the link to this week’s article and then come as you are to the roundtable discussion this Sunday morning at 8:30am upstairs in the Family Life Center. There’ll be hot coffee and a homemade treat!
