What NOT to Wear
So, today we went to church, and that's why I'm writing this blog.
We're members of a large congregation, and we want people to feel welcome. We don't care who they are, where they are from, or what brought them. We don't care what they did last night, or whether or not they even remember. HOWEVER, I {at least} DO CARE about what they wear.
Now, don't hear me wrong. Keep reading. I don't care if they have holey jeans, torn shirts, and dirty shoes, or a suit and tie. I don't care if the colors clash, if they forgot their socks, or if they they wear biker slicks. It doesn't bother me if they wear primary colors, pastels, or all black. If they want to dress for golf, fishing, or hunting, that's fine. If they're dressed for work, that's great! And, I don't think Jesus cares if they have a popular logo or a clever saying emblazoned across their chest.
However, I DO CARE if their clothes interfere with worship.
Perhaps Jesus would feel the same. After all, he literally drove people out of the Temple in Jerusalem with a whip (Luke 19, Mark 11, Matthew 21)! And why? Was it just because they were dishonest or taking advantage of people? I don't think so. I think it was a bigger problem than that, especially since no one seemed to recognize it. You see, the Temple was the only place where people could come to meet God, and the Court of the Gentiles (where the marketplace developed) was the closest non-Jews could get to the presence of YHWH. So, the people Jesus drove out were actually keeping others from YHWH because of their selfish actions. They were in the way. They were a distraction to worship.
I understand that many people who attend church, especially a large church, do so for social reasons. It's a great place to meet people. It's safe. It's the sort of place you want people to know you attend, because that's the sort of person you want to be know as. If this wasn't the case than our congregation wouldn't have grown by almost 2000 people since we started attending there.
Yet, however large or small a congregation of believers, our purpose in gathering together is to worship and to encourage each other, not to find a spouse, and certainly not to be stumbling blocks to each other. Our gathering should feel holy, not like a night club. And, our dress should reflect this.
I saw a man I know today sitting on the front row, and I'm glad he was. He's shared with me his struggles over the years, and he needs a safe place for his eyes when in worship. If he'd been further back, he would have been distracted. I was so proud to see him there, but it also made me upset. Why can't every seat in this place be safe for him?
I'll get to the point: CHRISTIAN LADIES, PLEASE DRESS MORE MODESTLY! This particularly applies to some of our college-age girls whose skirts look more like belts. For the love of God and the people who want to worship Him, wear a dress you can bend over in (if you had to, which you don't)! Don't be a distraction to people who want to worship YHWH. Ten or twenty years and 2.5 kids later, when you're married, when your husband and your son are standing beside you trying to praise the Lord, how will you feel when a 20-something co-ed sits on the row in front of you with her rear-end hanging out of the bottom of her skirt or her chest hanging out of her top? Do you really believe you're going to be OK with this? Do you think it won't distract you, or your husband, or your children, or your friend who you know needs church to be a safe place?
If you can't at least love your brothers and sisters in the Lord more than this; if it's more important to get the wrong attention than no attention at all from that guy down the row; if you still get your fashion tips from secular media; if you just haven't ever thought about what clothes communicate...perhaps you need to re-evaluate why you're going to church in the first place? I don't know.
Hopefully, you've just never thought about it before. You don't feel attractive or loved, and you're crying out for affection. Hopefully, you just don't realize that God (and your future husband) will be more impressed with your heart than your body. If your motivation is relational, remember that in fishing, bait makes all the difference. And, you can't catch Alaskan Salmon when your hook is baited for Carp (a bottom feeder). You won't attract the right attention if your dressed to attract the wrong kind.
Now this message is for my sisters in Christ, not for all women, because I expect worldly people to behave in a worldly way and saved people to act saved. I understand when a prostitute comes to church dressed like, well, like she does for work. I'm just glad she's there! I don't understand when someone who claims to already be a follower of Jesus dresses the same way (however nice the print or expensive the brand). You are worth so much more than that in God's eyes. Please don't diminish yourself in the eyes of others. If you know Jesus, you are a Temple of the Holy Spirit, please dress accordingly. Be cleansed, a place where people encounter God, not a "house of iniquity."
Romans 13:13-14 says, "Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." (NKJV)
We're members of a large congregation, and we want people to feel welcome. We don't care who they are, where they are from, or what brought them. We don't care what they did last night, or whether or not they even remember. HOWEVER, I {at least} DO CARE about what they wear.
Now, don't hear me wrong. Keep reading. I don't care if they have holey jeans, torn shirts, and dirty shoes, or a suit and tie. I don't care if the colors clash, if they forgot their socks, or if they they wear biker slicks. It doesn't bother me if they wear primary colors, pastels, or all black. If they want to dress for golf, fishing, or hunting, that's fine. If they're dressed for work, that's great! And, I don't think Jesus cares if they have a popular logo or a clever saying emblazoned across their chest.
However, I DO CARE if their clothes interfere with worship.
Perhaps Jesus would feel the same. After all, he literally drove people out of the Temple in Jerusalem with a whip (Luke 19, Mark 11, Matthew 21)! And why? Was it just because they were dishonest or taking advantage of people? I don't think so. I think it was a bigger problem than that, especially since no one seemed to recognize it. You see, the Temple was the only place where people could come to meet God, and the Court of the Gentiles (where the marketplace developed) was the closest non-Jews could get to the presence of YHWH. So, the people Jesus drove out were actually keeping others from YHWH because of their selfish actions. They were in the way. They were a distraction to worship.
I understand that many people who attend church, especially a large church, do so for social reasons. It's a great place to meet people. It's safe. It's the sort of place you want people to know you attend, because that's the sort of person you want to be know as. If this wasn't the case than our congregation wouldn't have grown by almost 2000 people since we started attending there.
Yet, however large or small a congregation of believers, our purpose in gathering together is to worship and to encourage each other, not to find a spouse, and certainly not to be stumbling blocks to each other. Our gathering should feel holy, not like a night club. And, our dress should reflect this.
I saw a man I know today sitting on the front row, and I'm glad he was. He's shared with me his struggles over the years, and he needs a safe place for his eyes when in worship. If he'd been further back, he would have been distracted. I was so proud to see him there, but it also made me upset. Why can't every seat in this place be safe for him?
I'll get to the point: CHRISTIAN LADIES, PLEASE DRESS MORE MODESTLY! This particularly applies to some of our college-age girls whose skirts look more like belts. For the love of God and the people who want to worship Him, wear a dress you can bend over in (if you had to, which you don't)! Don't be a distraction to people who want to worship YHWH. Ten or twenty years and 2.5 kids later, when you're married, when your husband and your son are standing beside you trying to praise the Lord, how will you feel when a 20-something co-ed sits on the row in front of you with her rear-end hanging out of the bottom of her skirt or her chest hanging out of her top? Do you really believe you're going to be OK with this? Do you think it won't distract you, or your husband, or your children, or your friend who you know needs church to be a safe place?
If you can't at least love your brothers and sisters in the Lord more than this; if it's more important to get the wrong attention than no attention at all from that guy down the row; if you still get your fashion tips from secular media; if you just haven't ever thought about what clothes communicate...perhaps you need to re-evaluate why you're going to church in the first place? I don't know.
Hopefully, you've just never thought about it before. You don't feel attractive or loved, and you're crying out for affection. Hopefully, you just don't realize that God (and your future husband) will be more impressed with your heart than your body. If your motivation is relational, remember that in fishing, bait makes all the difference. And, you can't catch Alaskan Salmon when your hook is baited for Carp (a bottom feeder). You won't attract the right attention if your dressed to attract the wrong kind.
Now this message is for my sisters in Christ, not for all women, because I expect worldly people to behave in a worldly way and saved people to act saved. I understand when a prostitute comes to church dressed like, well, like she does for work. I'm just glad she's there! I don't understand when someone who claims to already be a follower of Jesus dresses the same way (however nice the print or expensive the brand). You are worth so much more than that in God's eyes. Please don't diminish yourself in the eyes of others. If you know Jesus, you are a Temple of the Holy Spirit, please dress accordingly. Be cleansed, a place where people encounter God, not a "house of iniquity."
Romans 13:13-14 says, "Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." (NKJV)
Comments