How To Dress For Worship
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The Past Few Weeks, I Have Seen More Than One Post On Social Media That Has Caught My Attention
They Were About How Christians Should Dress Up For Worship
Some Will Tell You That We Need to Give Our Best to God in Regards to Our Dress
I’ve Made This Argument Myself in the Past
And Some Will Tell You it Doesn’t Matter at All How You Dress For Worship
There are Many Passages That Can Be Referred to in Order to Make an Argument For Either Side
But Many of Those Passages are Often Twisted to Make the Person’s Point
We Won’t Have Time to Look at the Many Passages That are Often Twisted
Instead, What We Will Do is Look at a Few Things the Bible Actually Says About How We Should Dress
1 Timothy 2:9 (NASB)
Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments,
Paul Tells Timothy to Tell the Women at Ephesus (Where Timothy Preached) to Wear Appropriate Clothing
What Does Appropriate Clothing Consist of?
Appropriate = Modest/Bashful/Not Showy or Flashy
Appropriate = Discreet/of Sound Mind/With Self-Control
The Women Were to Dress in Such a Way That Showed…
They Were Not Trying to Be Seen
They Made an Effort Not to Be Seen
They Were to Use Self-Control to Not Dress in Ways that Would Distract From Worship Toward Jesus
Paul Then Spells That Out For Us
They Were Not to Braid Their Hair or Wear Gold, Pearls, or Expensive Clothing
Anything That Would Have Made People Look at and Pay Attention to Them, They Were Not to Wear
The Worship Gathering Was Not Meant to Be a Fashion Show Where Everyone Wore Their Finest Clothing and Jewelry
Why?
Because They Were There to Humbly Bow Down and Worship God
Not to Be Gawked at By Others
1 Timothy 2:10 (NASB)
but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.
Instead of Adorning Themselves With Fancy Clothes
They Were to Adorn Themselves With Good Works
Paul Said, “In the Worship Service, Godly Women Don’t Dress to Impress.”
“Their Focus is On Serving, On Loving, and On Giving God Glory… Not Themselves.”
Paul is Addressing the Women in This Passage, But the Principle is For All People
Another Passage That is Very Similar to This One is 1 Peter 3:3-4
1 Peter 3:3–4 (NASB)
Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses;
but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
The Context of This Passage is On How Wives Should Be Submissive to Their Husbands
And How a Submissive Wife is Able to Win Her Unbelieving Husband to Christ With Her Quiet and Gentle Demeanor
Notice How it’s Not the Clothing That Makes a Christian Precious in the Sight of God
It’s the Heart That Makes One Precious to God
If it’s True That We Should Wear Our Best to Worship God, Then We Have to Deal With These 2 Passages Where Both Paul and Peter Tell Christian Women Not To
This Idea of Wearing Your Best to Worship is an Idea That’s Only 100 to 200 Years Old
It Only Became Popular Practice After the Industrial Revolution
This Brought About the Development of the Middle Class
Before, Most People Were Either Rich or Poor
Not Many in Between
But Once There Was a Middle Class, the People Closer to the Bottom of the Economical Spectrum Could Now Wear Clothes Similar to the Rich
Many Christians Resisted This
Why?
Because Now That Christians Had a Choice to Look Rich or Look Poor, They Were Choosing Rich
They Had Their Opportunity to Look and Feel Wealthy and Bolster Their Pride, So They Took it
Before Long, the Attitude Began to Be of the Sort That:
Those Who Wore Nicer Clothing Were Considered of a Higher Moral and Spiritual Status Than Those Who Didn’t Have Nicer Clothing
This is the Kind of Attitude James Condemned
James 2:1–9 (NASB)
My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes,
and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,”
have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?
Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?
If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
This Isn’t Just a 18th/19th Century Onward Problem
This Type of Attitude Has Always Existed in the Church
We Tend to Show Personal Favortism Toward and Treat Better the Nicer Dressed/More Well Put-Together Folks
James Knows That Our Motives are Evil in Such Situations
That Type of Treatment of People Comes From the Devil, Not Jesus
James Even Tries to Talk Sense into Us
The Rich Have Historically Been Oppressive Toward the Church
The Poor Have Historically Been Those of Greatest Faith Toward Christ
But James Doesn’t Want Us to Turn the Tide and Begin Showing Favortism Toward the Poor and Treating the Rich Badly…
He Wants Us to Fulfil the Royal Law (The Law of Our King)
He Wants Us to Love Everyone as We Love Ourselves
And if We Don’t, We are Sinning
Application
Application
This May Not Seem Like an Important Topic to 21st Century Christians in America
But it Has Been a Very Important Topic to Christians of the Past
Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) - “To see worshippers appear in church as at a marriage feast, a presidential levee, a theatre, a dance — either in dress, manners, or general demeanor — strikes all persons of reflection as snow in summer, or a plaudit (applause) in the midst of a prayer.”
Kings and Prophets, the saints and martyrs of other times, were oftener seen in sackcloth and ashes than in the gaudy fashions of a flippant and irreverent age.
David Lipscomb (1831-1917) - The poor often feel backward in the church, because in the corruptions that wealth has brought into the church, it has been so changed that they cannot conform to its customs and they do not feel at home there. This is a wrong feeling. The church is the especial legacy of God to the poor of the earth. The poor then should, above all others, feel at home in the church. Should feel they had special privileges there above all others. It is the rich that are out of their element in Christ’s Church. They should feel the backwardness, not the poor.
Jerome (347-420) - Parchments are dyed purple, gold is melted into lettering, manuscripts are decked with jewels, while Christ lies at the door naked and dying.”
Historically, Christians Have Been Against the Idea of “Dressing Up For Worship”
Not Because Nicer Clothes are Sinful
But Because it Often Creates Division and Separation Between the Richer and Poorer Within the Church
Does This Mean We Should Dress Down For Worship?
Not at All
We Should Dress Appropriately
That May Look Differently Depending On Where You Live and Worship
The Point is, No One Should Dress in Such a Way as to Take Attention Away From Jesus and Our Worship Toward Him
If Someone Believes They Should Dress Up in Order to Show Proper Reverence For God…
They Should Do That
If Someone Believes as Long as They Have Their Hearts Centered On Praising and Glorifying God That Clothing is Less of an Issue…
Then They are Perfectly Fine
What’s Wrong is When We Start Judging and Looking Down On Others By How They Dress
Romans 14:10–13 (NAS)
But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God.”
So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.
As Long as a Person is Dressed Appropriately
Not Dressed Down Too Much So as to Distract Others
Not Dressed Up Too Much So as to Distract Others
They Are Doing Nothing Wrong
A Good Rule of Thumb is This:
The Effort You Put into Submitting Your Heart to Christ Should Always Be Greater Than the Effort You Put into How You Will Dress
We Learn From the Passages That We Have Looked at That What We Wear to Worship Does Matter
But They Matter in a Different Way Than Most of Us Have Probably Heard From Most Sermons
It’s Not About Dressing Up or Dressing Down
It’s About Dressing Appropriately With One Motive in Mind
To Not Distract But Aid Others in Their Worship of the King as We Seek to Do the Same
Chances Are, God is Not as Concerned About How We Dress as We Are
He is More Concerned About Our Hearts
When Our Hearts are Centered On Loving Him and Loving Others…
We Have Nothing to Worry About When it Comes to How We Dress