Does God care what we wear at church?

there is a group milling around.... similar to the raggamuffin grunge gospellers.... who believe we should all intentionally dress down to attend church.... to purposefully make a show of humility in what we wear... (false humility in my opinion)... . and they get very offended if we even indicate that we might dress a little better than that when we attend church.... . as if our choice of clothing is made with the dual intent of impressing God and offending them personally.... ..... they have been here..... and a few previous arguments here concerning what we should wear to church have gone down that low road straight into the mud puddle.... ......
 
aleshanee said:
there is a group milling around.... similar to the raggamuffin grunge gospellers.... who believe we should all intentionally dress down to attend church.... to purposefully make a show of humility in what we wear... (false humility in my opinion)... . and they get very offended if we even indicate that we might dress a little better than that when we attend church.... . as if our choice of clothing is made with the dual intent of impressing God and offending them personally.... ..... they have been here..... and a few previous arguments here concerning what we should wear to church have gone down that low road straight into the mud puddle.... ......
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Next time you encounter them maybe you could suggest that they find the nearest Amish congregation for their corporate worship experience. 😁

On a serious note, it seems to me that the same Spirit of judgmentalism that exists in environments where they want to measure hem lines and neck plunge depth might be on the opposite side of the fashion spectrum in these folks but by the way that they want to put everybody in standard-issue feed sacks they have the same stifling and controlling judgmentalism. Nothing like people wanting to coerce everybody else into their own conformist box.
 
aleshanee said:
there is a group milling around.... similar to the raggamuffin grunge gospellers.... who believe we should all intentionally dress down to attend church.... to purposefully make a show of humility in what we wear... (false humility in my opinion)...
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Well, that's the thing. The problem with intentionally and visibly dressing down is exactly the same problem with dressing too expensively. It says "Look at me, I'm righteous" rather than "look at me, I'm rich," but it's still a call for attention to a status symbol.

Maybe the Amish with their "plain" outfits have the right idea. Everyone wears basically the same thing, so no one draws attention to himself by dressing too fancily. I think that's largely what Paul was getting at: dress to fit in, not to stand out.
 
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Ransom said:
Well, that's the thing. The problem with intentionally and visibly dressing down is exactly the same problem with dressing too expensively. It says "Look at me, I'm righteous" rather than "look at me, I'm rich," but it's still a call for attention to a status symbol.

Maybe the Amish with their "plain" outfits have the right idea. Everyone wears basically the same thing, so no one draws attention to himself by dressing too fancily. I think that's largely what Paul was getting at: dress to fit in, not to stand out.
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This is one concept that makes me feel more at home when I'm in the Cowboy Church services. Most dress in jeans and decent shirts, and the women wear jeans and decent blouses....I grew up wearing jeans, with my parents being part owner of a Western wear store. Cowboy hats and boots were worn most of the time. But, when we went to our IFB church, it wasn't acceptable to wear these things to "service" as they called it. The hypocrisy really ticked me off, as many of these same Pharisaical jack donkeys would wear these items to their high-class restaurants in the area, and the nightclubs to boot, but they disavowed any interest in them during Sunday worship. As a teen, I got sick of the duplicitous attitudes and worked every Sunday to avoid going to church. I hated being in services and the leadership's lack of ability to back up their position scripturally. I notice in the Cowboy church, that many dress in similar fashion, but other fashions are accepted just as readily without judgment. We're not members, as we attend an SBC church, but we visit and cooperate with the AFCC (American Fellowship of Cowboy Churches) out of Waxahachie, TX.
 
Bob Jones V said:
I hate to say this but it may just be that naked can mean different things in different cultures. *Runs and hides behind his NIV* One of my seminary Profs said there are tribes in Africa that think a woman's breasts uncovered it not nakedness.
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this concept is definitely true here in hawaii.. .. and many tourists discover to their dismay... or delight depending on their age and gender..... that girls wearing a g-string that barely covers the front and makes it look like nothing at all is worn on the backside is not considered nakedness either...... . i have caught considerable grief on the forums in the past for defending such things..... . as you pointed out in a previous post about the way people responded to some of my pictures posted on a forum several years ago.... .... and i rmember some very intense arguments that occured over what i simply described as common and exceptable attire here without even posting a picture of it..... ....... but i was also quick to point out that while it might be acceptable to walk around in certain public areas like that most everybody here would consider it inappropriate in church..... just like they would consider someone trying to surf in long pants - a tucked in shirt.. and a tie to be a kook....

of course that doesn;t mean a tourist coming from a society that views a g-srting to be nakedness should put one on when they visit here just to feel like they are fitting in..... but it does mean they shouldn;t walk around preaching to everybody they see about it.... i saw someone do that once.... he said later it was his strong conviction that any women dressed that way was putting herself at risk and inviting assault..... but the attention he drew to himself making a public spectacle preaching to them about it put him in far more danger of assault than they were ever in......
 
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Ransom said:
Well, that's the thing. The problem with intentionally and visibly dressing down is exactly the same problem with dressing too expensively. It says "Look at me, I'm righteous" rather than "look at me, I'm rich," but it's still a call for attention to a status symbol.

Maybe the Amish with their "plain" outfits have the right idea. Everyone wears basically the same thing, so no one draws attention to himself by dressing too fancily. I think that's largely what Paul was getting at: dress to fit in, not to stand out.
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i don;t think i have ever been around anyone who was amish.... but is the way they were portrayed in the movie witness true?..... . do they really consider it a compliment to be told they look "plain"?.... ...i know a lot of schools have found it beneficial to have all the students in a uniform.... eliminating outward displays of status stopped a lot of conflicts before they could start.....
 
aleshanee said:
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i don;t think i have ever been around anyone who was amish.... but is the way they were portrayed in the movie witness true?..... . do they really consider it a compliment to be told they look "plain"?.... ...i know a lot of schools have found it beneficial to have all the students in a uniform.... eliminating outward displays of status stopped a lot of conflicts before they could start.....
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The Amish my wife and I have been associated with consider it an outward showing of their inward spirit/holiness. We used to deal with some Amish people in Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, and even here in Tennessee.
 
aleshanee said:
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i don;t think i have ever been around anyone who was amish.... but is the way they were portrayed in the movie witness true?..... . do they really consider it a compliment to be told they look "plain"?....
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Not having known any Amish people, I don't know one way or the other whether they would feel complimented. They're probably happy if an outsider understands the significance of the outfit--which is, as you point out, rather like a school uniform, intended to emphasize modesty, simplicity, and utility over fashion, status, or extravagance.
 
The above post was made in jest, of course.

sword said:
I think we should always look neat and clean
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And that's the point. Saturday night was, indeed, bath night. And no, the idea wasn't 'best,' but they didn't wear their grungies.

And it wasn't to be presentable to God, Who sees right through the clothes, it was to be presentable to our brothers and sisters.
 
Think I'll just wear my jock strap and a "wife-beater" t-shirt this Sunday. ;)
 
Many would say country clubs have dress codes, upscale restaurants have dress codes, most court rooms have dress codes so why not Gods house? I say to each their own.

Many think we should wear our best clothes on Sunday for church. I suggest people choose a church that reflects their preferences and let others choose churches that reflect their own.

I still like Hymns, so I choose to attend a church that leans that way, I have many Christian friends who prefer a praise and worship style service and they choose churches that reflect that style.

Not sure what's the problem?
 
Growing up, it was expected to dress up for a morning service and dress casually for an evening service. Interestingly enough, in South America, they do the complete opposite and wear their best clothes for evening services and dress down for morning services. This is mostly due to custom and it being cooler in the evenings. Morning services are usually viewed as optional for attendance.
 
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