Does God care what we wear at church?

FundNoMore said:
I guess it depends on if what you wear is a reflection of your heart. Would you approach Jesus in what you wear to church?
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Whatever I wear to church is always clean, covers my body, and is perfectly presentable to Christ. If it's not, I wouldn't wear it.
 
FundNoMore said:
I guess it depends on if what you wear is a reflection of your heart. Would you approach Jesus in what you wear to church?
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And what would, say, jeans and a polo shirt say about what was in someone's heart, as opposed to a jacket, dress shirt, and tie?
 
Church is the house of God, so dress in a way that is respectful and not offensive to other members of the congregation. Whether that’s khakis, jeans, etc., is not of importance. I will say I recall visiting a mega church a few years ago and some of the younger women looked like they were going to the club after the service, and it’s quite possible they were, since this church had Saturday evening services. I don’t think church should be a place men have to remind themselves to “look heavenward” when a woman walks by in a low cut mini dress. In an act of gender neutrality, I’ll also say it shouldn’t be a venue where men look like they’re on their way to the beach or basketball courts the minute the service ends.
 
On the Lord's day, I will not dress any less than I would for a job interview for a job that I really wanted. That's just me. On Wednesday nights, it might not be a suit, but at least a nice pair of khaki's and a collared shirt for Bible study. But, since I'm the pastor, even on Wednesday nights, I usually wear a sport coat and a tie. When I was in the service, sometimes I'd come right from work in my BDU's, smelling of whatever I had the pleasure of working around for the last 8 hours. Sometimes it was hydraulic fluid. In that case, I'd rather come to church in my work clothes than miss. But if I had time to change, I'd dress nicely. I was taught that, even as a lost person, to have respect for the house of God. But God understands, I'm sure, if I don't have nice things, or have time to change into nice things. But I have found, even when I didn't have money for nice things, that thrift stores usually sold collared shirts, ties and suit coats. JMHO.
 
EVERYONE has a line.........................................Some just have a low one. My line is a little higher that most. But that's just me
 
Growing up, and even through college and years of marriage, my wife and I dressed up for church, not because we wanted to, but because we believed that it was the only "acceptable thing" to do. The Lord started laying on my heart and mind the many people who we saw coming to the church who couldn't dress up, or didn't have time to dress up after working at their jobs, or on the farms (we lived in a large farm community), and witnessed how many of these people were treated. Having an allergy to polyester blends, I started wearing jeans and a nice shirt, and then my cowboy boots or work boots. I wasn't going to "suffer in silence" any longer to please man. I gained a lot of things when I did....a better attitude about myself, about the church, and about the people who cut me down for doing so. They were ignorant. I'm sure Jesus didn't change his clothes to go to the synagogue, and neither did his disciples. They wore their everyday clothes. God looks on the heart, not the clothing, and anyone who tells you differently is a self-righteous bigot. When I'm preaching, I DO dress up...not always a coat and tie, but something very presentable.
 
As Dr Bob told us a few yrs back, in Wesley's day the farmers came straight from the pasture to the church. Needless to say...a stink was raised {in more ways than one}
 
Bob H said:
As Dr Bob told us a few yrs back, in Wesley's day the farmers came straight from the pasture to the church. Needless to say...a stink was raised {in more ways than one}
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Dr. Bob has always had a great sense of the truth, and a great sense of humor to boot! :)
 
Many years ago when I was in my 20s, I was in a nondenominational church that made a really big issue of "dressing right" for church. I was always in trouble there for the way I was dressed. I did not have any fashion sense and I was single - I did not have a better half to help me with clothing selection, laundering and ironing, etc. In those days all men had to wear a suit to church, and I did that, but there was always a problem - my suit clothes were not the right fashion or color, the suit pants had wrinkles, even after I ironed them. On at least one occasion the pastor rebuked me by name from the pulpit, saying my clothes looked like I had slept in them. Finally it was decreed that I was not allowed to do my own laundering, that I would have to take all my clothes, even those that did not require dry cleaning, to a professional laundry. I ignored that rule and the pastor rebuked me for it. (Likewise, I ignored the rule that you could not come to church in a dirty car - you were supposed to run it through a car wash before coming to church).

The reasoning for these rules was that coming to church in a less than absolutely perfect outfit or a dirty car would be a bad testimony for visitors, but we had almost no visitors, and our cars were parked in the back and any dirt would not be visible to passersby on the street. Over the years, I was regarded as a miserable sinner and a rebel for my lack of compliance over such ongoing issues, especially the clothing issue, and the problem was finally resolved only when I left that church. In recent years, many churches in general, including IFB churches, have relaxed their tight standards and are no longer bullying and heckling their people over the issue of sartorial excellence, and in my opinion that's a good thing. However, based on the videos I have seen posted here on the FFF, some IFBx churches are still obsessing over the clothing issue, especially with regard to the ladies who are not "dressed right" and are supposedly tempting those horny IFB men to commit lust.

Why do some churches (IFB, non-IFB and anti-IFB) make such a big deal over the clothing issue? They say it is because we have to honor God in His presence in church, just as we would dress up for a wedding, funeral, court appearance, etc. That sounds good, but I don't see a scriptural basis for that as a requirement. Could it be that the real reason is that it is easier to control and manipulate church members if you can put them on a guilt trip on the clothing issue, or anything else you can dig up to make people feel guilty?

Yes, I agree, we should show respect for God, for our pastors and for our fellow churchgoers by dressing for church in a decent, cleanly, orderly, respectable manner - no bikinis, grungies, dirty T-shirts, shorty shorts, etc. But let's not go to extremes and humiliate people unnecessarily over their manner of dress. There must be a way we can avoid going to extremes, in one direction or the other, on this issue. As for the ban on women's slacks, it makes no sense in a society where 99% of all women, including Jack Hyles' daughter, Doug Phillips' wife and some of the Duggar girls, are wearing slacks. I don't see what gives me the right or the duty to tell someone else's wife or daughter how to dress herself, anyhow.
 
illinoisguy said:
Many years ago when I was in my 20s, I was in a nondenominational church that made a really big issue of "dressing right" for church. I was always in trouble there for the way I was dressed. I did not have any fashion sense and I was single - I did not have a better half to help me with clothing selection, laundering and ironing, etc. In those days all men had to wear a suit to church, and I did that, but there was always a problem - my suit clothes were not the right fashion or color, the suit pants had wrinkles, even after I ironed them. On at least one occasion the pastor rebuked me by name from the pulpit, saying my clothes looked like I had slept in them. Finally it was decreed that I was not allowed to do my own laundering, that I would have to take all my clothes, even those that did not require dry cleaning, to a professional laundry. I ignored that rule and the pastor rebuked me for it. (Likewise, I ignored the rule that you could not come to church in a dirty car - you were supposed to run it through a car wash before coming to church).

The reasoning for these rules was that coming to church in a less than absolutely perfect outfit or a dirty car would be a bad testimony for visitors, but we had almost no visitors, and our cars were parked in the back and any dirt would not be visible to passersby on the street. Over the years, I was regarded as a miserable sinner and a rebel for my lack of compliance over such ongoing issues, especially the clothing issue, and the problem was finally resolved only when I left that church. In recent years, many churches in general, including IFB churches, have relaxed their tight standards and are no longer bullying and heckling their people over the issue of sartorial excellence, and in my opinion that's a good thing. However, based on the videos I have seen posted here on the FFF, some IFBx churches are still obsessing over the clothing issue, especially with regard to the ladies who are not "dressed right" and are supposedly tempting those horny IFB men to commit lust.

Why do some churches (IFB, non-IFB and anti-IFB) make such a big deal over the clothing issue? They say it is because we have to honor God in His presence in church, just as we would dress up for a wedding, funeral, court appearance, etc. That sounds good, but I don't see a scriptural basis for that as a requirement. Could it be that the real reason is that it is easier to control and manipulate church members if you can put them on a guilt trip on the clothing issue, or anything else you can dig up to make people feel guilty?

Yes, I agree, we should show respect for God, for our pastors and for our fellow churchgoers by dressing for church in a decent, cleanly, orderly, respectable manner - no bikinis, grungies, dirty T-shirts, shorty shorts, etc. But let's not go to extremes and humiliate people unnecessarily over their manner of dress. There must be a way we can avoid going to extremes, in one direction or the other, on this issue. As for the ban on women's slacks, it makes no sense in a society where 99% of all women, including Jack Hyles' daughter, Doug Phillips' wife and some of the Duggar girls, are wearing slacks. I don't see what gives me the right or the duty to tell someone else's wife or daughter how to dress herself, anyhow.
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As a kid, I can recall seeing some girls and women wearing culottes instead of pants for outdoor church activities. I knew that they were wearing the culottes in a deliberate act of being more modest than the slightly heathen-leaning girls who wore pants. However, as any boy back then could attest, ironically the culottes were in reality far less modest than the jeans. When those poor unfortunate girls with giant fitting culottes on were playing sports activities with the other teens, sometimes it was “Hello Montana!” when they slipped and fell.
 
Huk said:
When those poor unfortunate girls with giant fitting culottes on were playing sports activities with the other teens, sometimes it was “Hello Montana!” when they slipped and fell.
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Reminds me of a girl one of my daughters played against in volleyball. It was club volleyball and all the girls wore those volleyball shorts - except for this one girl. She wore them, but wore a skirt over the shorts. I guess she was trying to be modest by wearing the skirt. Except she was a hustler on the court and dove for a lot of balls. And of course, when diving, the skirt would flip up exposing the volleyball shorts underneath.
 
Huk said:
As a kid, I can recall seeing some girls and women wearing culottes instead of pants for outdoor church activities. I knew that they were wearing the culottes in a deliberate act of being more modest than the slightly heathen-leaning girls who wore pants. However, as any boy back then could attest, ironically the culottes were in reality far less modest than the jeans. When those poor unfortunate girls with giant fitting culottes on were playing sports activities with the other teens, sometimes it was “Hello Montana!” when they slipped and fell
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someone here many years ago told me she saw no reason i couldn;t wear cluglottes to surf.... and also to go hunting.... i told her drowning by way of being weighed down with saturated clothing in heavy wave action, was one reason i would never wear them for surfing.... . and razor grass.. along with the way cluglottes leave legs exposed.... was among the many reasons i would never risk wearing them in the rainforest for hunting..... ...and that;s when someone else chimed in and said christian women should not be doing those male oriented activities anyway...... 😳 ..... ....
 
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