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Dressing Up for Church, Disappointing God November 24,
2008 Dressing up for church has been a Western tradition in the church for decades. It is interesting to note that the average believer has no idea that it wasn't always this way. In fact, this tradition is a fairly recent development in Christian history. Not until the mid-1800s did people start dressing up for church. That's right--for the first 1800 years of church history, worshippers wore street clothes to church. Sunday in
Your Church Just imagine
going to your church next Sunday morning dressed in jeans and a
t-shirt-would you feel out of place? If you would, then that should
be a sign to you that there is a serious problem, because that is
exactly how any “normal” person who walks into the doors of our
church feels. The post-modern culture we are among today is extremely
casual--imagine how they feel walking into the doors of a church
in their normal attire: a t-shirt and shorts. Although it is the
least of the reasons I present for condemning this tradition, unless
we are willing to move with the culture on this issue, we will fail
in reaching the majority of sinners in our modern culture. False Ideas
We have, without
realizing it, created a compartmental mindset in the church. This
mindset says that church is where I am spiritual, and everywhere
else is where I go about my normal life. This is so far from the
thought and practice of the early church, it is frightening--and
it hinders many saints from acting out their gifts and callings
outside the doors of their buildings. The fact is, wearing a suit
and tie or a dress doesn't make you more spiritual, it only makes
you feel more spiritual, and thus tends to create a false sense
of spirituality. The thing is God doesn't care whether we are dressed
up or dressed down, as long as we are modest. And trust me on this,
Jesus can move just as mightily whether you are in a black suit
or in a pair of faded blue jeans, and He fills seekers with the
Holy Spirit just as easily when they (and those who are praying
with them) are in casual-wear. Alienating Jesus Finally, and
most important, this tradition alienates the most important crowd
we are on this earth to serve--the poor and the homeless. “When
asked why they don't go to church, poor people list clothes as the
number one reason.”2
How much more out of place does a homeless or poor person feel in
our midst who simply don't have any dress clothes? The sad irony
is, these are the ones that Jesus told us to go and find and bring
into His kingdom--the poor, crippled, and homeless, the blind (Luke
14). These are the ones the church is especially called to, and
yet these are the very ones whom the church is alienating by their
tradition! I can't tell you how many times a homeless individual
walked into the doors of our building of the church I grew up in
and sat in the back row trying to be as inconspicuous as possible,
as they felt like a sore thumb amidst the formally dressed worshippers.
They were stared at, whispered about, given a hollow handshake,
and rarely got the help they came for. Yet it is especially
for these poor and hurting souls that the heart of our master breaks.
Did you know
that over two million men, women and children in the U.S. alone
sleep on the street, under bridges, in shelters, or on a friend's
couch? Thirty percent of the homeless are children. Contrary to
popular opinion, only five percent of the homeless in the U.S. are
“lazy and shiftless.” One-third of all homeless are mentally ill
and 40 percent are alcoholics. All this, not to mention the much
greater number of poor and lower class families in this country
(who have a place to call their own) who simply struggle to keep
the lights or heat turned on, shoes on their kids' feet, and jobs
that pay more than minimum wage. Poverty is a huge problem around
the globe (aren't we called to “all nations”?) and from what I have
witnessed, many churches are ambivalent about this situation. How
do we expect someone whose basic needs aren't being met to accept
the good news of Jesus Christ's love from a people who have way
more than enough to go around and yet are not willing to share?3 Jesus on
Judgment Day I am not against
these things--they are vital--but the simple fact is, according
to this passage, it is not the theology of the saints that counted
in the end. Many churches are in for a rude awakening on judgment
day. In fact, from the law of Moses, to the prophetic utterances
throughout Israel's history, to the teachings and parables of Jesus
and the epistles, this separation of social classes is thoroughly
condemned. (Please take a moment to see “Social Justice in scripture”
below.
4)
Dressing appropriately for the sake of the poor is only the first
step we ought to be taking to live out the gospel to the poor, of
course. Common Sense
Christianity Would the lowly
Jesus feel welcome in your church? © 2008, Sean
Anthony Hyatt ----- Sean Anthony
Hyatt is the Product Service Matter Expert for Qwest Communications
in Denver, CO and is currently earning his bachelor's degree in
the Fine Arts (Painting and Drawing). He is married to his beautiful
wife, Jessica, is the proud father of 2 1/2 kids (one on the way),
and together they help lead and plant “organic” churches from house
to house all over the Denver area. He poses for pictures with a
pipe in his mouth so he can look as cool as Charles Spurgeon. Footnotes 1. Carter, Neil,
2002. http://www.christinyall.com/ 2. Dorrell, Jimmy. Trolls and Truth, 2006. New Hope Publishers 3. Dorrell,
Jimmy. Understanding the Homeless, 2002. http://churchunderthebridge. 4. Social Justice
in Scripture, http://mission.squarespace. |
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