How To Dress For Worship

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

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