Yet, I would also add that because worship is a matter of the heart, which I believe is often reflected in our appearance, we cannot entirely conclude God doesnt care about what is worn to church. [...] Worship is essentially the offering up of our self to God as a sacrificial offering. This is the meaning of Pauls instructions when he writes, Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship (Romans 12:1). In other words, New Testament worship in contrast to Old Testament practice requires we not only bring our best offering to the Temple, but that we bring ourselves, our entire selves in a hallowed manner, for now we are the Temple of God (I Corinthians 3:16,17). This means we should come before the Lord in reverence, presenting our best to Him – bringing our best gift – coming with our best attitude – making our best appearance. [...] If we care for our fellow worshippers as we ought, we will take them into consideration as we dress for worship. We will clothe ourselves in ways that edify them and strengthen their own worship. We will attempt to avoid the nonchalant attitude that says this event is entirely routine; that it merits nothing special from me; that my only consideration in what I choose to wear is what is easiest and most convenient. Such a self-centered attitude is corrosive to a true spirit of worship. [...] What does the way we dress for worship say about our relationship to God? Does it demonstrate we believe that He is high, holy, and lifted up, worthy of our deepest love, adoration, and respect? Which of us would plan to meet with the President of the United States or an international dignitary, without trying to make a stellar appearance? What would our attire reveal about our appreciation and honor for their esteemed position? ******************** No. There is a lot of argument and discussion about how we dress outwardly for church or worship is a reflection of our hearts, etc, etc, etc. But the implicit premise which is not mentioned, even less justified, is the idea that Sunday worship or church is a sacred time or sacred space where the Lord is somehow specially presence which justifies special treatment. No! No! No! After the advent of the New Testament, human hearts and deeds alone are consecrated and sacred, to service of faith and good works. There are no sacred times or places after Christ has torn the Temple and declared that we shall neither worship in mountains or temples but in Spirit and in Truth. If there are no special spaces or times, then there is no basis to believe that a Sunday gathering is somehow not routine or that it somehow merits something special from me. The Sunday Assembly is nothing more than a lecture or gathering around the Word preached and taught. And just as I dont dress up when I go for my classes or lectures, neither is there any special need to dress up for church. (I like especially the Chinese translation of church, 教堂, which literally means teaching place or teaching hall. Nothing sacred about the church, it is simply the location for the communication of Gods teachings and truths.) God cares about how we dress up in the common sense of the term. We shouldnt dress up in a manner which is scandalous or which will distract our neighbours. But this is the same as everywhere else not just for church. We should no more be scantily clad while walking down the street than in church. It has to do with common decency, not sacred spaces or events. Thus, our care for dressing up is merely a matter of convention, with an eye for our neighbour, not for God. The point about dressing up our best for God is sadly mistaken about what God values. Beyond care for our neighbours, God does not demand any special ritual act towards him beyond care for his truth and obedience to his commands, having abolished them all at the Cross. Ironically the idea that somehow best dress appearance is an expression of our inward piety is directly contradicted by St Peter who contrasts, not coordinates, the two: Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewellery, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in Gods sight is very precious. -1 Peter 3:3-4 Our adorning is precisely NOT to be external, nothing to do with clothing or jewellery, instead what is very precious in Gods sight is the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, that is what God wants to see to the exclusion of our Sunday Best. The only reason to justify special clothing in church is if we believe in some sort of real presence, that at the Eucharist we somehow are more specially in the Lords presence than at other spaces and times. Only then will the meeting president analogy work. But if the Lord is present everywhere, especially dwelling in our hearts by the Holy Spirit with his Word written there, then there is no special presence or meeting with the Lord during Sunday Service. The Lords supper is nothing more than the fulfilling of Gods command to do this to which he has annexed his blessing of the forgiveness of sin and nourishment of new life, just as giving cups of cold water will not lose their reward. That does not mean that the former is a sacred event demanding our Sunday best anymore than the latter. This is why I always find it ironic that even the lowest church of baptists or even the Reformed oddly retains the idea of consecrating the elements of the Lords supper or churchy spaces. There is still a lingering Romanism still in their liturgical practices no matter how much they disavow robes or vestments or rituals.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 06:00:34 +0000
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