WHAT SHOULD I WEAR TO CHURCH?

On the long-vanished Sundays of old, going to church was a time of dress-up. Men and boys wore coats and ties, shoes shined to a shiny hue. Women wore dresses, occasionally a hat, maybe gloves.

Things changed. Formality was out. Relaxed was in. Things became so informal, let's call it, "early bed"--flip flops, shorts, sneakers, whatever, but certainly and absolutely no dress shirts and ties dotted the ecclesiastical landscape. The preachers eschewed the formal and they replaced their time-honored sartorial splendor in the pulpit for the Casual Joe look.

This brought a generational confrontation. The older, coat-and-tie faction looked down on the younger Casual Joes as those who were, in rebellion, were shaking their fists at authority and choosing their attire to be in tune with the anti-authority times. Those times, as the song said, "were a-changin'." Dad was coat and tie, carried his Bible to church, sang from the hymnal; his son, Joe Casual, in sneakers and tee-shirt, looked at a screen to show the book chapter, and verse. Rousing choruses appeared on the large screen. Dad read his King James, Joe C. preferred "The Message" on a screen. Dad, sitting bolt upright, occupied his pew, while Joe C. lounged in movie theater seating.

The stage was set for a generational war, one fought in church after church The war's over; Joe Casual emerged the victor--he's the pastor, the deacon, the elder today. But what of this battle? Was it worth it? Should war have been declared and fought? The question is, "What does the Bible say about the proper dress for Sunday-go-to-meeting?"

And the answer is . . . nothing, absolutely nothing. There's no dress code prescribed for church attendance whether attendees meet in a humble home or in a cavernous cathedral. In the early church, slaves came in work clothes, the patricians dressed in togas with a purple stripe to show their status.

However, although there is no physical dress code prescribed in the Bible, there is a spiritual one for the believer which Peter publishes in I Peter 5:5, no matter where he worships (Peter isn't writing to a church). "You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Self-centeredness is a natural condition of the fallen person. Though appeals to self-interest can move us in positive ways, we need more than self-interest to function optimally for the Lord. We need humility. But just what is this thing called humility?

William Temple, archbishop of Canterbury, said, “Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking of yourself at all.” We see a classic example of humility in Acts 16 in which Luke describes the incident when, after an earthquake, Paul could have easily fled his cell, letting the jailer commit suicide. 

However, Paul did not let the jailer kill himself. He immediately called out, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” (v. 28). Paul naturally thought of others. He faced the test of character, which occurs with virtues, and he passed the test. He gave up his own freedom and risked being killed because of the trumped-up charges he faced. Yet Paul prevented the jailer’s suicide. Paul was a model of humility. The Philippian jailer and his household, became Christians that very night. Everett L. Worthington Jr.)

Humility attracts. Thinking of yourself repels.