I have recently been caught at the grocery store at 12:15p.m. on a Sunday…in sweats. I used to see people like me and think, “I guess they didn’t go to church today.” It’s interesting being one of them now. We attend church online or at different times on the weekend, and so not being dressed in our nicest clothes on Sunday has been one of the bigger habits we have had to break. I must admit…the feeling of being judged in the store was almost enough to send me running back to find my dress and heels. I have learned from being on both sides of the debate, that when it comes to Sunday, church, and clothes…there are some pretty strong assumptions out there. I call them assumptions…because we Christians don’t judge.
If I was honest, (Why stop now, right?) there were times walking into church was something akin to the Judy Garland film, Easter Parade. Smiling, freshly scrubbed families, dressed to the nines, waltzing happily into the foyer of a grand brick building under the shadow of a gleaming steeple. It was beautiful, I felt beautiful, and I was proud of my beautiful family. Of course, not everyone knew the knock down drag out it took to get every face shined and every shoe polished to take our turn down the carpeted aisle.
I know this subject brings a few topics of debate to the surface.
But Aimee, doesn’t it honor God for us to wear our best to church? No one minds if someone doesn’t have nice clothes. We don’t judge people by their appearance. I like to dress nice for me and my own expression of worship. It’s not for anyone else.
Keep those questions and statements in mind and listen to this little story.
I had a friend, a young girl, that wanted to attend church with us. Her family did their best to keep her in school attire, but Sunday clothes were simply not in the budget. I told her the very same thing many of you just thought. “Honey, don’t worry about your clothes. Just wear the nicest you have, and that will be fine. No one is going to care.”
I picked her up on Sunday morning, and she came walking to the car wearing a sweet little purple dress. It was wrinkled, and the collar wouldn’t stay down, but she obviously had enough church experience to know that a dress was her best chance at fitting in, after all, I was wearing a nice plum number myself. It wasn’t until we got into the building that I realized the wrinkles were the least of her worries. The seam under the arm had a four-inch long hole, and the front was missing a button. She marched right into Sunday School though, holding one arm to her side to hide the gape, and kept the other across her stomach so no one would notice the missing button.
After dropping her back home that day, I was determined to help her get some decent Sunday clothes.
It was in that thoughtful moment that God spoke.
Aimee, why spend your money trying to make her feel good enough for you and your church, when she is good enough for Me…just as she is. Maybe it’s you that needs a change of clothes.
Cue the tears, right? The shame I felt in that moment is unforgettable. Here was this precious little girl, wanting to be near God and His people, and we had unknowingly created an insurmountable obstacle for her. We say, “Come just as you are.” but that’s not what we were doing. We bathed, shaved, scrubbed, trimmed, polished, ironed, shined, and fluffed before stepping foot into that building. So how did we expect others to feel they didn’t need do the same? Even a little girl could decipher the church dress code.
The next week the girl called, and said she wasn’t going back to church because she didn’t have anything to wear. Apparently a lovely little well-heeled church lass had made fun of her clothes, and she didn’t have anything else that fit the part. I told her I was coming to get her, and that I was wearing jeans and a shirt because dressing up for church was silly, and I wasn’t going to do it anymore. She wore her school clothes and so did our kids. We were a lonely little group in jeans and casual clothes, but you know what? God didn’t care one bit, and I haven’t worn a Sunday dress to church since.
So to answer the question.
If we love God, don’t we want to bring him our best?
Absolutely.
Let’s do whatever we have to, short of sin, to bring Him the very best possible fruits of our labor…a lost soul. Any other offering, albeit Gucci, Prada, or Louis Vuitton simply pales in comparison to that. Don’t you think?
“To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” I Corinthians 9:22-23
I researched and couldn’t come up with a good Biblical backing for dressing in your finest for church. If I have overlooked an important verse or point, please feel free to share, and please don’t be afraid to ask yourself some pointed questions.
What did I wear last Sunday and why? Is there any Biblical foundation for the ‘church dress code’? Is there any possible way my Sunday attire could cause someone to hesitate walking through the doors? Am I willing to leave my finest at home if it means bringing one person closer to knowing God?
Discussion is welcome.
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