Clothing in Church: Why It Matters
My little brother is one of my favorite people. He is patient and gentle and considerate and funny. (Although I would never tell him that.) He is in his last year at Westmont College, my alma mater, and for the past few years has been putting his music composition major to use by playing in the band at a local church on Sunday mornings. He enters into worship with a grateful heart and works hard to cultivate a space where other people can do the same.
And he does all this without wearing shoes.
He just doesn't care. He's always been an incredibly casual dresser, wearing shorts and flip-flops all through the freezing months of winter in the Midwest. So showing up to church barefoot and in a T-shirt is not only normal for him, but to dress in anything nicer would, to him, be a violation of conscience in the eyes of the God who bids us come as we are.
Last month, Duane Litfin, former president of Wheaton College, wrote an interesting op-ed for Christianity Today called "Clothing Matters: What We Wear to Church." In it, Litfin makes the case for a thoughtful approach to dressing for public worship services. Framing his argument in terms of offering God our best, our first fruits, that which is sacrificial, Litfin suggests that we display an attitude of awe and reverence when we enter into communal worship. He cites Scriptures like 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 and Romans 12:1, where we hear about our bodies being living sacrifices to God. The most convincing part of all of this, though, comes when Litfin says "I do wish to raise a question about the notion … that when it comes to public worship, our clothing doesn't matter."
In a great post on the Cardus blog, Kyle Bennett calls fashion "an exercise on virtue." Fashion is relevant here because, like our faith, it speaks to the soul. As Christians, we have not only a right but also a responsibility to attend to anything that claims such important territory, whether we agree with its place or not. How we respond to issues of clothing and dress can speak a great deal about our heart toward God. In the words of Abraham Kuyper, "There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus Christ does not cry out, 'This is mine! This belongs to me!'"
On this point Litfin and I agree: Our clothing is not neutral. We dress ourselves every day (hopefully!) and in doing so, we make some kind of statement. The way we dress is frequently an external expression of an internal reality, a way for "the body, or even the self, to communicate itself to society," in the words of theologian Tom Beaudoin. In his simple and austere dress, Shane Claiborne clearly communicates a concern for and solidarity with the poor. Businesspeople dress in dark-toned suits and sensible shoes in order to be taken seriously in their world. We can all think of singers and actresses and teenage girls who frequently dress with the sole purpose of attracting sexual attention. (This brings to mind my ill-fated run-in with a midriff-bearing halter top in eighth grade; I still shudder to think of the temporary blindness my porcelain stomach inflicted on innocent passersby.) Clothing matters because, as part of human culture, it either points to or obscures the glory of God in creation, and what we wear reveals our deep values and orientation toward the world.
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RevMama
Ah, yes, and perhaps greater food for thought is that Jesus surrounded himself with fishermen and shepherds, two classes of people known for their workaday stench and social isolation from others, whether at the synagogue or elsewhere in the community. It occurs to me while reading the quotes from Paul that Paul may have spent his time primarily with people of a different socioeconomic status. Not too many shepherds decking out in gold ornaments, after all...
RevMama
Oh, good grief. As a pastor, I've worked in 'casual' churches where I wore street clothes and also in churches where I wear a robe. (A benefit of the robe is that it is plain and solves the Sunday-morning fashion debate; and doubly so during pregnancy). In my churches, some folks are manual laborers who look forward to an opportunity to wear a suit and rest from those labors; others are just trying to get the kids through the door in anything that doesn't cause a tantrum. I will take them all! I'm just glad to have people there, setting aside the question of what to wear and exhibiting some actual care for one another, and finding the opportunity to be nurtured by God in the midst of our difficult and busy lives.
LAURA C STEEL
This discussion is interesting because we are in a time where dourness in dress is fashionable. I'm thinking of the idea that navy blue and black go together, or black and chocolate brown. What happened to wearing colors? When commenters write about wearing jeans and a sweater, I can't help picturing a sweater that is black, navy or a neutral. It's too bad we do not celebrate all the colors God made. I'm in a large church where you can see everything from fancy matched hats and dresses to jeans with sweaters--mostly people wear something in between the extremes. But there is a lot of black being worn, and a lot of navy and deep brown--and I can't help thinking that our culture celebrates dourness in appearance, if not outright ugliness. I know it's risky to assume from this that we are dour on the inside, but I can't help thinking that.
LAURA C STEEL
This discussion is interesting because we are in a time where dourness in dress is fashionable. I'm thinking of the idea that navy blue and black go together, or black and chocolate brown. What happened to wearing colors? When commenters write about wearing jeans and a sweater, I can't help picturing a sweater that is black, navy or a neutral. It's too bad we do not celebrate all the colors God made. I'm in a large church where you can see everything from fancy matched hats and dresses to jeans with sweaters--mostly people wear something in between the extremes. But there is a lot of black being worn, and a lot of navy and deep brown--and I can't help thinking that our culture celebrates dourness in appearance, if not outright ugliness. I know it's risky to assume from this that we are dour on the inside, but I can't help thinking that.
beth
If someone else raised this already, my apologies. I am a Pastor's wife in a very socio-economically diverse church. This translates into Doctor's sitting in church next to the homeless. I have not been in a Sunday School class in the past 2 years that did not have at least 3 homeless families in it. What this has meant for me and my family is that while we dress neat and clean, we intentionally dress down.
Michelle Gaut
The Church is the people, not a place. When I attend services, I tend to dress casually, as I worship with many people who do not have the income to dress up. I see no reason to create socioeconomic distance using my attire, and that's what it would be.
John
I really have a hard time taking this seriously as an issue when most of the world's population, including probably most of it's Christian population, don't own nearly enough clothes to get them through a week without re-running something, much less consistently make some kind of statement to the world with it. God looks on the heart. Can clothing be misused? Sure. But when that is the case it's only a symptom of something deeper, and treating it like the cause isn't going to help.
Tim
rickd, you've inspired me. Next Sunday I'm going to wear my ripped jeans under my kilt. Tim
Rick Dalbey
I might add that within those scriptural guidelines, in societies with enough income and diversity of styles avaiable, dress today is about self-expression. As long as we are not wearing sexually revealing clothing, as long as we are not devoting too much money to clothing or using it to impress others or impress God, as long as we avoid religious status clothing (collars, robes, stoles, expensive suits, etc) there is plenty of room for joyful self expression in color, style, fabric etc. As long as there is no dress code for meetings, ties and suits are welcome, dresses are welcome, bare feet and wing tips, high heels and flip flops, bare foot and boots, dashikis, kilts to ripped jeans, the more diverse the better!
Rick Dalbey
Tamara, no wonder you are an attorney! Very well spoken! I couldn't agree more that our fellowships, our meetings ought to be a haven from these caste systems. The Bible's only instruction is to dress modestly in religious settings, don't try to impress God or others or expend much money and worry on the status aspects of clothing. Great comments!!
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