What Not to Wear ... to Worship

I never expected this to be the subject of a front page article in the Washington Post, so I was surprised to see Michelle Boorstein's article on the front page of Saturday's print edition.

"Churches grapple with clothing and what’s appropriate as summer heats up"

I won't quote from or summarize the article, because you can click on it and read it yourself. But it did cause me to examine my own views on this subject.

When I was a child in the 1950's women wore dresses, hats, stockings and gloves (white for summer) when they went to church, regardless of the weather.  Men wore suit and tie ... always.  But this is what they wore for all "dressy" occasions that took place during the daytime.  Times have indeed changed.  More casual clothing -- what I call "nice casual" as opposed to faded jeans and T-shirts -- is now de rigueur for most restaurants, parties and events.

Those who support more relaxed dress codes do so on the basis that congregants should come to God just as they are, and that communion with God requires no special clothing. Those who support more formal dress consider that although communion with God does indeed not require special clothing, a church service is an office of devotion and as a matter of respect, it is therefore appropriate to wear one's best attire.

In his essay "Clothing Matters: What We Wear to Church," Duane Litfin argues that what we wear to worship DOES matter. "In the Old Testament, the place of worship and everything about it was considered holy. Worshipers were taught to approach that "sacred space" with awe and reverence. Today, God's people, both individually and corporately, do not visit that sacred space; they constitute that sacred space." Although he doesn't suggest that we all return to the white-gloves-and-hat days, Duane makes a good case for making a little extra effort to look clean, modest and respectable.  I can't help but agree.

Nevertheless, I think it's more important to come to church, and to participate in corporate worship, than it is to worry about what I'm wearing.  If I'm doing something else during the day on Sunday, and just barely make it to the 5:00 pm service, I'm going to attend regardless of what I'm wearing rather than miss Sunday worship entirely.   I believe that God would rather have me there, and I KNOW that I would rather have me there.

I would rather see a church full of people in all varieties of dress than a church only half-full of well-dressed parishioners.  I want my church to welcome teenagers in tank tops and flip flops.  I want poor visitors to feel welcome at the communion rail, even if they spent the night in a shelter and didn't have an opportunity to shower.  In the words of Charlotte Elliott's hymn, I believe that if we come, God will receive me "just as I am."

"Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,

Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;

Because Thy promise I believe,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come."

Just as God receives us as we are, I pray they we may receive each other with grace and love.

What do you think?