On an average Sunday, in an average church service in America, the truly committed come dressed up to the hilt. Yet has anyone taken the time to look outside lately? People don’t dress up anymore. Only the business-class dress up in our culture today, and even then they still dress casually when doing anything other than business. The lower and middle classes simply don’t dress up. They used to, decades ago, but not anymore. Just imagine going to your church next Sunday morning dressed in jeans and a t-shirt – would you feel out of place? If you would, then that should be a sign to you that there is a serious problem. Why? Because that is exactly how any “normal” person who walks into the doors of our church feels. The post-modern culture we are among today is extremely casual - imagine how they feel walking into the doors of a church in their normal attire: a t-shirt and shorts... Although it is the least of the reasons I present for condemning this tradition, unless we are willing to move with the culture on this issue, we will fail in reaching the majority of sinners in our modern culture.
The second and even more important reason for ending the “dressing up” tradition is that it helps build a false idea in the minds of many that “God can only move when I am dressed up”, which naturally translates into “God can only move when I’m at church”. These false perceptions of the moving of God’s Spirit and of the house of God (which is actually you and me, not any building) are incredibly dangerous to the functioning of the body of Christ. We have, without realizing it, created a compartmental mindset in the church. This mindset says that church is where I am spiritual, and everywhere else is where I go about my normal life. This is so far from the thought and practice of the early church, it is frightening — and it hinders many saints from acting out their gifts and callings outside the doors of their buildings. The fact is, wearing a suit and tie or a dress doesn’t make you more spiritual, it only makes you feel more spiritual, and thus tends to create a false sense of spirituality. The thing is, God doesn’t care whether we are dressed up or dressed down, as long as we are modest. And trust me on this – Jesus can move just as mightily whether you are in a black suit or in a pair of faded blue jeans, and He fills seekers with the Holy Spirit just as easily when they (and those who are praying with them) are in casual-wear.
Finally, and most importantly in my opinion, this tradition alienates the most important crowd we are on this earth to serve - the poor and the homeless. ”When asked why they don’t go to church, poor people list clothes as the number one reason.”(2) How much more out of place does a homeless or poor person feel in our midst who simply don’t have any dress clothes? The sad irony is, these are the ones that Jesus told us to go and find and bring into his kingdom - the poor, crippled, and homeless, the blind (Lk 14). These are the ones the church is especially called to, and yet these are the very ones whom the church is alienating by their tradition! I can’t tell you how many times a homeless individual walked into the doors of our building of the church I grew up in and sat in the back row trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, as they felt like a sore thumb amidst the formally dressed worshippers. They were stared at, whispered about, given a hollow handshake, and rarely got the help they came for. Yet it is especially for these poor and hurting souls that the heart of our master breaks.
Did you know that over 2 million men, women and children in the U.S. alone sleep on the street, under bridges, in shelters, or on a friend’s couch? 30% of homeless are children. Contrary to popular opinion, only 5% of homeless in the U.S. are really “lazy and shiftless”. One-third of all homeless are mentally ill, and 40% are alcoholics. All this, not to mention the much greater number of poor and “lower class” families in this country (who have a place to call their own) who simply struggle to keep the lights or heat turned on, shoes on their kids’ feet, and jobs that pay more than minimum wage. Poverty is a huge problem around the globe (aren’t we called to “all nations”?) and from what I have witnessed, many churches are ambivolent to the situation. How do we expect someone whose basic needs aren’t being met to accept the good news of Jesus Christ’s love from a people who have way more than enough to go around and yet are not willing to share? (Statistics from (3), below)
One of Jesus most striking parables is recorded in Matthew 25, and is a vision of the judgment, where the King seperates the sheep from the goats. Jesus plainly gives the criteria by which the masses were judged: “I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.” Notice that the He doesnt seperate the sheep from the goats based on how well we taught them our theology, or even how well we preached to them - only on how well we fed and clothed them. Obviously I am not against these things - they are vital - but the simple fact is, according to this passage, it is not the theology or the soteriology of the saints that counted in the end. Many churches are in for a rude awakening on judgment day. In fact, from the law of Moses, to the prophetic utterances throughout Israel’s history, to the teachings and parables of Jesus and the epistles, this seperation of social classes is thoroughly condemned (please take a moment to see “Social Justice in scripture” below) (4). Dressing appropriately for the sake of the poor is only the first step we ought be taking to live out the gospel to the poor, of course.
Now, don’t go and start dressing down as a church in effort to be “cool” in the culture, and don’t start dressing down as a church in effort to keep attendance high, as these are selfish and prideful motives – rather start dressing down in church gatherings out of love — love for the poor and homeless, love for sinners, love for the everyday person who comes through those doors desperately seeking truth and rest and peace for their souls. They need to be among a people with whom they feel safe and accepted — and above all, deeply and truly loved (Without love, even helping the poor is meaningless - 1 Cor 13).
It is the enemy who seeks to alienate, not the spirit of our meek and humble saviour — who by the way, was himself a homeless man, as were his disciples who chose to “leave all” and follow him. I guarantee you Jesus didn’t smell as good as the religious crowd in his culture, nor did he look as nice. It was the way He spoke, the humility in which He operated, and His magnificent touch that drew the hungry to him, not His appearance. Would the lowly Jesus feel welcome in your church? {}
—————–
Sources:
2. Dorrell, Jimmy. Trolls and Truth, 2006. New Hope Publishers
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August 21st, 2008How to do House Church, Main, Why House Church?Dressing up for church has been a western tradition in the church for decades. It is interesting to note that the average believer has no idea that it wasn’t always this way. In fact, this tradition is a fairly recent development in Christian history. Not until the mid-1800’s did people start dressing up for church. That’s right - for the first 1800 years of church history worshippers wore street clothes to church. “Dressing up for church became a popular practice in the first half of the nineteenth century, first in England, then northern Europe and America, as a consequence of the industrial revolution and the emergence of the middle class. While care was historically given to cleanliness and solemnity on Sabbath days, dressing up for worship resulted, not from a theological teaching, but from the influence of Victorian culture on worshiping communities.” (1) If there is any simple step a church can make today to please our Lord more and to be in a better position to reach sinners, it is to do away with this man-made tradition of dressing up for church. This practice hinders us from reaching the modern culture we live in, promotes a compartmentalized view of spirituality, and alienates the poorer folks in our culture whom we are especially called to reach.Tags: dress, history, worshipOn an average Sunday, in an average church service in America, the truly committed come dressed up to the hilt. Yet has anyone taken the time to look outside lately? People don’t dress up anymore. Only the business-class dress up in our culture today, and even then they still dress casually when doing anything other than business. The lower and middle classes simply don’t dress up. They used to, decades ago, but not anymore. Just imagine going to your church next Sunday morning dressed in jeans and a t-shirt – would you feel out of place? If you would, then that should be a sign to you that there is a serious problem. Why? Because that is exactly how any “normal” person who walks into the doors of our church feels. The post-modern culture we are among today is extremely casual - imagine how they feel walking into the doors of a church in their normal attire: a t-shirt and shorts... Although it is the least of the reasons I present for condemning this tradition, unless we are willing to move with the culture on this issue, we will fail in reaching the majority of sinners in our modern culture.The second and even more important reason for ending the “dressing up” tradition is that it helps build a false idea in the minds of many that “God can only move when I am dressed up”, which naturally translates into “God can only move when I’m at church”. These false perceptions of the moving of God’s Spirit and of the house of God (which is actually you and me, not any building) are incredibly dangerous to the functioning of the body of Christ. We have, without realizing it, created a compartmental mindset in the church. This mindset says that church is where I am spiritual, and everywhere else is where I go about my normal life. This is so far from the thought and practice of the early church, it is frightening — and it hinders many saints from acting out their gifts and callings outside the doors of their buildings. The fact is, wearing a suit and tie or a dress doesn’t make you more spiritual, it only makes you feel more spiritual, and thus tends to create a false sense of spirituality. The thing is, God doesn’t care whether we are dressed up or dressed down, as long as we are modest. And trust me on this – Jesus can move just as mightily whether you are in a black suit or in a pair of faded blue jeans, and He fills seekers with the Holy Spirit just as easily when they (and those who are praying with them) are in casual-wear.Finally, and most importantly in my opinion, this tradition alienates the most important crowd we are on this earth to serve - the poor and the homeless. ”When asked why they don’t go to church, poor people list clothes as the number one reason.”(2) How much more out of place does a homeless or poor person feel in our midst who simply don’t have any dress clothes? The sad irony is, these are the ones that Jesus told us to go and find and bring into his kingdom - the poor, crippled, and homeless, the blind (Lk 14). These are the ones the church is especially called to, and yet these are the very ones whom the church is alienating by their tradition! I can’t tell you how many times a homeless individual walked into the doors of our building of the church I grew up in and sat in the back row trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, as they felt like a sore thumb amidst the formally dressed worshippers. They were stared at, whispered about, given a hollow handshake, and rarely got the help they came for. Yet it is especially for these poor and hurting souls that the heart of our master breaks.Did you know that over 2 million men, women and children in the U.S. alone sleep on the street, under bridges, in shelters, or on a friend’s couch? 30% of homeless are children. Contrary to popular opinion, only 5% of homeless in the U.S. are really “lazy and shiftless”. One-third of all homeless are mentally ill, and 40% are alcoholics. All this, not to mention the much greater number of poor and “lower class” families in this country (who have a place to call their own) who simply struggle to keep the lights or heat turned on, shoes on their kids’ feet, and jobs that pay more than minimum wage. Poverty is a huge problem around the globe (aren’t we called to “all nations”?) and from what I have witnessed, many churches are ambivolent to the situation. How do we expect someone whose basic needs aren’t being met to accept the good news of Jesus Christ’s love from a people who have way more than enough to go around and yet are not willing to share? (Statistics from (3), below)One of Jesus most striking parables is recorded in Matthew 25, and is a vision of the judgment, where the King seperates the sheep from the goats. Jesus plainly gives the criteria by which the masses were judged: “I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.” Notice that the He doesnt seperate the sheep from the goats based on how well we taught them our theology, or even how well we preached to them - only on how well we fed and clothed them. Obviously I am not against these things - they are vital - but the simple fact is, according to this passage, it is not the theology or the soteriology of the saints that counted in the end. Many churches are in for a rude awakening on judgment day. In fact, from the law of Moses, to the prophetic utterances throughout Israel’s history, to the teachings and parables of Jesus and the epistles, this seperation of social classes is thoroughly condemned (please take a moment to see “Social Justice in scripture” below) (4). Dressing appropriately for the sake of the poor is only the first step we ought be taking to live out the gospel to the poor, of course.Now, don’t go and start dressing down as a church in effort to be “cool” in the culture, and don’t start dressing down as a church in effort to keep attendance high, as these are selfish and prideful motives – rather start dressing down in church gatherings out of love — love for the poor and homeless, love for sinners, love for the everyday person who comes through those doors desperately seeking truth and rest and peace for their souls. They need to be among a people with whom they feel safe and accepted — and above all, deeply and truly loved (Without love, even helping the poor is meaningless - 1 Cor 13).It is the enemy who seeks to alienate, not the spirit of our meek and humble saviour — who by the way, was himself a homeless man, as were his disciples who chose to “leave all” and follow him. I guarantee you Jesus didn’t smell as good as the religious crowd in his culture, nor did he look as nice. It was the way He spoke, the humility in which He operated, and His magnificent touch that drew the hungry to him, not His appearance. Would the lowly Jesus feel welcome in your church? {}By Sean Hyatt - sean_hyatt@msn.com—————–Sources:1. Carter, Neil, 2002. http://www.christinyall.com/studies/dressing.html2. Dorrell, Jimmy. Trolls and Truth, 2006. New Hope Publishers3. Dorrell, Jimmy. Understanding the Homeless, 2002 http://churchunderthebridge.org/articles/homeless.html4 . Social Justice in Scripture, http://mission.squarespace.com/social-justice-in-scripture/
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