Written by Caleb Callari
Among contemporary churches there are several hot topics of debate concerning the assembly and its direction, not the least of which is the subject of dress code. Should a churchgoer dress in his or her finest, or is business casual too casual? Are shorts and T-shirts acceptable forms of dress, and does God take offense at a lip-piercing and flip-flops? One would think such questions could be easily answered and the debate move on to a more pressing issue, such as whether to use one cup for communion or many. But apparently, one would be wrong. For although there is much biblical evidence to safely infer that dress code is not an issue, or at the least there is no biblical evidence to suggest otherwise, many traditional adherents to Christianity would argue that yes, it is important how you dress when you come to worship.The reasoning behind why a dress code is important, as I have been told, is that to dress in formal clothing is to give the highest respect and honor to God during the service. To dress in shorts or to not wear a button-up shirt with a tie is to be disrespectful to the One who created everything and has given grace to mankind. And while I agree that as the unworthy recipients of said grace we should certainly honor, praise and glorify God, my belief is that to come “underdressed” to the worship building is not necessarily a reflection of the worshipper.In Matthew 23:25-27, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and teachers of the law for appearing to be pure and good, but on the inside they were unclean and corrupt. If this principle rang true then, does the opposite not also ring true now? If John the Baptist were to walk into a contemporary worship service, I wonder what the reaction of the church, those who are to exemplify the love of the Christ they serve, would be. The outward appearance of a person who wishes to praise and worship God does not affect “how well” that person worships, any more than the loss of speech would affect the “quality” of a prayer. And for those who still believe otherwise, I suggest taking another look at James 2:1-13.How one comes before God is not necessarily an issue, if the heart of the worshipper is focused on praising God. This small article is not intended to give readers an excuse to come to the worship service in sweat pants and a cut-off shirt. Rather, it is meant to remind readers that judging the worship of someone because of how they’re dressed and attempting to create rules that “make sure” the “proper respect and worship” is upheld is wrong. If the heart of the worshipper is not truly glorifying God, it would not matter if that person was wearing a suit of diamonds; their worship would still displease the Lord. God does not care how someone is dressed when they worship him. He just wants genuine worship (Zechariah 7:1-10).
