In modern American Christianity, many people believe that God doesn’t care what you wear to Church as long as you’re there. But is this opinion actually true? Does God care what we wear when we worship Him? Do Christians really need to dress up for Church? Read on to find out my views on this somewhat controversial topic.
I have a lot of issues with modern American Christianity. I won’t get into all of them in this post, but I will get into one of them: dressing up for Church. This may seem like a small, unimportant thing. However, I think it’s a huge thing because it shows how we view church. What do I mean by that? Read on to find out.
do christians really need to dress up for church?
Let’s get into it. I’d say that the most common view among American Christians is that God doesn’t care what we wear to Church. He just cares that we’re there. While I agree with this to some extent, I also think there are some big flaws in this way of thinking.
it leans too far into the progressive “inclusivity” narrative
Everyone should be welcomed to church and that no one should ever be turned away. That’s true no matter what they’re wearing, by the way. However, the idea that you can wear whatever you want to church leans too far into the progressive “inclusivity” narrative. Let me explain what I mean by that.
The modern American church has been travelling very far left in recent years. The traditional teachings of the Bible are now considered to be false and hateful by many self-proclaiming Christians. The biggest reason for this is because the Bible isn’t inclusive enough. Inclusivity is a huge trend in our modern American society, and that idea is seeping into the church as well. This idea brings about the other idea that everyone should be welcomed into the church with open arms. While this is true, many people take it too far.
Not only do they welcome the person, but they also welcome the sin. That’s where they get the Christian ideas of love & welcoming wrong.
Everyone should be welcome & invited to church no matter their sin. But truly loving them means they are encouraged to leave their sin at the door and turn their lives over to the Lord. I’m not saying that not dressing up to church is a sin. I just think that idea has been bred out of this idea that all people, sin and all, are welcome in church.
church is about our Holy Savior, not about us or anyone else
While we should be making visitors and new Christians feel welcome in our church, that’s not why we go. We go to church to worship our Holy and perfect Savior. So we should be dressing for Him, not for ourselves or anyone else.
As Christians, we are called to be set apart from the world. I think we should look at church in the same way. It should be set apart from what we do the rest of the week and that includes the way we dress.
That doesn’t mean you have to dress in a uniform or in an extravagantly fancy way. But the way you dress on Sunday mornings should be different than the way you dress the rest of the week. That’s because what you’re doing on Sunday mornings is different than what you’re doing the rest of the week.
Part of being set apart means that we should stand out. In the case of us being set apart from the world, our lives should stand out and look different than the lives of non-Christians. Similarly, in order for church to be set apart from the rest of the week, it should look different. A huge part of that, in my opinion, is dressing differently when we go to church than we do the rest of the week.
it shows God the respect He deserves
I think this accomplishes two things. First, and most importantly, it glorifies God and shows Him the respect He deserves. When we go to church on Sunday mornings, we are going to worship our Savior. We are entering into a holy place and a holy activity. Of course God is with us everywhere and all the other days throughout the week. But church is different, and we all know it. So it should be treated differently. I think that when we wear our normal everyday clothes, it shows that we don’t see church as being more important than anything else we do. It shows that we don’t see it as a holy and set apart activity.
When we go to work, especially if we have an office or government job, we are expected to dress up and dress differently than we do when we’re doing “regular” activities. This is because those jobs are different. Recently, the Senate passed a bill that said that they no longer have to dress up when they are on the floor. To me, this shows that the Senators don’t respect us or respect their job. They don’t see it as being any more important than the other things they do. And I’m sure they dress up for by the way. The same should go for church.
it shows non-Christians that there is something special about church
I know that earlier I said that the way we dress to church should be for God and not for anyone else. But I do think that the way we dress is one thing that sets Christians apart in the eyes of non-Christians. Our outward appearance is the first thing people notice about us and is a huge way we can witness to the world. Whether that be because Christian women dress a lot more modestly than worldly women. Or, in this case, because Christians dress differently when they go to church than when they are at home or around town. It shows non-believers that there is something special about church and about worshipping the Christian God.
practical tips about dressing up for church
I want to briefly talk about some practical tips when it comes to dressing up for church. The most important thing I want to note is that this will look different for everyone. What is considered dressing up for me may be different than it is for someone else. I think there are certain things that should be avoided (maybe I’ll talk about that in another post). But for the most part, it comes down to personal choice.
The one thing that should be true regardless of the person, though, is that the way you dress should be different than the way you dress the rest of the week. If you wear jeans and sweaters throughout the week, maybe try wearing a dress, a skirt, or some nicer pants and a blouse to church. If you wear athletic-type clothes, then maybe wearing jeans and a sweater is enough to set your church wardrobe apart from your everyday wardrobe. Like I said, it comes down to the individual, but I do think it should be different.
When it’s all said and done, God doesn’t care exactly what we’re wearing when we go to church. But He does demand our respect. To me, one of the biggest ways we can show our respect towards God is in the way we dress when we worship Him.
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