How Did America Become a Nation of Slobs?

All fashion is a statement of identity; you’re identifying with a certain segment of society, a certain culture, a social status, etc. Much is harmless. Some is silly (parachute pants anyone?). A significant some has biblical parameters that should always be considered (“…attire of a harlot…” comes to mind). Point being, fashion is and always will be in a state of flux. However, that state of flux almost always carries some sort of identifying message. As careful believers whose identity is Christ and His Gospel fashion choices, like so many other choices, must consistently bear this in mind.

I’ve had two conversations with a close friend about church attire. Both times my friend questioned my wisdom in being part of a church where coats and ties were rare attire and where, after 35+ years, I preached for the first time without a tie. As we discussed “proper” attire for church my friend said. “I believe God is more pleased with us when we wear our best to church.” I suspect that his conviction is one that may be implied in practice by some.

I had a question about dress and behavior that came to my mind as I read one of the posts. If wearing a suit and tie made me act differently toward my congregation than wearing a nice pair of black jeans and a buttoned shirt, then what would that look like? If it meant that I better exemplified the fruits of the spirit, then I better go shopping, but if it caused me to be arrogant or aloof, then I better avoid it. Part of the challenge is that we do not know how another person will react when they dress a certain way. Therefore, I do not want to attempt to engineer behavior based on dress, but rather by preaching and teaching the word of God and submitting to the Holy Spirit.

Of course we could argue that we need to teach people that a suit and tie should remind them to act a certain way, but instead we could teach them that no matter what they wear they should act Christ like. I want my congregation to act just as godly whether they are wearing a lab coat, a tool belt, a t shirt, or a suit. Many of them would not be allowed to wear a suit for their job, but they should still be expected to act Christlike.

This thread gave me an idea for an article explaining why I don’t ‘dress up’ for church.

Note on fashion as identity: Lee, you make a good point. We do, however, want to be careful not to codify associations for all times and places. For example, I know a godly, fundamentalist pastor in his mid-seventies who believes that it is sinful for men to have beards. In his mind, beards are still associated with counter-culture movement of the 60’s. I’ll grant that it might have been unwise for a Christian man to have had a beard in the 60’s (I don’t know, I wasn’t there and only know people’s reactions based on what I’m told today), but that wisdom choice is different now.

https://pjmedia.com/faith/why-i-dont-dress-up-when-i-go-to-church/

Years ago (late 70’s, early 80’s?) a popular book entitled “Dress for Success” was widely distributed. The main point (as best I recall after all these years) was that those who aspire to advance in their career should observe what the most successful people in that career usually wear, and dress accordingly. It made sense to me then, and still does today. Dress does communicate, even though we have a hard time defining exactly what it says. It makes an impression and conveys a message. A lady in our church asked me how she could help her extremely talented husband do better in his career. My response was to encourage him to dress more professionally. He refused to do so, preferring his comfortable casual clothes, and he never reached his career potential. To deny that clothes say anything defies experience and observation. To try to dictate exactly what they do say or should say is over-reaching. In our church, people are encouraged to dress as they prefer. We have coats and ties, and we have casual attire, and hardly anybody notices which is which. (But the Sunday I forgot my suit and tie, and preached in khaki pants and plaid shirt got everybody talking!)

I agree that when interacting with finite humans it’s foolish to expect them to interact with us solely on our terms. Even though it’s an arbitrary social construct, if I wanted to work on Capitol Hill I would have to be willing to cut my hair and buy some suits. I’ve half-jokingly offered my services to a man in our church who is the Chief-of-Staff of a congressman. He’s always complaining about having to send someone from his office to conduct Capitol tours for the congressman’s constituents who are visiting DC. I told him that I’d be his unpaid intern with the sole job of conducting the tours (it sounds like a fun gig to me). My friend would actually take me up on it if I were willing to cut my hair and wear a suit. I’m not (plus, I don’t really have the time).

I also want to point out that if the Holy Spirit moved my family to a church in which all the men wore suits because there’s an expectation that men wear suits to church, I wouldn’t insist on my right to wear jeans and a flannel shirt. By God’s grace, I’d prefer others and wear a suit. But I would need a lot of sanctification to not grumble about it every Sunday morning as I tied my tie.

as my church’s Saturday evening service started, it was 82° and humid. We had 627 people in attendance, many of whom wore shorts.

At an IFB church down the road from us, I was once (as a visitor) scolded by an usher for being “improperly dressed” for church (while wearing tailored dress slacks, dress shoes, a collared, long-sleeved shirt, and a nice pullover sweater–-but no suit jacket or tie). I hate to think what anyone who would walk in wearing shorts would be told there…..

82 sounds good to me. It was 96 here in NC yesterday. Thank God for air conditioning.

[G. N. Barkman]

82 sounds good to me. It was 96 here in NC yesterday. Thank God for air conditioning.

I was at a wedding in central Illinois a couple of weekends ago. 93 and quite humid. The a/c in the church wasn’t great. I skipped the suit jacket. Many men who didn’t only wished they had…..

A church that dictates dress or looks down on men who don’t wear a suit is making a mistake. At my church, people dress how they wish. I don’t enforce a dress code. I do make the men wear a collared shirt if they’re in front of the congregation. We had a 12 year old boy do Scripture reading two weeks ago, and I asked his mom to have him wear a polo shirt. That’s about as dictatorial as things get with dress code at my church.

It’s interesting to visit church web sites and see how they address clothing standards. I’ve found that a lot of churches don’t have a statement and the churches that feel they need to have one usually express themselves by saying something like “You’ll meet people wearing everything from coats and ties to business casual…”. In my experience, these churches usually have more coats and ties and ladies dresses.

…comes to mind here—OK, granted, Paul was addressing women specifically there, but note that Paul does not come out against “skimpy” attire, but rather says that a woman’s beauty ought not consist of expensive attire and gold jewelry. We men might ask whether our impact in ministry derives mostly from our attire, too, whether that’s skinny jeans or bespoke, no?

Worth noting as well is that among musicians, attire like black tie was originally intended to prevent the musicians from becoming the show instead of the music—vestments of a responsible sort in the high churches served the same purpose. Per the passage, if we’re becoming the show, maybe a gut check is in order. There are a number of fashion houses which, contrary to the stereotype and the attention-grabbing antics often seen on the runway, note that the goal of a good designer is to show the wearer, not the garment.

[Ron Bean]

It’s interesting to visit church web sites and see how they address clothing standards. I’ve found that a lot of churches don’t have a statement and the churches that feel they need to have one usually express themselves by saying something like “You’ll meet people wearing everything from coats and ties to business casual…”. In my experience, these churches usually have more coats and ties and ladies dresses.

Here’s a type of pseudo non-dress code yet actual dress code I’ve seen on a few occasions on church websites:

Step #1: Start by essentially telling prospective visitors that you’re fine with them coming-as-they-are. Say things like “We’re glad you’re considering worshipping with us” and “we want you to feel right at home.” Tell them something along the lines of what they wear is secondary to the fact that they are there. Your church welcomes visitors, whether they arrive in suits or dresses or jeans and t-shirts….. (Belaboring that point.)

Step #2: After making a lengthy point of elaborating how nonchalant they are regarding however visitors are attired, such a church then completely contradicts their initial welcome to visitors by concluding with something like this: “But just so you know, our people typically dress in their “Sunday best.” (In other words: “Ignore what we said in the first few sentences. Formal attire IS what we truly expect.”)

4. How should I dress?

Our ministry leaders and church family dress in traditional “Sunday” dress. We would prefer that you not dress casually, but, instead, wear your “Sunday-Best”!

http://www.lbclyons.org/what_to_expect_on_your_first_visit.html

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How should I dress?

There is not a set dress code at Bible Baptist Church for members or guests. Most of our church family attire is traditional “Sunday best”, as we believe very strongly that God deserves our best in every area and casualness doesn’t promote the Biblical attitude that God’s people should have when they meet to worship. Regardless of what you wear, we want you to feel welcome with God’s people as we meet with the Lord.

http://www.bbcduncan.com/about/what-to-expect/

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WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?

While there is no dress code to attend Emmaus Road Baptist Church, you will find many of us dressed up in “Sunday best” – suits and ties, and modest dresses & skirts. We believe that we honor God and prepare our hearts to worship by cleaning up and wearing our best.

http://www.emmausroadbaptist.nyc/what-to-expect/

Larry:

My church has this on the website - but we actually mean it (honest!):

We don’t enforce a dress code, so don’t worry about “looking right.” Nobody will frown at you if you don’t have a tie, grimace if you don’t wear a jacket, or stare if you aren’t wearing a dress. Honest.