"We must walk like, talk like, dress like, live like, and love like the world in order to win the world.... the opposite is actually true."

I agree that we need to shun worldliness and not love or live like the world, but why is there so much pressure in some churches to dress up like the world and wear suits and ties on Sundays, but then some argue against dressing in the socially acceptable manner for going to the grocery story on Monday (ie women wearing pants and a modest yet stylish blouse)? I often wonder how uncomfortable folks would be with the way John the Baptist was dressed? There is definitely a way to dress worldly (ie vile statements on t shirts and lewd seductive ways to dress), but I fear sometimes there has been such a preoccupation with how we dress that we can become a bit worldly in our piety.

I believe we should dress upstanding within in culture. In other words, wear what is culturally acceptable for our particular location (I can get by wearing cowboy boots in the pulpit in rural IA) but making sure that we not dress in a way that would cause others to stumble. To answer part of my above question above, a suit and tie is culturally acceptable for dressing up in all of the USA and most of the rest of the world (if not all of it), so that is one way to dress upstanding within the culture. At the same time, if I wore a suit and tie to a 4-H softball game in rural IA, that would not be so culturally acceptable though it may have been 75 years ago.

We as fundamentalist have been real good at pointing out the things that make people stumble like immodesty and the bad t-shirt slogans, but I fear some may have missed the benefits of being culturally acceptable while not violating Biblical principles. I believe most Christians recognize that balance but sadly we also see both extremes of worldliness as Christians immodestly draw attention to themselves by either being lewd or by being unfashionable.

This post-Christian culture would have us believe that the only way to bear witness to Christ effectively is to “contextualize” in a way that essentially leaves the path. We must walk like, talk like, dress like, live like, and love like the world in order to win the world. However, the opposite is actually true. It is, in fact, the straight and narrow path to the Celestial City that conforms us to the image of Christ. The path is where we learn the very truth to which we bear witness. And our desire is to have others join us on the path, not distract us from it.

I agree- we have made choices for our family, based on our own application of Scripture, that has caused division between us and family/friends. We cannot in good conscience toss aside our call to holiness to maintain a supposed ability or opportunity to evangelize.

As for what to wear to church- wear something modest and appropriate and sensible. If you are a female Sunday School teacher, don’t wear a scoop neck t-shirt and a short skirt that flashes the poor kids backward and forward every time you bend over their cute little heads. If you have a few wardrobe choices, you shouldn’t wear Bermuda shorts and flip-flops to funerals or weddings because that would be considered disrespectful. Just have some sense of place and purpose and use your head.

But this article isn’t about clothing per se, but about “The only way to commend the path to others is to stay on it.”

[JD Miller]

I agree that we need to shun worldliness and not love or live like the world, but why is there so much pressure in some churches to dress up like the world and wear suits and ties on Sundays, but then some argue against dressing in the socially acceptable manner for going to the grocery story on Monday (ie women wearing pants and a modest yet stylish blouse)? I often wonder how uncomfortable folks would be with the way John the Baptist was dressed? There is definitely a way to dress worldly (ie vile statements on t shirts and lewd seductive ways to dress), but I fear sometimes there has been such a preoccupation with how we dress that we can become a bit worldly in our piety.

I believe we should dress upstanding within in culture. In other words, wear what is culturally acceptable for our particular location (I can get by wearing cowboy boots in the pulpit in rural IA) but making sure that we not dress in a way that would cause others to stumble. To answer part of my above question above, a suit and tie is culturally acceptable for dressing up in all of the USA and most of the rest of the world (if not all of it), so that is one way to dress upstanding within the culture. At the same time, if I wore a suit and tie to a 4-H softball game in rural IA, that would not be so culturally acceptable though it may have been 75 years ago.

We as fundamentalist have been real good at pointing out the things that make people stumble like immodesty and the bad t-shirt slogans, but I fear some may have missed the benefits of being culturally acceptable while not violating Biblical principles. I believe most Christians recognize that balance but sadly we also see both extremes of worldliness as Christians immodestly draw attention to themselves by either being lewd or by being unfashionable.

In my world of Washington DC, the power suit/power shirt/power tie combination is quintessential worldliness. I wear to church what I normally wear to work: jeans and a (maybe) collared shirt. Wear normal clothes. James 2 seems to point to this. If everyone wore what they normally wore to work, there would be a very diverse dress and anyone walking in would think hmmm these people don’t make position or power into a big deal. Neither intentional casualness nor demanded formality is good for the church.