Friday, February 17, 2012

Your clothes are talking to me

An article posted recently on the Christianity Today website speaks rather well to the issue of clothing people wear to church.  There is an idea sneaking into the more contemporary religious mind that the clothing you wear to church makes no difference at all.  It would seem that anyone who has something to say about your dress is simply guilty of judging you.

Some point to passages like 1 Peter 3:3-5 that say your adorning should be from the inside out and pretend this means your clothes are irrelevant.  Others would point to the words of Jesus, such as Mark 12:38-40, which point out that fancy clothes are not signs of true righteousness.  But neither of these passages are really addressing clothing.  They are addressing your heart.  A fancy outer shell will not make up for a dirty heart.

Maybe someone can show me where the bible says a clean heart is best recognized by shabby clothes?

People seem to forget that your clothing speaks.  Clothing is not personal.  Clothing is what you are showing everyone else.  If you follow the warnings of the previous scripture references, it will show up in your clothing.  Non-verbal communication is still important when you go to church.  The apostle Paul obviously thought non-verbal communcation as it applies to clothing absolutely did matter.

Here is the conversation we have when someone walks up to lead worship wearing tennis shoes and faded jeans:
"I'm lazy and can't be bothered to show you any respect."
"You seem lazy and can't be bothered to show me any respect."
"Hey! Don't judge me!"

My dad addressed this same issue in a few handwritten paragraphs I found that were meant for his short lived blog.  What would you think if you walked into the doctor's office and the person who was supposed to be the authority on healing your body was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and sandals?  You want your doctor to be dressed professionally.  It shows that he respects you, that he is serious about being a doctor, and implies that he can be trusted.  Walking around UVA there is no doubt which students are in the medical school.  Even underneath the clean white coats they are all dressed very well.  They obviously realize that non-verbal communication matters.

Remembering that clothing matters doesn't directly translate into a coat and tie in every situation (I have no idea how to describe fancy women's clothes, sorry).  There are cultural norms to consider that will be different in every place and that change over time.  It obviously doesn't mean booting visitors or treating them poorly because their clothing isn't nice.  But that does not make your clothing irrelevant.

Let your clothing reflect your heart appropriately for your situation instead of hiding or disguising your heart in a lazy dress code.  In doing so you will show respect to those around you and better reflect what these passages of scripture are teaching.

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