Your Sunday Best?

Why do you wear what you wear to church?

I have heard testimonies and answers regarding this question ranging from, "God told me," to, "You wouldn't wear your pajamas if you were going to dinner with the President, would you?" And though people are genuine in their conviction and sincere in their desire to please the Lord, does the Bible really teach that we have to wear a suit and tie (and I guess whatever the equivalent is for you ladies) to church?

I suggest that we have often taken the wrong approach in answering this question. First of all, is the cotton or polyester in your Dockers more holy than that in my Levi's? Is the blue dye in my denim that which is unholy? Or maybe the issue is the commonality of my jeans, that is, I wear them everyday. Well, what do you wear (to work) everyday? Slacks and a button-up shirt, and maybe even a tie and jacket? Sounds like you wear to church what is common also.

There are still other reasons given by some to explain why they wear what they wear: you are to wear your best when you go to church (in other words, generally speaking, "when you enter God's house") and you are to wear your best when you come before God or worship God. I think that these answers, though well intentioned, generally arise from misunderstandings about New Testament theology.

First, what we call the church, that is, the building and structure where we gather is not God's house in this sense: that God does not dwell there as he did in the temple/tabernacle in the Old Testament. The temple was a shadow, a picture, and a type of what was to come. The temple has been fulfilled, first in Jesus, and then in his church: corporately and individually. John 1:14 and 3:18-22 both teach that Jesus literally "tabernacled among us" (1.14 also translated "dwelt"), and that in his person, his body, the temple was fulfilled. Moreover, those who are united to Jesus, namely, his church are corporately, as the body of Christ, God's temple. Ephesians 2:19-22 and 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 make this clear. And lastly, because of the indwelling Holy Spirit, individuals who are united to Jesus are called a "temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 6:19).

Second, nowhere in the New Testament did Jesus or the apostles give indication that we must, like the priests of old, dress up in ornate and extravagant clothing to come before God. The veil has been torn! Jesus is now our high priest and mediator through whom we can approach God as we are: whether in sackcloth and ashes, in a tuxedo, or in jeans and a polo. If we must "put on our best" before we go to God and worship him, then shouldn't we get dressed properly before our morning devotions and make sure that we don't have our pajamas on when we pray as we go to sleep? But this is nonsense. The Scriptures are replete with examples of men and women of faith coming to God, not with their "Sunday best" on, but in humility and faith and as a child.

This gets to the heart of the issue. Is our clothing the defining issue of how we are to come before God, or is it our heart? The essence of worship lies in the heart. The dividing line between true worship and worship that dishonors God is the affections of the heart. Consider Jesus' words in Mark 7:6, as he quotes from the prophecy of Isaiah, "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." The Pharisees fulfilled this prophecy by honoring God in their word, but because of the condition of their hearts, their worship was, as Jesus said, in vain. They held to their traditions more firmly than they did God's commands, even making void the word of God by their traditions (7:13).

Now, granted, passages such as 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Peter 3 do address clothing. But again what is the heart of the matter they raise: the heart. Paul instructs Timothy, "women should adorn themselves...with modesty and self control...with what is proper for women who profess godliness-with good works." And Peter similarly says, "Do not let your adorning be external...but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit."

One last consideration is context: historical and socio-economic. A suit and tie was not always the "formal" look. Did the disciples and others in the early church put on their Gucci's and Ralph Lauren's to come to church? No. Don't assume that the Bible refers to today's top fashion styles and brands when it talks about clothing. Moreover, would you expect a believer who lives on a few dollars a day to go out and find the best that money can buy? This would surely be asking too much. The point is that, even if we were to maintain that you should wear your Sunday best, there will be diversity in what that actually is depending on factors such as these. Times change. Finances are here today and gone tomorrow. Don't overlook these factors when you consider what one should wear to church.

So what is the right approach to the question? As with all other matters of life and faith: what does the Bible say is the right first answer. And my best attempt to explain that is as follows: neither wearing your "Sunday best," nor wearing common clothing is exclusively right or wrong in God's sight. The New Testament doesn't command either extreme, and further, at the heart of worship and gathering together as believers at "church," our hearts are what's most important.

Live as free men and women, for "For freedom Christ has set us free" (Galatians 5:1). Yet "do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another" (Gal. 5:13). When you come to God alone or corporately come in humility, in faith, with confidence and as his child (c.f. Hebrews 4:16, Luke 18:16-17, Romans 8:15-16). And further, when we gather as believers come modestly, not drawing attention to yourself, but pointing others to the person for whom we gather, Jesus.