(Note from Josh…Luke Tatum addresses something here that is quite thought provoking. When we come to worship, we must remember that it is, #1 about God, not me. #2, God is looking on the heart, not the clothes. I am convinced, that with some folks in the church, Jesus, Paul, or Peter would have been asked to go put on a suit and tie before they were allowed in the pulpit. As Luke points out, if you are convicted that you need to wear a dress to worship or have on a tie when you come in the church building, by all means, do so. Let’s just be careful of binding such things on everyone else and coming to the conclusion that the one that wears the dressier clothes is closer to the Lord. Let’s be mindful of what James is telling us in James 2:1-13. Let’s focus on worshiping the Lord in Spirit and in Truth as we should. Love you all!)
I’ve been doing something this month that I’ve never done before. For the first time in my life, I’ve been wearing jeans to Sunday morning worship – and even been preaching in them. I’ve made this change for two reasons. The first is because I have been blessed to preach before an audience including a handful of new Christians recently. All of them fall into one or both of the following two categories: they either have no spiritual background at all prior to meeting members of the church, and/or they are not what the world would call wealthy (though I assure you, they are spiritually wealthy, and a conversation with any of them would prove it to you). As one of the people they are going to see and interact with every week, it is a conviction of mine that I should endeavor to do nothing that would make them feel uncomfortable being a part of family worship, including contributing to a sense of perceived inferiority on their part or “establishment dress” on mine. Thus, jeans and a button-down have taken the place of suits for the time being.
The second reason I have worn jeans for the last three weeks (by the time of publishing this) has been more experimental on my part. I wanted to see how much attention this change would get from those who are not new Christians, and especially those who do not fall into the two categories mentioned above whether they are new Christians or not. Thus, since I’ve preached for the last two Sundays, I’ve been counting how many times people have had conversations with me about my outfit, while also counting how many times I’ve had conversations with people about the content of what has been said by me and by others over the course of worship.
I’m sure this is not an exact count, but here are the numbers: 17 conversations about jeans between the two weeks, 1 conversation about the lesson the first Sunday, and 1 conversation about the thoughts shared before the Lord’s Supper the second Sunday. I should note a few things. The first is that the number 17 does not represent any one demographic; these comments came from men and women, from younger people and older people alike, with a pretty even spread across such groups. The second is that the majority of these comments were positive in nature, either appreciating the change or making light of it (which is always welcome) – though more than one were given with an air of judgment. The third is that I am not seeking to call out anyone in particular or one congregation in general by making these observations. For one thing, it is not my job to be the conviction police (it’s actually no one’s job – see Romans 14), and for another, this congregation does not represent the entire brotherhood, though when it comes to this matter specifically, it is not unique, as I can also attest as someone who has grown up in the church my whole life.
Here is the point: Whether the comments I received were positive or negative, they were overwhelmingly focused on my outfit rather than anything else about the worship that morning. Did people take from those worship services things that they then sought to apply to their lives as Christians in the following week? Maybe, but it didn’t seem like the focus in the immediate aftermath. And yes, in some ways what “seems” like the focus isn’t as important as we make it out to be. At the same time, when you are reaching out to people with no spiritual background (or seeking to help them in their new walk with Christ), what “seems” like our focus is probably what they are going to assume IS our focus.
I could include several Scriptures with this observation (1 Timothy 2, James 2, and 1 Peter 3 all come to mind), but the one I will include is my mom’s favorite verse, which because it is her favorite has become one of my favorites:
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you, But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?’ – Micah 6:8
Perhaps what we have given cultural significance in the United States of the twenty-first century is not always as significant as we assume it is. If you are convicted to wear the nicest outfit you have every time the doors of the church building are open, then follow that conviction – you have it for a reason. However, if the first thing you see in others coming to worship the God of heaven and earth in spirit and in truth is what they have on (REGARDLESS of whether that comes with negative bias or not), maybe it’s time to reevaluate how far that conviction goes and whether or not it is overtaking what the Bible actually says. When you come to worship with the church, what is the first thing you see? Do you see what people are wearing, or do you see the body of Christ?
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” ~ Matthew 6:22-23
-Josh Romo
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