Wearing hats in church...

Hmm, by that logic we should all take off our shoes at church (it's holy ground, right?). All women have to wear hats or cover their head during church, and prayer time, and such. Women should only be allowed to wear dresses. Oh, our fabric should all be one type of material.
Leviticus 19:19 ESV
“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.
Deuteronomy 22:5 ESV
“A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.


Isn't it respectful to wear our best clothes? A sign of respect, so lets start doing sunday best again.

Oh and women, never wear jewelry! Never braid your hair! The bible talks about that as well!!!

1 Timothy 2:9-10 ESV
Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.
1 Peter 3:3-4 ESV
Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

Oh and Tattoo's! Never get a tattoo!

Leviticus 19:28 ESV
You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.


Or, instead of trying to make people fit into our idea of respectful, we should look in their hearts and see the heart of the matter instead of judging them based on appearance.

I think theres nothing wrong with being respectful. Its a good thing. If you have a problem with it, then thats your problem.

I think gentle correction for those that dont know. Like if someone comes to church and they wearing horrid jorts, cos she doesnt have anything else to wear, you would take that person out shopping and buy her a nice dress.

Respect comes from the heart, not from peoples clothes.

No whats wrong is people picking and choosing what to enforce in the bible. Guys get told not to wear hats, but no one would walk up to a lady and tell her not to wear jewelry.

Not only that, once word gets around that suddenly the church is enforcing dress codes... People are less likely to go.
I would rather people wear hats and come to church...
Then people not come to church because the church expects them to dress a certain way.

Sorry I know I am coming off strong and people are going to tell me off for being wrong.

I have been to churches that started as a come as you are church and turned into a dress code church. At first, it is because of respect, but then people start getting turned away because they are not in the dress code. New people will come, not wearing proper attire. People look and judge them, and they feel it. They feel people judging them, and it's not welcoming. People will leave, and not come back.
What if they where ready to actually seeking, and because of the way they where dressed they where unable to actually seek. What if that was their first time a church?

God is a come as you are God. No need for dressing up for him, he sees you at your worst, he sees you at your best. He loves you no matter what you wear.
We should love others, no matter their dress.

(I'm removing things, because it's not really relevant)

I like being clean for Him, I think. Of course he doesnt mind if I come to church in trackpants, but, I do make the effort to please Him, and he does help me with that.

If someone doesnt have a coat, you give them yours, like Jesus clothes the naked with his mantle. Like moses removed his sandals cos he was standing on holy ground, God is still a holy God and he hasnt changed.

Good works are our adornment, so we dont need things like tattoos or baseball caps if you a guy. if you more attached to tattoos and baseball caps, somethings a bit wrong in your priorities, do we follow fashion or do we follow Jesus?

If you ever have children would you let them run round naked, get questionable tattoos, etc? Do you just say, oh when you go out in public and gather together in church, you can pick your nose if you feel like it?

Theres one extreme, being dressed up like dolls to be paraded around in all your finery and another, just come in smelly rags and dont bother making any effort.

Goodbook said:

I like being clean for Him, I think. Of course he doesnt mind if I come to church in trackpants, but, I do make the effort to please Him, and he does help me with that.

If someone doesnt have a coat, you give them yours, like Jesus clothes the naked with his mantle. Like moses removed his sandals cos he was standing on holy ground, God is still a holy God and he hasnt changed.

Good works are our adornment, so we dont need things like tattoos or baseball caps if you a guy. if you more attached to tattoos and baseball caps, somethings a bit wrong in your priorities, do we follow fashion or do we follow Jesus?

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1. We can never be clean enough without him. It doesn't matter how dressed up we are, we are still fallen and still need him. Just saying, no matter how clean or dirty you are, you need him. No church should turn down a person just because they are "dirty", because they are wearing the wrong clothes, because they have tattoos or because of a stupid hat.

2. Of course I help the needy. My church does that. We also don't police what they wear.

3. I am talking about people who are new. Not old memebers of the church, but new people who haven't come to church. If instead of sharing the gospel, we tell them to take off their hats and judge them for their clothes... They wont be coming back. Because they need Jesus, not our dress code.

Goodbook said:

If you ever have children would you let them run round naked, get questionable tattoos, etc? Do you just say, oh when you go out in public and gather together in church, you can pick your nose if you feel like it?

Theres one extreme, being dressed up like dolls to be paraded around in all your finery and another, just come in smelly rags and dont bother making any effort.

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1. I never once said anything about letting people run around naked or such. Don't put words in my mouth please.


I am saying, we need to ACCEPT people as THEY ARE. Because GOD NEVER ONCE SAYS, that you have to dress up to be with him. So what if they got a Hat. God cares MORE about their SOUL than a stupid hat.
That is what I am trying to say.

The problem in this conversation is that we're really not talking about God and what God cares about. We're talking about what people find respectful, and their reactions to actions they consider disrespectful.

Accepting people as they are, and sharing your views on respectful attire, are not separate from one another. Someone can express their opinion that the wearing of hats is disrespectful to another without judging them. Providing the conversation can remain civil, which it rarely can because the subject of attire can become an incredibly touchy subject.

I grew up in a rough area, in a church of people who hovered on the poverty line. Men who wore hats, removed them, not because they thought God cared but because that was how they had been taught to show respect. This is a social class, the people I grew up with were common as muck but they still held onto some very strong ideas of what showing respect meant. You had it in your heart, and you showed it in your dress.

It is completely natural to be baffled by someone who does not hold onto these norms, or views it as acceptable. Providing a nice conversation can be had, with very little in the way of finger wagging, both can grow from it. A congregation should focus on God first, but you should also be mindful of the wider societal norms.

There are so many different churches around because people hold different views. There are those who feel that if the heart is respectful, they will dress accordingly, the unfortunate thing is that this changes depending on who you are, where you are, and the society you're in. There are nudist churches, and I've been very vocal in my opinion that worshipping Him naked in such a church is not disrespectful. However if a nudist were to turn up to a come as you are church naked, would it be considered disrespectful?

Don't scoff, because honestly to those who view the wearing of hats indoors as being incredibly disrespectful it can be the same gut feeling. You have to tailor in what is acceptable not only to God, but to the congregation you are a part of. We (my church) has ever turned anyone away, but people have always removed their hats. Because it is a commonly accepted sign of respect. If the people around here did not hold that view, they would wear their hats.

Basically "it's just a hat" only applies if you did not grow up seeing the removal of said hat as a sign of respect. People not taking their hats off in church, and it being accepted, can turn people away just as much as people requesting they do so. It just depends on how you view respect. No way is right or wrong really, but it does influence the congregation as a whole. I go to formal congregations because I, personally, feel comfortable in them. I went to a thoroughly modern, informal church once and felt incredibly uncomfortable as I was most definitely the odd duckling. So I went back to a church where people did not find formal clothing with high neck lines, long skirts, and full sleeves odd for worship .

I'm not sure anyone is advocating going Padre Pio on people who fail to confirm to what we believe to be a socially acceptable display of respect...

blackribbon said:

but being part of a "uniform" means it isn't disrespectful but other hats are?... it still covers the head on a man...and how does that change from the people who use 1 Cor 11:4-6 as a reason that wearing hats is disrespectful...

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I see 1 Cor 11:4-6 more as talking to the culture of the day instead of making hard fast rules for all time

part of it is to preserve the sense of sacredness
part of keeping the liturgy special, set apart

there are different ways to do this, and God judges what is in the heart, but I do think it is something to keep in mind

Yea, even in low income areas people make the effort to be clean and presentable. Its not cos of church expectations i think its God working on people..like I wouldnt wear my pyjamas to church. If it was a truly come as you are church we wouldnt even wash out faces. At least come decently dressed....

Its very interesting that God made specific rules for the israelites to set them apart in the eay they dress to show that they were holy and his people. For example, the no mixed fibres, it was showing that God likes things pure. If you see jewish orthodox men they have aparticular way that they dress its very tradtional, and they dont cut their beards.

God was the original clothes designer, he made Adam and Eve clothing to cover their nakedness, fig leaves wouldnt cut it. In revelation John saw the saints dressed in white robes.

I know he does speak to me about clothing cos I was convicted about it when I became a christian. Certain things he didnt want me to wear..because he wanted me set apart. We ARe to cast off our sackclothes and ashes and wear garments of praise. He does like me to cover my hair and not flaunt it and fuss over it.

This is my experience, in my relationship with Him and not the church telling me this or that. While we are not to be fashion police to other believers, we can encourage others to dress appropriately and be modest. Some peopel spend an absolute fortune on clothes with designer labels that they dont need to.

In the original post, the hats were being worn by the church members (to the point of being ushers) and the person questioning the appropriateness/respectfulness was the visitor to the church. I say, if this bothers you, simple pick another church. Don't judge this one or its members...nor assume their worship is less "real".

In his defense, he did say he did not continue to visit this church because of the messages and not the attire, but obviously, the issue of attire did bother him enough that it was still in his mind 6 months later.