Why Is It Acceptable for Christians to Dress Like Slobs to Church?

Halbhh said:

We all know it's true that some "...in suits and a tie or a lovely dress on a Sunday morning are some of the most Christlike people I've ever met".

Right? Don't we all agree on that?

But, do you think it is ok to call some people not well dressed "slobs"?

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Those who are not well-dressed are not all slobs. But some are. Very definitely. Should they be referred to as slobs? If that's what they are, yes.

I dont get this. The kingdom is about peace, righteousness, and joy in the spirit. Where is the joy in being called a slob? Where is the gospel of peace? Why do we care what others look like on the outside? Its the inside that God looks at.

Ronald said:

If you feel comfortable wearing a suit and being all dapper, by all means flock with those who do.

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I don't feel at all comfortable in a suit and tie. I hate wearing them. My comfort is not, though, the supreme consideration in how I will dress for a Sunday morning corporate worship of God.

Ronald said:

My daughter is getting married next month - Ill wear it. I used to have to wear one at work.

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Why? If you can't be bothered to wear a suit to church where you've come - ostensibly - to worship God with other believers, why wear one to your daughter's wedding? Why does her wedding warrant a suit when worship of God Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth does not?

Ronald said:

I' be been to John McArthur's church for his excellent teaching, he wears a suit. But I don't think he would pull me aside and say, "Hey, next time have some respect for the Lord and the church."

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No one can command respect in another. But one can certainly point out when disrespect is going on. That's all I'm doing. I can't make you honor and respect God in the manner of your dress, but I can point out when it is evident that you aren't.

Ronald said:

The Church is the Body of Christ, it IS NOT A BUILDING!

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Is this a new revelation to you?

Ronald said:

Some people are slobs, but its the way they are most of the time and we have to at least forgive them for their deficiencies and lack of social mores ... so they may also feel welcome and be open to receive forgiveness from God as well.

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It does not follow that because we object to a person's poor hygiene and dress that they will therefore not find salvation.

aiki said:

Those who are not well-dressed are not all slobs. But some are. Very definitely. Should they be referred to as slobs? If that's what they are, yes.

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Ah, you may not realize, but a lot of souls are not in churches because the people in churches seem judgemental to them.

For example, like judging their clothing.

Paul has something to say about that.

It's in the powerful 13 verses of 1 Corinthians chapter 8.

AlexDTX said:

I don't get that sense. I think the main point people are addressing is that it is the heart that God cares about.

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And the state of person's heart is inevitably evidenced in how they behave (which includes how they dress).

AlexDTX said:

Your Corinthian 5 reference is not the same thing. Fornicating with a step mother is not the same as what you wear.

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No, these things are not the same. But I wasn't drawing a parallel between these things. I was pointing out that what one believer does has an effect on other believers. Our conduct and beliefs ripple outward to affect others. This is what Paul makes very clear in 1 Corinthians 5.

AlexDTX said:

What I find amusing is the assumption that God cares about church services.

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He seems to care very much about our worship of Him and our defense and dissemination of His truth. All of these things happen in a Sunday morning worship service which suggests to me that they are important to Him. Should I be amused that you don't see this? Or would that be patronizing and annoying?

AlexDTX said:

He cares about the people, not the format.

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Oh, really? And if that format includes, say, a peroxide blonde in a skin-tight leather tube dress singing a pop-rock song and gyrating her form suggestively as she does, would that be okay with God do you think? If a worship service format was just one long nightclub party, with dancing and fog, and deafening music, would God be pleased? I've witnessed both "worship" formats in a Sunday service and I doubt very much God was anything but offended and angered by them. In the OT, God seemed to be very concerned about the format of a number of things associated with the Israelites' worship of Him. There are exhaustive - and exhausting - details about how and what to sacrifice and when, what priests should wear, who could enter the temple and who couldn't and so on. It seems to me that God has not just thrown wide the doors to how we might worship Him. I see format constraints on the meetings of God's people laid out in both Old and New Testaments. Here are some from the New Testament:

1 Corinthians 14
John 4:24
Ephesians 5:1-21

Halbhh said:

Ah, you may not realize, but a lot of souls are not in churches because the people in churches seem judgemental to them.

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I see that very well. More than their clothing, though, is God's condemnation of their sin and rebellion toward Him which believers are to preach to the lost. Such divinely-mandated preaching repels a great many of the lost. It is for this reason, I think, that Jesus said,

Matthew 7:14
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

John 3:19-20
19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

Halbhh said:

Paul has something to say about that.

It's in the powerful 13 verses of 1 Corinthians chapter 8.

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Paul also wrote:

Romans 9:33
33 As it is written: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."

Offending the lost is the frequent consequence of living for and preaching Christ. It is why the righteous suffer in this world. The lost find Jesus a "stumbling stone and rock of offense." We shouldn't needlessly add to the offense God's truth is to the lost, but we shouldn't be thinking, "At all costs do not offend!" either.

I think dressing well for a Sunday worship service communicates the value and importance of that service. If one wants to make the lost feel careless about the service, believers dressing carelessly for it certainly helps.

W2L said:

I dont get this. The kingdom is about peace, righteousness, and joy in the spirit. Where is the joy in being called a slob? Where is the gospel of peace? Why do we care what others look like on the outside? Its the inside that God looks at.

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Where is the joy in being called a sinner? Where is the joy in being told the character of one's life has been wrong and stands under God's judgment? Where is the joy in hearing that one's priorities and values have been profoundly mistaken? These are all things God says very clearly to the lost in His word. Should we refuse to speak of these things because they don't cause the lost sinner joy? Of course not.

The Gospel of peace is only so for those who submit to the truth of the Gospel which declares (among other things) that the lost sinner is wicked and on his way to Hell, that he must humble himself and repent of his sin, and reorient his life upon Christ.

It is the inside upon which God looks. And when He cleans up the inside of a man and controls his life, it is evidenced in some measure in his outward appearance.

Why, just this morning I was reading the Gospel passage where Jesus called people slobs and sent them away because they weren't dressed well enough.

Zatek said:

I recently moved to a new city and I've been checking out a lot churches in the area and I'm curious why it is acceptable to dress like a slob at so many of them. People wear flip-flops, pajama pants, sweat pants, graphic tees that make them look like a billboard, athletic shorts, or shirts that actually might be parachutes I'm not sure. Stuff that doesn't even fall into the casual dress category, just straight up lazy slob.

Clearly it is not a money problem. Everyone has a $2-600 cell phone in their pocket they pay ~$60 or more a month for data, they can afford to go buy a collared shirt and some nice pants. Even designer stores have really nice clothes for ~$20-30 during their seasonal clearance sales which seemingly go on all year round these days.

I can only guess it's a respect problem? I mean I can't imagine these people dress like that all the time, do they? I know anyplace I've ever worked will tell you to go home if you dress like that, and I know if I was on a date with a woman and she showed up in sweats or flip-flops and we weren't going to the beach I'd just shake my head and leave. I can understand visitors, but why is it acceptable for Christians to dress like slobs to church?

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It is not. In my opinion, How can one respect God when they do not respect themselves?

JayW said:

Why, just this morning I was reading the Gospel passage where Jesus called people slobs and sent them away because they weren't dressed well enough.

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He did far worse. He called some the "brood of vipers" and "sons of hell" and "whitewashed tombs." He told the lost they would go to Hell if they didn't repent and turn to him as their Saviour.

aiki said:

He did far worse. He called some the "brood of vipers" and "sons of hell" and "whitewashed tombs." He told the lost they would go to Hell if they didn't repent and turn to him as their Saviour.

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Yeah...didn't have anything to do with how they were dressed though.

aiki said:

I don't feel at all comfortable in a suit and tie. I hate wearing them. My comfort is not, though, the supreme consideration in how I will dress for a Sunday morning corporate worship of God

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What do you think you will being wearing in heaven in God's presence?

aiki said:

I see that very well. More than their clothing, though, is God's condemnation of their sin and rebellion toward Him which believers are to preach to the lost. Such divinely-mandated preaching repels a great many of the lost. It is for this reason, I think, that Jesus said,

Matthew 7:14
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

John 3:19-20
19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.



Paul also wrote:

Romans 9:33
33 As it is written: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."

Offending the lost is the frequent consequence of living for and preaching Christ. It is why the righteous suffer in this world. The lost find Jesus a "stumbling stone and rock of offense." We shouldn't needlessly add to the offense God's truth is to the lost, but we shouldn't be thinking, "At all costs do not offend!" either.

I think dressing well for a Sunday worship service communicates the value and importance of that service. If one wants to make the lost feel careless about the service, believers dressing carelessly for it certainly helps.

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If some person wondering about God went to a church casually dressed, what if some there ignored or declined to welcome them, as I remember at times, due to their clothing?

Not dressed worth welcoming?

Many have experienced what I have of being ignored.

Lucky for me I found God anyway.

.

.

aiki said:

I don't feel at all comfortable in a suit and tie. I hate wearing them. My comfort is not, though, the supreme consideration in how I will dress for a Sunday morning corporate worship of God.

Why? If you can't be bothered to wear a suit to church where you've come - ostensibly - to worship God with other believers, why wear one to your daughter's wedding? Why does her wedding warrant a suit when worship of God Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth does not?

No one can command respect in another. But one can certainly point out when disrespect is going on. That's all I'm doing. I can't make you honor and respect God in the manner of your dress, but I can point out when it is evident that you aren't.

Is this a new revelation to you?

It does not follow that because we object to a person's poor hygiene and dress that they will therefore not find salvation.

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It's my choice and also my belief that God doesn't judge us for our attire.

I already love and respect God. He lives in my Temple. His spiritual and our spiritual realm is invisible -- why can't you realize that we are to focus on things above, not temporal things that will burn up. Our spirit is what He sees and takes no offense to our attire. People want to please God in many ways and that is religion, that is the tradition of man. Look at how the Pope dresses, the adornments and then all the stained glass windows and architecture, statues ... He doesn't concern himself with material things!
Church is wherever the Body of Christ is. I pray wherever I am as well, doesn't matter, I don't wait till Sunday to pray or pretend to be a good Christian with a happy, smiley warm face -- only if it's real. Some people put this mask on with all the garb but the rest of the week treat people differently, quite pretentious.

A revelation? Is it for you, I've known this for 26 years, the Church is the Body of Christ, it's believers.

aiki said:

Where is the joy in being called a sinner? Where is the joy in being told the character of one's life has been wrong and stands under God's judgment? Where is the joy in hearing that one's priorities and values have been profoundly mistaken? These are all things God says very clearly to the lost in His word. Should we refuse to speak of these things because they don't cause the lost sinner joy? Of course not.

The Gospel of peace is only so for those who submit to the truth of the Gospel which declares (among other things) that the lost sinner is wicked and on his way to Hell, that he must humble himself and repent of his sin, and reorient his life upon Christ.

It is the inside upon which God looks. And when He cleans up the inside of a man and controls his life, it is evidenced in some measure in his outward appearance.

Click to expand...

Listen, wearing jeans and tshirt is NOT a sin. Not even pajamas are a sin. You are judging by outside appearances. Some people who are depressed dont care anymore what they look like. Should we call them slobs?

Halbhh said:

I remember going to a church for the first time on a long while in my twenties, and having the people look at me disdainfully. Perhaps because I had a beard. Perhaps because I wore shorts on a day that would be in the mid 90s likely, being summer in Texas.

They did not know me or anything of me. They did not want to know me.

Many have experienced what I did.

Lucky for me I found God anyway.

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It truly makes me wonder about people who go to church to worship our Lord and Savior and then spend their time critiquing the apparel of the people around them. Sadly, I grew up in a church like that.

Handmaid for Jesus said:

IMHO about the pastor changing his dress, he allowed the condemnation he felt from the slob to lowering the standard he had set for himself.

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See, I don't see it that way, necessarily.

Putting myself in his shoes (as a parish priest), if we had a visitor who came, and then left saying they weren't coming back because they weren't comfortable, I'd have to reflect on that and see if we had done something wrong.

Now, if they weren't comfortable because the preaching and the liturgy had allowed the Holy Spirit to convict them of something wrong in them, that's fine; and I have to trust that the Holy Spirit will lead them through working that out, too.

But if they weren't comfortable because we humans had conveyed that they were socially out of place, that's not fine. We shouldn't be letting our own attitudes and preferences get in the way of someone getting the fullest opportunity to hear the gospel.

Ronald said:

What do you think you will being wearing in heaven in God's presence?

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White robes, apparently. Rev. 6:11; 7:9.