An article about how “wearing our best” to worship God got me to thinking about church clothes earlier. A couple of other thoughts have come to mind since that first post. For one, when did the idea of special church clothes first develop? In the first century most people did not have extra changes of clothes, much less something in the closet (oops, no closets for most either) to wear to gatherings of the church on Sundays. Only the rich had several sets of clothes.
What did regular folks wear to assemblies back then? The same clothes they wore everyday – what they wore around the house, what they wore to work, what they wore to visit friends, what they wore to go to the market. It was appropriate to wear their regular clothes to worship God – worship was not some special out-of-the-ordinary event, but a normal part of life.
Maybe this is the real point to consider – do we consider worship to be a normal part of life, like sleeping and eating? If it is some extra-ordinary event, then special dress is appropriate. It it is normal and regular, then everyday clothing would be more fitting.
I have wondered that if special dress is mandatory, then why isn’t it applied consistently? Consistently, in that, is every moment of worship met by wearing “our best?” When we gather to eat and turn to God in prayer, should we wear our best? When we sing as a family songs of praise to God, should we wear our best as we sing? If Sunday morning is the only time to wear our best, then is it about worship or is it about the assembly?
No matter what we wear as we gather to worship God, may He be honored and glorified by our hearts.
