The Clothing We Wear to Church

The Day of Rest
________________________
Biblical Teaching About Time

—An online book about rest and worship—
By Dr. Al Franzmeier

Chapter 8

God's Word of Power in Worship

_________________________

I have a question about clothing as we begin this chapter. Worshipers of all ages have begun to come to worship in casual clothing. Very few dress up any more. Only occasionally does one see a man in a suit or a woman in a party dress. Yes, I know. This is the twenty-first century and clothing styles have changed. Yet it seems strange to some of us. A couple generations ago men put on a white shirt, tie and a suit to go to church and women wore party dresses. It was an important affair. Of course, that was then. In those days everybody dressed up to go to the movies or to ride on an airplane. Now no one does. Clothing styles change, as does art and music.

Let's move on to a more thoughtful discussion about modern worship. Here is a quotation from a book Edward Farley wrote a few years back: 

“Most American religious communities are deeply entwined with the moods, trends, and institutions of modern culture . . . Churches are gatherings of individuals who spend most of their time and energy in non-church settings like families, schools, and businesses.  In those settings, virtually everything we experience is mediated through written, visual, or auditory communications we call the media.  From a massive system of communications, we get entertainments, political interpretations, images of the good life, and what it means to be a woman or man.  Accordingly, few religious communities can claim real isolation from post-modern society . . .  To grow up in a church now is, hopefully, to learn its stories and to participate in its symbols.  But that is only one voice amid the myriad voices of peer groups, subcultures, gender, class, ethnic, and political groups.”

Farley is talking about atrophy. Atrophy is a word from the science of biology. It refers to what happens when body organs or tissues do not receive sufficient nourishment. Soon they begin to wither and waste away. They atrophy. Finally, they die.

Most of us have seen that happen to diabetics when their blood did not circulate properly to their feet. Eventually the feet turned black and died. Those dead feet must be amputated or they will infect the entire body with disease.

The same thing happens to the tools of communication. Vehicles of communication like words, symbols, symbolical actions, images, music, even modes of dress like I was talking about, can become atrophied. They no longer convey the meaning intended by the Spirit of God. As a result, they lose their power to communicate God’s forgiveness and love.

This may be what people mean when they talk about old fashioned, boring worship? People go through memorized motions, not thinking about what they’re doing. They hear sounds and see shapes, but don’t really hear them or see them. If these things have any deeper meaning, they’re not getting it. 

We are a modern church
Let me give you another example. I knew a Lutheran pastor who decided not to wear a gown when he led his congregation in Sunday worship. He used to wear an alb with a matching stole in the color of the season of the church year, but no longer. Instead he simply wore a business suit. His idea was that wearing an alb and stole gave the wrong impression to the people he wanted his church to reach. The church he served was in an area where many people had some attachment to the Roman Catholic Church.  In Catholic churches albs, stoles and other clergy dress are still common, even required. So this pastor wanted to reach unchurched people by showing them that his church was definitely not Roman Catholic. He wanted to tell them by his clothes that he was free in Christ from the burdens of the Roman Catholic Church and he wanted them to know about that freedom as well.

Did it work? No. People became confused by his mixed messages. His church building still had all the traditional furniture: altar, pulpit (which he never used), baptismal font, communion railing, pews, plus stained glass windows. It was an older church, built about forty years ago.

I attended worship at that church, a building with all the traditional and liturgically symbolical elements. The whole experience was jarring, disturbing. Tensions increased. The outreach didn't work. That pastor had to move on. The congregation returned to its liturgical heritage.

Many other pastors have successfully led their formerly liturgical churches to abandon that heritage. They have removed altar, pulpit and most of the familiar traditional symbols, including even the cross. Their congregations worship in an auditorium, with a stage, drop down projection screens, altar-table on wheels—if an altar at all—plain windows, choirs without robes and praise bands with acoustical instruments. This approach is the norm in many Protestant churches in metropolitan areas like the one I live in. Many Lutheran churches want to join that Protestant bandwagon.

What is the message?  That the congregation is up-to-date, with a relevant message for the people of today? That they use the means and methods of modern communication to share a modern message?  Apparently.

So don’t dress up. This is a place for comfort, consolation, friendliness, family and relevance, a church for today and tomorrow. The past is past. We're moving on. Come in blue jeans, khakis, open neck shirts, shorts, cut-offs, sun-dresses, sneakers and flip-flops. Be comfortable, be casual, be at home. At least the message is not mixed. The Bible doesn't say we have to wear special clothing to church. The God of the Bible is Jesus, our Friend and Lover.

So what's the problem? It has something to do with the Biblical word 'Fear'. Let me explain.

Fear the LORD Your God

Back in the Old Covenant when the Israel had been delivered from slavery in Egypt they gathered around Mount Sinai. Then God came down in a cloud of thunder and lightning. The whole mountain was covered with smoke like a furnace. It shook like a big earthquake. Everybody was frightened and terrified, as well they should have been. They had only recently witnessed God's power to destroy His enemies by drowning Egypt's great army in the sea.

Moses had gone up to Mt. Sinai to receive instructions for the people on how to prepare to come before this holy, almighty God. While he was up there, the LORD commanded them to consecrate themselves for two days and be ready by the third. To consecrate means to set aside for God’s purposes. The people were to wash their clothes and clean up. In other words, by coming in clean, washed clothing they were demonstrating that in their hearts they were meeting the LORD and committing themselves to him. They were coming before this mighty LORD with reverence and holy fear.

They didn’t have what we call dress up clothes, but they were at least to clean up. Their outwardly clean clothing reflected an inner attitude of humility and faith. The same thing can be said about people’s clothing today—it reflects an inner attitude. Consider the traditional high school Spring Prom dances. Teens all wear fancy dresses and tuxedos. Why? Because this is a big deal, a very special affair. So how big a deal is it to be invited to God’s house to be served by the King of kings and the Lord of lords? It is a big deal, a very big deal, especially because we have no right to come before Him. We are sinners and have deserved to be drowned along with the Egyptians.

And yet He invites us into His presence—for the sake of Jesus who bore our sins and carried our guilt to the cross. This is the wondrous message. Yes indeed. Jesus is our Friend, our Brother and we are part of his family. There’s that side too. And we don’t dress up when we're at home. But we do dress up when we come into the presence of majesty and power. So we dare not release this tension when we gather to worship. It's what Dr. Martin Luther taught us when he interpreted every commandment with the words 'fear and love' the Lord your God.

A bit more on this clothes thing. Moses got some clothing instructions when he met the LORD in the burning bush that first time. He was commanded to take off his shoes, because the ground he was standing on was holy. There’s even a modern song about us standing on holy ground. What is the significance of being barefoot when you’re standing on holy ground?

It has to do with sandals carrying dirt from many places. The people in those many places may have been godless, idol worshippers with no regard for the LORD. So the LORD was saying to Moses, “This is my mountain. This is where you are meeting me! And I’m holy, not like you or this sinful world. So when you come into my presence, leave your sandals and all your dirt behind. You and everything about you must be committed to me. You must be holy, even as I am holy, for you are here in the presence of the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I am the great and eternal God of your ancestors, the Creator of heaven and earth. Be aware that you are not tending sheep now. You are talking with the Almighty! So take off your shoes as a sign of humility and kneel down. In other words, show fear, respect and reverence!

There are other examples from the life of the Old Covenant that had to do with clothing, the clothing of those who held the office of priest, for instance. Moses’ brother Aaron and his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar were appointed by the LORD to serve as priests. God himself commanded the priests to wear a breast piece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. These garments were prepared according to specific instructions. They were woven with gold, blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen. In other words, no expense was spared. Their special dress, says the Holy Spirit, was to give them “dignity and honor.” The King James Bible translates the Hebrew in that passage with the words “glory and beauty” (Exodus 28:2-40). The point is that the priests were to represent the people before God and were to teach God’s Word to the people. They had a special office and the duty of serving the Almighty. Hence their office was to be held in the highest regard. Their clothing reflected the dignity, glory, honor and beauty of their high office. With their special clothing they taught the people that the Lord God, the God of the covenant, was among them to grant his mercy and forgiveness. Their clothing was teaching the people the majesty, the glory and the beauty of God’s Word to them.

Something like that goes on when judges wear black gowns in courtrooms. Their robes give them special honor as representatives of the government. But who is to say what kind of gown or suit a pastor is to wear, as long as he presents himself with dignity and honor? I’ve seen old photos of pastors wearing black academic robes or black cassocks with a white garment of some sort over the top, instead of the albs many wear today.

Nobody can make hard and fast rules about this. My only point—and it is a very important one—is that the pastor must always be aware that he is teaching, also with his clothing. His office is to teach God’s Word. That is his calling. Nothing dare detract from that. So, if he chooses to wear traditional garments like an alb, stole and chasuble he should teach his people significance of those garments, give them up-to-date meanings and help them to appreciate why he wears them. If he wears a business suit or something like it, he must also teach what that means and why he is doing that. In every way, his task is to teach his people God’s Word. His clothing reflects the high, wondrous and beautiful office of a preacher and teacher of God’s Word.

As for you who are worshippers in the congregation, I'm only urging you to consider what you too are saying to the people around you when you gather with them to worship. Clothing is not only for protection and warmth. It is also a statement about us and about whom we believe ourselves to be. We are all, members of the same family, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters in the family of God, members of the Body of Christ. This is a high privilege and calling, granted to us by the undeserved grace of God in Christ. In love, we all have a responsibility to encourage one another in this faith.

_____________________________________________

Next time we'll finish the chapter and the book with a brief discussion about rites, rituals and the music of Christian worship.