Other stuff I have written about

Friday, January 25, 2013

Dressing up for church, old fashioned or respectful?




To all you "lifers"( people who have gone to church since they were popped out of the womb) do you remember when you were young how dressing up for church was..was..just that, you actually dressed up for church without a second thought? If you were an early 90's girl, like me  this probably meant a really puffy floral print dress with frilly, perfect, white socks and dress shoes. Adorable, really- I mean it. This was just the norm, then you grow a bit older, you still dress up to an extent just a tad more low key, but you still made an effort, right?

These days is becoming more and more common to see no one dressed up for church, and on the off chance someone does they get a stare, or even comments like "Wow, look who is all dressed up" ( I have personally been told this) I just shake my head, Why WOULDN'T someone dress up a little for church? Church is what? 1-3 hours, and you can't make an effort to make yourself look nice for God, the person who gave you life, who blesses you abundantly everyday?  We( yes everyone, including me) can probably admit to spending a lot of time and  effort into getting ready for a social event, a concert, or some other event, yet when it comes to Sunday morning some people go so far as to just wear P.J's, sweat pants, or hoodies  to church, yes that is right, crazy eh?

I am NOT in any way judging peoples clothes or saying who have to dress like you're going to the opera, but, people can tell when you put effort into your appearance. I hear this new concept from many churches these days.. "were just casual" God and church shouldn't be considered "casual" some people in the world are killed for even considering going to church, it is sacred to them, they only wish they could fellowship with other believers and they treat it as such. When I went to Nicaragua a few years ago, all the girls wore nice  skirts and all the men wore their nicest clothes and thats just how it was,why? They recognized how blessed they were. They were showing God how thankful they were to him by making an effort to look nice.  Its all a mindset, I think our mindset towards God and church should be that we want  to make that effort. Actions speak louder than words, even this case.

I completely understand what the point of these new ways of thinking are, some churches say they are just going more casual as to not seem like they are judging new believers, or people who have never gone to church, totally understandable, I mean if a new believer came to church who cares what they are wearing, its just super awesome that they are there right? Totally! How ever to those of us who are already believers  we should be so welcoming to that person and trying to get to know them that they wouldn't even notice what we are wearing, just like we wouldn't notice how they were dressed because were happy they made the choice to come to church.  Our attitudes towards others should be so reflective of God that , that is what keeps people coming back. 

I tend to think a little on the old fashioned side with somethings, and this is one of them. I stress again, I am not judging peoples looks, your definition of dressing up ect, It is just an observation I have been making the past few years.Remember He came so that we may have life, and have it more abundantly(John 10:10)  What are your thoughts? Old fashioned or respectful? 
(p.s if you don't agree thats just fine, this is just my opinion)