What do you feel is the proper attire to wear in church?

Question

Most people have such a relaxed attitude about life AND worship (because most people don't). I've been to different churches and I've seen people dressed in shorts, flip flops, drinking coffee in the Sanctuary, never carrying a Bible or taking any notes. I was appalled! As a Christian and a believer in the Bible and what It says, most Scriptures speak of reverence, respect, even attire for men as well as women. Where have our values and morals gone. Please answer.

Answer 1

Well, I understand where you are coming from. I think some of that attitude is good, but I would be careful in how you judge your brother and sister in Christ. If you have any problems with them, it should be because of the attitude that underlies the clothes, not the clothes themselves (within reason). I am hoping that, in your situation, it is not the people's appearance but an apparent attitude of carelessness/indifference to God that is bugging you.

Basically, "proper attire" is (1) whatever you feel is you worshipping God, and (2) what is considerate of your fellow believers as they worship. Worship is corporate on a Sunday morning, so you do all have to be together and unified in the Spirit.

Still, for some people, dressing up is a sign of reverence and respect to God, and it is the best way they know how to show God they love him. For others, dressing up is like bondage and makes them feel suffocated and "fake"; they can worship God better by celebrating the freedom they have in Christ to be themselves before God and not have to try and "impress" him with nice clothes.

Everyone is different. Everyone expresses their worship in different ways. When people worship truly and in spirit, you will still see some differences.

Our church (of 300-400 people) is an interesting mix. Some of us wear suits/ties or formal dresses, while others wear nice jeans and/or nice t-shirts. Some wear dress shoes and heels, others wear sandals. But whatever is done (as Paul alludes to) is "being done for the Lord" and not for the person.

So no one at our church has a problem with this, or looks down on someone else, or feels stilted in worship because of how someone else is dressed. Each of us is dressing in the way that shows God we respect him, and so while we are individuals, we are still one body and together in spirit Sunday mornings. Our church does fine allowing this sort of freedom, and people do not abuse it.

Sometimes people even switch off. Occassionally a formal-attire person will dress down as part of their worship, or a casual dresser will "dress up." I think we are each responsible to God for what we do personally.

Again, beware of the ways in which we can so easily put down other believers who are different than us. I would be upset with an attitude that seems to be downgrading God, reducing him to less than He is, not showing him love and respect, sure. Buif I can sense that another believer is truly worshiping God and has a Christ-like attitude in his life, then his clothing really is not an issue for me.

Answer 2

First get them to come to church, give lesson on proper attire. I have been to different churches and never heard of any problem anyone had with what anyone wore(just that they hope they are clean) cause they were so glad the people were there to worship and hear God's word. Don't give up on people keep praying for them and helping them find the way and maybe things will sink in. Another thing that might be of concern is maybe some people don't have the money to spend on the (right?) clothing if so maybe some could help them in this department,like some churches give out clothing or Bibles.

Answer 3

When I was growing up and attending church, men wore suits, boys wore nice slacks and button down shirts, and women and girls wore dresses with nylons or tights. There was none of this flip flop/shorts attire. (this was not ages ago either) As an adult, forced into church with my ex, i was appaled to see people attending in ratty clothes (designer type - costly) and flip flops, looking like they just rolled out of bed.

Today, while I have no use for religion or church, I am still appaled at the way people dress when attending churches. While I understand it is not supposed to be a fashion show and how a person believes is not reflected in their attire, it just seems that there should be some sort of respect. If you are truely wanting to be attending church, at least dress like you have not rolled out of bed or out of the grung pit.

Answer 4

I completely agree w/ you. My brother & I had an argument about this a few years back. His argument was that God loves us no matter how we dress, so it doesn't matter if we go church in jeans or a suit. Which, it is true, a church should not turn anyone away just because of attire. However, I believe that once you come to a true understanding of the Gospel, and your heart is changed, you will want to show the proper respect for him in his house and wear your "sunday best".
The sad fact is, that most people prefer to have God adapt to their standards rather than the other way around.

Answer 5

I agree with Don. If you feel it's wrong to wear something to church then don't wear it but if you feel that someone else is wearing inappropriate attire it's not necessarily wrong. We all have our own convictions. However if someone Else's attire honestly distracts you from your worship and time with God you should kindly as a brother/ sister in Christ ask them to wear something less distracting. I have thought about this a lot lately because the worship director at my church was basically asked to resign because our worship commission felt he was to loose with the way he dressed and let the rest of the band dress. I personally disagreed with their position because I wasn't distracted by the attire of the worship band. However I can see some of the rest of the congregation being distracted. This is a very tricky thing because the Bible can ne interpreted in so many ways. In some places you read of reverence but what about when God asked Moses take off his sandals (Something I love to do for worship)before he walked on holy ground.

Answer 6

I live in a beach town, so everything is on the casual side. As far as church goes, I agree, some people are grossly under dressed. I don't think it has to do with a lack of respect for church, though. Some people just don't know how to dress appropriately for many occasions, church included. I think the important thing is that they are there. All the rest of us can do is try to set a good example and hope that some of it rubs off.

Answer 7

The proper attire is a dress for women and a dress shirt, tie (not bow tie) and slacks for men with appropriate shoes to match the person's wardrobe.

However, today's churchgoers prefer a more relaxed "whatever you feel comfortable in" attitude in their attire.

My advice would be to phone the church you will be attending ahead of time to find out what their dress policy is.

Answer 8

straight to the devil!! Why show reverence when you go out and put God down during the week by your actions and deeds? So many do not even believe what they go to hear anyway. IT is just an act to them. If you do not have a nice set of clothes, wear the best you have but think you are going to be with the Creator of the Universe. Then you should dress accordingly.

Answer 9

This story is funny. I hope this is not a true story. I mean I hope this is a joke. Because if it's not, the behavior of the church and its members is totally ungodly. God relates to us in spirit. He really doesn't care about our appearance. If he did to the extent of people, he wouldn't have allowed there to be physically unattractive people in the world. I'm going to tell this story as a joke. One part of this that people are missing is that God told the cowboy, he had never been in this church. In other words, all of these so called believers and the pastor are suppossedly worshipping him without his presence. That's a scathing indictment on that church because it's written when two gather in my name I will be in the midst of them. They're quite possibly serving the wrong God, huh.

Answer 10

Why should you have to dress up and take notes in church? It seems like a hypocrisy to require people to look nice and take notes when your religion says that God loves everyone, no matter what, and that the bible is your only source of truth. Why take notes when everything you need to know is included in a single, ancient book? Values and morals have nothing to do with religion, but with society.