"For God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

A few years ago, at a conference, a number of us were standing around in a circle talking after a meeting. The group included people I had never met before. One of them was speaking to the person beside him - loudly enough to be certain that all of us could hear - and complaining about how irreverent men are who don't wear ties to meetings. He angrily suggested that along with a box of headcoverings in the chapel for women who forget theirs at home, assemblies should also have a box of ties for men who don't bring one.

Assuming, even though he was facing the person beside him, that he was talking to me (since I was the only person not wearing a tie), I responded by saying, "That's a great idea! And on the box of headcoverings we can put 1 Corinthians 11, and on the box of ties we can put ... Oh, what would we put on the box of ties?" Of course no one had any Bible passage and finally someone jokingly suggested "Blest be the Tie that Binds."

This type of experience is common in this debate. Many Christians sincerely believe that it is irreverent not to dress-up for meetings although, when asked, they are unable to prove their opinion from the Bible. And, regrettably, many of these Christians are also quite caustic in their propagation of that belief. Does God require us to dress-up for meetings? Is it irreverent for men not to wear a tie? These questions must be answered, but first we will discuss:

The Burden of Proof

Does the Bible Say Anything About This?

Dressing-Up in the New Testament

A Study in Contrasts

Laodicea was materially rich and the believers thought themselves (among other things) quite well-dressed, but the LORD Jesus tells us that in His eyes they were naked (Rev 3:17). This is because He isn't impressed with the clothes that money can buy. He expected the Laodicean believers (and us) to adorn themselves in the clothing that comes from Him, not from a shopping mall.

James 2:2-5

So if fine clothes and dirty clothes were uncommon in the New Testament assembly meeting, we simply conclude that the norm was for Christians to wear regular clothing that was neat and clean. This, of course, makes perfect sense since the New Testament church met in homes. It wouldn't even cross most people's minds to dress-up to visit their friend's home. And courtesy would dictate that, if possible, you would wear clean clothes to your friend's home.

These verses also condemn the practice of giving the well-dressed person preferential treatment and thinking less of a poor person in dirty clothes.

Normal Living

People in the New Testament would not even have thought of dressing any differently for the church meeting than they normally did. Only the odd rich person would come to the meetings in fine clothes because that was they way he normally dressed. And only the odd poor person would come to the meetings in dirty clothes since that was the way he normally dressed.

Consistency

And why don't these people dress-up for all the church meetings? Does the LORD only require us to be reverent at the breaking of bread? Why is it that dressing casually is irreverent from 9:30 till noon on Sunday mornings, but not irreverent at Sunday evening or mid-week meetings?

Not only are these people insisting upon humanly- devised forms of reverence, but they apply them in the most inconsistent way. We are expected to believe that the LORD requires us to dress-up in His presence, that the church comes into His presence in a different way than individuals do, and that the church comes into His presence in a different way at the breaking of bread than it does in other meetings. And all of this without any Bible verses!

Real Reverence

In Mark 7:1-13 the Pharisees accused the disciples of the LORD Jesus of being irreverent because they didn't follow the tradition of the elders. The LORD didn't commend the Pharisees for inventing new ways to show their reverence, but rather He said, "This people honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men."

Adding to the word of God isn't acceptable regardless of your motives (Dt 4:2; Pr 30:6; Rev 22:18). Insisting upon unbiblical rules isn't reverence; it is presumption; it is "teaching as doctrines the precepts of men."

Some Objections Answered

"The priests had special clothes in the Old Testament and all believers today are priests." The only commendable thing about this argument is that it at least attempts to use the Bible. But to model the physical aspects of our worship after the Old Testament practice is surely to confuse Israel and the church! Along with special clothing for the priests, the Jews were to have special buildings, altars, sacrifices, anointings, etc. On what basis do we insist upon special clothing being retained while discarding all of the other physical aspects of their worship? This is a purely arbitrary. To retain the physical aspects of Jewish worship is to miss the point of the New Covenant as clearly taught by the Lord Jesus in John 4:20-24. Today our worship is not based on physical forms, but it is to be "in spirit and in truth."

"If you were going to meet the Queen, you would certainly dress up." Of course we would! But that is because "man looks on the outside." But "the LORD looks on the heart!" The monarchy has clearly established protocol requiring such attire. But has the LORD indicated that He expects us to dress-up? Or are we simply assuming that the LORD must be like the Queen? Furthermore, even the people who use this rationalization wouldn't dare wear the suits they wear to meetings to see the Queen. Finally let us point out that we are incapable of wearing clothes that are good enough for the LORD. He is infinitely greater than the Queen and so if he requires us to dress-up, we will have to dress in something infinitely better than what we would meet the Queen in.

"You dress up for your wife, don't you?" Of course I do! But let us again refer to 1 Samuel 16:7. Are you suggesting that the LORD has a physical attraction to us or to our clothing?

"Our society expects it. We will stumble people if we don't dress-up." We cannot find where the Bible teaches we are to pander to the world's standards under the pretence of "outreach." The world generally expects to see a "pastor" or "minister" running the meeting. Do we hire one since some claim it would be a better outreach? And since when is the church meeting primarily an outreach? Changing the church of God to make it more palatable to unbelievers and the world that crucified her Head is hardly a noble goal. Lastly, this objection works both ways. We are aware of several people who say that they can't meet with a church because they don't have the "right" clothes for "those kinds of people."

How Should I Dress?

Our dress should be modest and moral. This is particularly appropriate in our "liberated" society. Decency in dress is expected (eg. Lk 8:35), but that is for the people around us, not for God.

Our dress should be humble, simple and unpretentious. These verses certainly teach that our clothing should not be expensive, ostentatious or flashy. We are at a church meeting, not a fashion show. The goal is not to draw attention to ourselves. Dressing-up for meetings frequently ensures that the attention and eyes of others are on us rather than on the LORD.

Our real adornment should be Christ-like character. Rather than giving us a lot of commands for what physical clothing to wear, the New Testament instead instructs us to "put on the new man" (Eph 4:24; Col 3:10), "put on the whole armour of God" (Eph 6:11), "put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience ... and beyond all these things, put on love" (Col 3:12,14). See also Rom 13:12; Gal 3:27; 1 Th 5:8; 1 Pe 5:5; Rev 3:4-5. Even in glory, our adornment will not be fancy material clothing, but "the righteous acts of the saints" (Rev 19:8).

So 1 Tim 2:9-10 (and 1 Pe 3:3-5) teaches that we should adorn ourselves with our character, not our clothing. Are we to believe that God commands us not to try to impress each other with our clothing, but expects us to try to impress Him with it? Are we to believe that we are to be concerned with the inward, but God is concerned with the outward? Isn't this the opposite of 1 Samuel 16:7?

In Closing

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