Dressing Up For Church

Every Sunday morning, my wife and I spend a good portion of our time dressing up for church. I usually have to iron my black pants and button-up shirt, and then I have to work to get my tie just right. My wife usually has a skirt and shirt to iron as well. We also have four kids—three of whom are girls—that need help getting into dresses and nice clothes. Literally, we spend MOST of our time Sunday morning dressing up for church.

Obviously, I’m not opposed to dressing up for church. There’s nothing wrong with wearing formal attire for worship. But I do not believe that it’s necessary; in no way does God expect us to dress up for church…contrary to popular opinion.

Where in the New Testament does God establish a dress code for worship? It’s not there! What is there is that we are to dress modestly (1 Tim. 2:9-10), but that principle applies all the time and is not limited to the assembly. There is also the principle in James 2:1-9 about NOT judging one another based on the quality of our attire. Beyond these two principles, I see no regulations regarding how we are to dress for church.

Some argue that if we’d dress up for court or to meet the president, then we should show similar respect for God by dressing up for church. But why do we dress up for court? Because that’s the custom and expectation among men. Likewise, I dress up for church because that’s the custom...and perhaps because some men have that expectation…not because God has that expectation.

I show God respect by giving Him my best in worship. I worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24) and offer unto Him the fruit of my lips as a sacrifice (Heb. 13:15). I’ll leave matters of dress and attire to each individual and never use it as a test of the heart.