From the Mind of Michael: Church Attire

From the Mind of Michael is a small series of thoughts and observations from Michael, one of the Youth Group Leaders.  The views and opinions expressed here are solely that of Michael McCracken, and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Loving Grace Alliance Church, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, or any one else for that matter.

Growing up, my mother always had her family dressed in Sunday best for church.  For me, that entailed a button down shirt, dress slacks, dark socks, dress shoes, and a clean jacket.  As I entered High School, the dress code was relaxed to "something that fit correctly and had no holes in it."  (Granted, I grew up in the 90's so, everything fashionable was three sizes too large and had holes in it...)  In college, I lived on campus, so I dressed myself.  The dress code was relaxed again to "something clean."

Now I am a parent, and I am supposed to set the example for my son.  I hadn't realized it, but I had been picking out button down shirts and slacks for my son for church.  My wife always laughs at me, because I will try to match my son.  Some days I am more successful at it than other days.

I do wonder, why do we put an emphasis on the clothes we wear to church?  The clothing we wear has no impact on whether we get saved or not.  The clothing we wear doesn't make God love us more or less.  The clothing we wear is not prescribed to us by the Bible or Jesus.  So, that begs the question, if it doesn't impact if I get saved, or the amount that God loves me, or commanded by Jesus or the Bible, then why do we put such emphasis on it?

I can accept that we have a built in desire to cover ourselves.  Adam and Eve covered themselves with leaves when they realized they were naked.  A few verses later, God covered them in animal skins.  I remember that King David wore sack-cloth when he was trying to be repentant.  I remember Jesus telling the disciples to carry only the clothes on their back when they began their missions trips.

Still, that doesn't answer my question.  Perhaps the desire Sunday best is to a way to outwardly show you are giving God your best.  I don't know for sure, but I would venture a guess that's where the desire comes from.  I wonder if wearing Sunday best became more of a tradition than a form of showing honor.  There are times when I come to church dressed in sock-less shoes, but I still wear the socks.  I can't say that those church services were more or less spiritual than the button down shirt, slacks, and dress socks services.

Anyway, just a random thought.

-Michael