More thoughts on Church dress code

My brother and I were raised by our Grandmother. She was a faithful Church goer and took us to church regularly. She wore a hat and gloves to Church and she would dress us up in "Church clothes". Men wore suits and ties. It was a tradition to abide by and not many people questioned why. One of the few things I see changing in the contemporary Church that I think is good is the change of the "dress code" to be more casual. As long as the clothing is modest and not so outrageous as to distract from the meeting, I think that would qualify as acceptable dress. I believe that much of the push for uniformity is for control. As in the military there is little tolerance for individual thinking or behavior in order to control the troops so also I believe it has evolved in some denominations. Uniform dress especially among men seems to be symbolic of restricting of thought and behavior. Regimented seating and bulletins of instructions as to when to stand and when and what to sing can be control techniques. There should be a balance of freedom and order in the Church meetings so they do not degenerate into confusion or a free for all. Guided by The Holy Spirit all things should be done decently and in order.  1 Cor. 14:40  There are clear instructions in the New Testament on Church Order.


 Jesus said ... Mark 2:22  And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.

 In this passage Jesus compares the Law to old bottles that have lost their flexibility and have become rigid. The New Testament is compared to new wine which will have some fermentation and life in it and will expand safely in a new flexible leather bottle. Paul was a tent maker. He probably made tents out of skins of animals sewn together similar to the Native American Indian tepees. As the Apostle to the Gentiles he was the instrument that God used to give the Church much of the New Testament doctrine. Skins are flexible and free form. The individual animals skins each having their own characteristics is what made the tent's finished look. No two of them were alike.

photo courtesy of Flikr by Brian Forbes

Today's mainline institutional Churches in many cases have become rigid and can be very controlling. Rather than freely grazing in green pastures the sheep are lined up in stalls and fed a premixed diet. This stresses the sheep. It has become so that sheep who were raised in a barn or in a stall would not know how to act in a "normal" setting. So today, when believers meet and follow the true New Testament pattern of Church they become considered the "oddballs".
What we must remain inflexible about is the integrity of our Bible (the King James Bible from the received text) and the Person and Work of The Lord Jesus Christ. 



Judges 1:3  Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.