Come As You Are

We all remember when Jesus gathered the disciples upon the hillside and said to them, "Little children, I tell you the truth. Unless a man wears a coat and tie, he shall not serve the Lord's Supper. I know, I haven't told you about the Lord's Supper yet, but believe me ... when I do, you will understand that one must wear his very best clothes when passing the trays. Otherwise, that will be the way I will know that you you do not think very respectfully of me." Maybe I'm not the only one who wants to scream when I see "dress codes" published in bulletins. And the reasons for them ... they make me want to pull my hair out - and that would be a short job! Supposedly... *We show the Lord respect when we wear coats and ties (for the men), or dresses (for the women only please). *We wear our best to funerals, so why wouldn't we wear our best to honor the death of Christ (newsbulletin: He is no longer dead!). *We wear our best - no matter what our best is - even if it is our 'good' pair of overalls (I have yet to see sequined formals or tuxedos at church). This really does put a burr in my saddle because it demands of someone what God does not demand. It puts people who do not wear suits and expensive dresses in the position of being rebels for just coming to worship God without dressing to the nines. The idea bypasses the heart of the individual and emphasizes the physical appearance (something James writes against in his book). It tends to honor the wealthy, and ignore the poor. It shuts the impoverished out of our assemblies in their shame and inability to mix with the rich. Some of the preachers in large evangelical churches have now bypassed the coat and tie look for more casual attire. I give them a standing ovation. I wear a coat and tie on Sunday because of the expectations of others. It surely isn't comfort. It also isn't finances. Have you priced quality neckties these days? For a while I didn't wear a coat. That bothered a few of our members. But thankfully we have never issued a dress code for the worship service. I like one church's advertisement that said "come as you are". I wish we wore blue jeans to worship. Then we could stop thinking about how good we look and start thinking about how awesome God is. I hope I never receive another church bulletin with an article or announcement from the elders demanding that people dress to their approval, with the threat of being banned from leading worship. I hope that anyone could arrive at our church in blue jeans and be treated as if they were wearing the crown jewels.