Pastor John, hello. We are recording this episode in the midst of a pandemic shutdown of our

cities and our states recording right now from home. And neither of us have gathered with

our local churches for weeks now and this episode is scheduled to launch sometime in early May.

So there's a question about church dress codes and neither of us know by the time this episode launches

if we will still be quarantined or if we'll be meeting in person on Sundays with our churches.

In any case, churches in this country will eventually reunite. We trust Lord in that.

And to prep for that meeting, we have a question from John, a listener in South Carolina who writes this.

Pastor John, hello. When we join in corporate worship and gather in God's house,

should we dress in our best clothes? I tend to say yes. The world seems to dominate our choices

in too many ways in our worship and in our music, building styles, flippancy, etc.

Under the old covenant, Moses was clear that priests should wear holy garments that were

elaborate. It's Exodus 28, verse 4. In entering the presence of God through Christ, it seems to me

the modern church has settled for casual Fridays, a dress code from the corporate world. Do you

know of any scriptures in the New Testament that address appropriate attire for church? Pastor John,

what would you say to John? Yes, but maybe not in the way you think.

But let me set it up. Whether you dress to kill on Sunday morning or

dress to kill those who dress to kill, or whether you close your eyes earnestly while singing the

doxology, or casually sip your latte while singing holy, holy, holy, or whether you sit with

respectful posture or slouch within difference, or whether you keep your hands to yourself or rub

the back of your boyfriend's neck while the pastor pours out his heart, or whether you

disdain a shabby visitor or rejoice that they are welcome. All these things, and many more,

are shaped and guided by your vision of what God is like in this service. And what is at stake here?

...