As far as I know, there’s no place in the Bible that tells us exactly what is proper attire for the worship services. However, many passages refer to reverence and respect which should serve as a guide as to what we wear in church.
In Leviticus 19:30 we read: “Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary.”
In Psalm 89:7 we read: “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all those that are about him.”
In Hebrews 12:28 we read: “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”
In Proverbs 31:25 we read this about a virtuous woman: “strength and honor are her clothing.” It saddens me to see so many of our people walking into church wearing slacks, skorts, shorts, blue jeans, T-shirts, and the list goes on. Some look like they’re ready to go to a picnic after church, they’re so casually dressed. Hardly any male wears a tie anymore.
Five years ago, the occurrence of wearing this type of attire was rare. Maybe a rebellious teenager would try it. The small children, today, and sad to say, mothers and fathers, are following suit. What an ungodly example for our children.
I’m not saying an individual wearing one of the above won’t get just as much out of the sermon as an individual wearing a dress or suit. What we need to remember and to stress to our children, is that we are in the presence of God.
I want to urge all parents not only to be role models for their children, but also to insist that their children dress in reverence to God. I would like to close this article with the Word of God as read in Psalm 96:8, “Give unto the Lord, the glory due unto His name.”
Daris is a member of Doon Protestant Reformed Church in Doon, Iowa.d