Help needed - clothing issue - all hands on deck! LOL!

I find it interesting that number of times you refer to it as "my platform."

I bet you do! I meant NOTHING about "my platform, more then I am the pastor. I have a church board and trustees and everything you might aprove of but I AM THE PASTOR. What I say goes on "the" platform!! I expect the people to RESPECT me as God's man....Heb 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that [is] unprofitable for you.
I bet this doesn't sit well with some of the liberal preachers that have absolutely no authority in their, excuse me I mean "the" church.

 

Thanks for clearing that up. I can feel the joy of your leadership all the way over here.

 

Respect needs to be earned. And no suit without a good and loving man of God in it is going to earn mine.

Sopranette

 

Ok, let's say that I agree that you are not advocating that clothing should not be a mark of spirituallity... which really is a stretch because you used the scripture "Be ye holy..." in defense of wearing a suit....

But I will play along....

Shouldn't the people that are on the platform be setting an example for the rest of the church to follow?

That is the way the average lay person see the ones on the platform... unless they veiw the platform as an entertainment area, in which case the people are not coming to participate in worship... but they are coming to watch worship... If this is the case then you are unintentionally saying that in order to worship you must wear a suit.. And your congregation may be getting the wrong message.

The way someone dresses speaks to people too.

For instance, I stated that I wore a double breasted suit this Sunday...
My youngest son wore jeans with holes in the knees...

We did this intentionally... because I used our way of dress to illustrate that neither of us are more holier than the other...

I used it as a visual lesson of God's grace.

God does not love a person anyless in torn jeans than he does a person in an Armani. We are all equal in His sight.. because when He looks at any Christian, He sees Christ's righteousness....

After all, that is what we are really dressed in. In God's sight... so why worry about what we physically wear...

WE are not impressing God anyway...
Our righteousness is as filthy rags...

So even my best suit is unworthy to come into the King's presence...

I thank God that he provides my clothing to come into his presence... And that is Christ's righteousness...

The idea of coming to church with our "Sunday go to meetin" clothes on is and prideful American idea.. No where can you find people in the NT going to church with their best clothes... they wouldn't have dressed up, because that would have been an sure sign for the authorities to come arrest them.

Dressing up to worship God is a futile thing.
It only leads to pride.

 

KJVKid, Let me ask you a question...
Suppose you were at church on a Wednesday evening.. and the church received a call 15 minutes before service, that one of your members had been in, oh, say a 4 wheeler accident, and was asking for you to come to the hospital...

Would you go?
Would you change your clothes to go, or would you go in your church clothes?

 

Dressing up to worship God is a futile thing.
It only leads to pride.

You are wrong doc! I don't have time nor desire to go any further on this point. However the response from you guys shows me I must have hit on a sore spot. You guys better not impose any higher standards for "the" platform for if you do:wavey:

 

Well, I've read all this stuff - all 7 pages. So, I though I'd give you the REAL dress code.

I almost always preach on Sunday Mornings in a long sleave shirt and tie. I used to wear a coat, but i have a shoulder problem and can't hardly get one on right now. Most all of my church says that the no-coat-thing is just fine. In fact, very few of our men wear coats and ties. So I have decided that even when my shoulder heals, I'm still going to wear a long sleave shirt and tie.

Do I preach any better or worse with or without a coat or tie? No.

Is God's Holy Spirit somehow hindered from working in our services because I don't wear a coat? No. He's still at work - it doesn't affect Him.

Am I anti-coat? No. Can't wear one right now and don't plan on wearing one later.

So, my dress doesn't affect my ability to preach the Word of God, and it doesn't affect the Holy Spirit's ability to work. So, what's the problem??

 

Not a sore spot - a conversation showing two sides of an issue.

 

KJVKid, apparently you need some help in how to debate. Here's a tip on how not to debate an issue. You wrote the following.

When you write things like this, implying that everybody on the other side of the debate is stupid, then you've lost the debate. Once you do that, I personally don't care what else you have to say about the issue at hand.

There is nothing Christlike in implying that everybody on the other side of the issue is stupid.

 

I agree 100%..
Let a man or woman wear anything they want as long as it is modest...

I can preach in a suit, or in jeans... And I enjoy wearing both.
Holiness is not contengent upon clothes...
It is upon the heart.

And I am so glad that while Jesus was on the cross... his blood cried out my name!

 

Annsni, It is easy to see your pastor has earned a lot of respect...

He must be a great man.

A pastor that earns respect is easier to work with than one that demands respect....

 

So let me ask, are you saying that because I wear a vest and sometimes no tie, and play piano with my sleeves rolled up and lead worship that way, it's incorrect or somehow less respectful to God? I'm asking for clarification, before I get upset with your opinion.

 

A paraphrase

Rom 14:6 He who wears a coat and tie, wears them to the Lord; and he who does not wear a coat and tie, to the Lord he does not wear them. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.


Surely we can find something better to fight about

 

Roger, I thought it was a pretty good discussion for a long time, then all of the sudden . . .

 

I don't really think our churches have to be in lock step here.

Men can wear suits and women can wear their Sunday best, but I really think it's ok to just dress appropriately - nice and clean and covered and be comfortable. Ron and I wear the same clothes we wear to work.

 

That just doesn't sound right!!

 

No, not snipped mid-sentence like that, it sure doesn't silly boy.

 

We could always fight about this.

 

I'm just the king of "taking it out of context."