Pastor wears Hawaiian Shirt in pulpit

Dear Bro. James,
You have addressed well the point I was trying to make. Even those of us, including me, who don't really dress up for church have some boundaries.
For example, to say it again, there really is a church in my town that on occasion (specifically at Christmas) has encouraged people to come to an informal morning service in their pajamas. I think highly of that church, but that went beyond my comfort zone. Even those of us who do say clothing isn't important usually do have some boundaries, too.

Karen

 

Dr. Bob,

LOL

Karen

 

Hahaha please let me know where there is a church with a punk rock type pastor, I wanna be a member of that church, but only if I can color my mohawk purple, blue and green!!! I see it this way, when a pastor or teacher is dressed comfortably it makes me feel more at ease to be there and causes my attention span to be a lot longer and better. When I see a pastor who's dressed in a comfy outfit then I view him as laid back and easy to talk to, sorry that's just how I take things.

rock on dude... hahaha

 

I don't believe clothing matters to God since he didn't create us with any but it does seem to matter to us. He did give us the fig leaf but we aren't born with one! We sure spend a lot of time and a lot of money time looking for and acquiring just the right fig leaves! We do need clothing and it's good that we wear it for obvious reasons.

But, I often think we worry too much about the appearance of our clothing and make a lot of judgments with respect to it. Clothing in our country seems to be more about advertisement than utility. Some time spent in less affluent lands will convince you of that! In many places the clothing is designed for the weather, the work, and what a person actually needs and can cheaply afford. However, I don't believe that means we shouldn't care at all how we dress. I believe it's a question of venue more than the specific clothing worn.

For example, when in Viet Nam during the war, we had field services from time to time while we were wearing our regular uniforms and carrying usual our weapons and equipment. The clothing didn't matter. We all looked about the same! I'm certain God heard the prayers given and I know they were serious. However, if I arrived at church here wearing and carrying the same things it would matter because it would attract a whole lot of attention! We can all come up with other examples of clothing acceptable in one place but not another.

Personally, I don't like suits and ties and I've just about stopped wearing them altogether. I think they're an archaic carry over from times past. I noted that a suit and tie have little to do with the value of what a man thinks or says. That goes for preachers, politicians, salesmen, etc. who, by the way, seen to often have some common traits. In fact, I've met plenty of people in suits and ties that I don't like very much compared to others who may not even own such clothes. I don't fault a man for wearing or not wearing a suit and tie to church. If the norm for that church permits is to wear them and the man can afford it then he probably should wear his. That doesn't mean "anything" is okay and a Hawaiian style shirt in a typical stateside church house just doesn't fit right for me.

We should dress in a way that does not call particular attention to one another so that we don't have that distraction, among the many others, to contend with as we seek to worship and learn. We should dress according to the norm for the venue in which we're present. We shouldn't be concerned about trying to impress one another with our appearance or status. We shouldn't be making fashion or political statements by the manner of our dress. We shouldn't "dress up" or "dress down" that way no one will feel out of place among other Christians and won't be distracted by giving attention to man rather than the word of God.

 

They MAKE him wear that Dr. Bob. Even the managers of certain gas stations are told solid shirt and tie and tan or navy pants.

BTW..... the manager of Chuck E. Cheese wears a shirt and tie and I'd much rather he wear something else. He's needed a new shirt for about 50 lbs now and you can see his belly button through the gaps.

Diane

 

Diane??? Really??? Manager is "dippin' into the profit" a little, huh??

Me?? Coat and tie on Sunday's---morning and evening----slacks and a nice button down shirt on Wednesday!

 

We are constantly having this discussion among our staff at church. My pastor still wears a coat and tie on Sunday morning, as does the associate pastor. A couple of the younger ministers wear coats, no tie, and a couple of them don't wear a coat OR tie.

I'm slowly getting used to the "look", but I believe the senior pastor SHOULD wear a coat and tie for the very reason Dr. Bob stated...he's "in charge" and the authority figure.

If you watch the news on TV, the male anchors wear coats and ties. If you watch sports on TV, the sportscasters wear coats and ties. To me, it just looks professional. Why shouldn't those who lead in worship have the same professionalism?

I'm speaking just for the pastor's appearance, I guess. I am finally getting used to everybody else, from other ministers to congregation dressing more casual. Don't care for it, but there's nothing I can do about it.

CJ

 

Our pastor wears a suit except when it's really warm in the summer. We have ceiling fans which don't really cool anything down. Then, he wears a short sleeve button with a tie and apologizes at the beginning of the sermons.

Kim

 

Whilst I detest carnal judgments, in this case, I have to agree, a suit and tie for pastors, I even like special robes and stuff for formality, not for "elitist" or "spiritual superiority"...

...but it really depends on the culture.

Suit and tie could turn off the congregation if they were very poor, or bikers, or hippies, or industrial noise musicians, or African natives, or kilted Scots, or what have you.

Probably good to dress according to congregation to some extent. Missionaries adopt native attire often, do they not?

But all in all: suit and tie, yes sir reee.

I'm self-employed Web Usability Analyst, but I try to wear sport coat and tie everywhere I go, especially when taking my sick mom to doctor appointments. She likes it and the doctors seem to pay more attention to my questions and complaints.

Dress for success. Dress to bless.

 

I dress to match the congregation, currently that is boots and Wranglers. I wore a tie once and was the only one, most of my guys have two sets of clothes jeans and "dress" jeans.

 

I think all preachers should wear a robe, to set them apart. Maybe a green one with yellow highlights, like Blackbird wears.

 

Consider Adam and Eve. God wasn't very concerned with what they were wearing when HE walked with Adam in the garden.

Diane

 

"...for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart".

IMO, If the heart of the man of God is right the Spirit of God will lead him to wear the proper attire for the given situation.

HankD

 

I'm new here, so be gentle!! =) But, as far as I'm concerned, in a world that's going to hell, do we really have to time to even be worrying about things with absolutely NO eternal consequence, such as this? Seems a little petty, to me. Robes? Suit and tie? Sounds like you all are more worried about the appearance than the heart. If your pastor showed up in a polo and khakis, would your first reaction be disgust, or would it be what it should, "Hey, preach, how was your week? I look forward to the sermon today. My heart is really open for the Word!"

 

diane, if you persist in putting me in a good mood with your holy humor, so I forget how upset I am with The Passion movie, and other things...

...I'm going to have colorado_cop arrest you for disturbing the lack of peace!!!



The colorado_cop has thrown down a brilliant challenge. I better not hear that any of us would be prejudiced against a pastor for what outfit he wears...save that for any distortion of the gospel he (God forbid) may preach.

I don't like crabby Bible thumping preachers who bash a few types of sin, and ignore the rest. Bit I also don't not like wimpy whispery preachers who coddle the sensitive seeekers with "inoffensive" self-help "cut up yr credit cards" preaching!!! Im hard to please, but easy to get along with. I am the original and unbeatable VASPERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

 

Now, now colorado_cop.

You can just walk in here and start making sense and such.

Welcome to the forum.

Kim

 

Didn't Jesus dress like just an average man?

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men...

Isaiah 53:2b-3a

It's the Pharisees that had to stand out and make sure people knew who they were. Jesus didn't.

But yes, He was most certainly modest in His appearance!