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<p>I can barely imagine any issue that is as half as divisive as the issues of dress and music in Christendom. </p>
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<p>The point of departure for
this post is captured in the title, “Does wearing a suit and a necktie make you
holy?”. “Suit and necktie” are chosen for immediate resonance and are by no
means used to disenfranchise the females from the discourse. By extension, the
question interrogates the issue of what holiness really is and whether or not
legalistic impositions on conduct for corporate worship do hold water. The
question that also arises, inescapably is, what attire is acceptable for
church? Should such a question even arise?</p>
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<p><strong>Two framing contentions.</strong></p>
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<ol><li>Some Christians feel people need to come dressed at their “best” when they come to church for they come to meet their King and as such they have to be in their best (formal) attire and conduct.</li><li>Some feel the issue of attire is a non-issue as the defining principle of true worship is worshiping God in spirit and truth.</li></ol>
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<strong> Let’s delve into a few insights and then conclude with a few biblical guidelines</strong>
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<p>Let’s deal with the first
framing contention that asserts that we should come to church at our best
attire (and in most cases “best” is misused as synonym for “formal”) as we are
coming to meet our King, as a matter of fact, the King of the Universe. </p>
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<p>This notion seems to curry favor with a lot of average Christian thinking that has been regrettably entrenched as gospel truth. The argument that when we come to church we are coming to meet our King and thus we should be in the best (formal) of our attires only holds water until we appreciate that the very King is our Father. Now, Do you really need to dress up to meet your Dad? God is many things to us but the defining principle for our relationship with Him is that He is our Father, for we are His sons and daughters.  At this point there is no need to deconstruct the “formalistic” spat further, its flawed framing is sufficiently and defectively untenable. </p>
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<p>Secondly, God is omnipresent. This denotes that He is present everywhere without necessarily having to be physically present everywhere for He arts in heaven. The nub of this fact is that we live in the presence of God every time everywhere. In whatever business we do in our kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms and elsewhere (everywhere) God is ever present. Therefore, we do not go to church to meet God primarily (We go to church  with God), although we ultimately do as He is the center of what we go to church for. Nonetheless we go to church primarily to fellowship with fellow humans, of course in the presence of an ever present God. Thus; most of our notions of decorum and propriety are informed more by culture and human expectations and have nothing at all to do with God. </p>
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<p><strong>Nothing is sad as seeing humanity anoint mere tradition on the throne of gospel truth and generations swallowing the formalistic palaver as if it were a thus saith the Lord. </strong></p>
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<p>In order to exercise mental hygiene on this issue, the formalistic tribe who are driven by a lopsided ratio of zeal to knowledge must interrogate the basis of their positions on this issue. In most cases the dogmatic overbearing disposition stems from mere socialisation. There is no wisdom in reason that is circumscribed within the confines of socialisation and taps not from the rich and diverse cultures and experiences outside its place of birth and imminent death. A fixation on mere tradition is what led to the Jews crucifying their own messiah. Perish the thought of dead formalistic and parochial traditionalism. </p>
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<p>The biggest currency for true fellowship and Christianity is social literacy or social intelligence. Godly social literacy places a high premium on fellow humans and ceases to cast fellow mortals as mere objects to be judged and regulated. This spirit derives from true Christian love and a high level of tolerance for fellow mortals humans that neither don't dress like us not conduct themselves as we do. </p>
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<h3>Biblical guidelines on dress</h3>
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<p><strong>&nbsp;1 Peter 3:3-4 </strong></p>
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<p>3 Your beauty should not come
from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold
jewellery or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the
unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s
sight.</p>
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<p style="text-align:left"><strong>A few take-homes</strong></p>
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<h3> While the preferential aspects of modesty are subjective, the principle is objective </h3>
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<p>One fundamental principle of dress across the bible is modesty. Then there are those of us who will seek to subjectivise and relativise the issue of modesty until there is nothing left to work with and thus inevitably undermine the wisdom of God in giving out the principle. While superficial and preferential aspects of modesty can be debated, the core fundaments of the principle are sufficiently objective. </p>
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<p>Modesty fundamentally means that whatever is chosen as dress or attire should not emphasise sexuality. If you are struggling with what this means and boils down to practically, I have no doubt in my mind that God will help you in this regard if you are sincere. Prescriptivism has been one major problem around the issue of dress and to venture into prescribing mechanically what to wear or what not to wear is to miss the point by a huge stretch. My view is that Jesus has no struggle whatsoever in dressing his children up to His divine satisfaction. </p>
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<p>The best way to assimilate the principle of modest is to ask a few questions when deciding on the issues of dress:</p>
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<ol><li><strong>Does this attire deemphasise my sexuality? </strong></li><li><strong>Does the attire help me focus less on myself and more on God? </strong></li></ol>
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<p>If you can answer “yes” (earnestly) to those two questions then go ahead and wear it. </p>
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<p>By the way, the above questions form the reason why most people are comfortable in adorning casual attire rather than rocking up in overly formal wear at church. In most cases, encumbering formal wear like a suit or anything similar for females, tend to keep the wearer more self-conscious and self-absorbed than modest yet casual apparel that essentially divests attention from self.</p>
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<h3> Principles of Modesty are for our edification </h3>
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<p>This is very important. Having asserted the objective principle of modesty I have to state that the principles of modesty and all education on how we should conduct ourselves are for our edification and the edification of those we have influence over. These principles are NOT for sizing up or measuring the spirituality (Judging) of others. In other words, the biblical principles of modesty are for our benefit and the benefit of those we have access to influence positively. These principles are NOT for policing fellow mortals and curating their spirituality based on the shortness or lengths of their skirts or on whether their attires meet our rigid and formalistic human standards. </p>
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<h2>The principle of modesty is a shield and not a weapon.</h2>
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<p>Consider this, “The foul spirit of forming negative and uninformed opinions about others is the outcome of the “judge” over estimating their importance and esteeming themselves better than the “judged” in a convoluted paradigm of comparative holiness.” (<strong><a href="https://expound.org.za/why-do-we-judge-others/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Judgementalism: The Scourge of Chronic Introspective Illiteracy, Expound: 2020 (opens in a new tab)">Judgementalism: The Scourge of Chronic Introspective Illiteracy, Expound: 2020</a>)</strong></p>
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<p>In conclusion, wearing a tie
and a suit or whatever the equivalent are for females does not make anyone
holy. Holiness is an outcome of: rather than a means to salvation. </p>
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<p>Don’t hesitate to share your
thoughts below. </p>
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<p><strong>Recommended Post: </strong></p>
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<p><strong><a href="https://expound.org.za/why-do-we-judge-others/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Judgementalism: The Scourge of Chronic Introspective Illiteracy (opens in a new tab)">Judgementalism: The Scourge of Chronic Introspective Illiteracy</a></strong></p>
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