Dale Partridge - January 06, 2021


Real Christianity #127： How Should Christians and Pastors Dress For Church？


Episode Stats


Length

26 minutes

Words per minute

157.82953

Word count

4,204

Sentence count

228

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Hate speech

7

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Pastor Dale Partridge talks about the importance of dress and clothing in the church. What does the Bible say about dress and church? Is there a biblical standard for what we should and should not be worn in church? And what role does clothing play in the role of a pastor?

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Welcome to this episode of Real Christianity.
00:00:08.360 My name is Dale Partridge, where each week I offer 15 to 20-minute answers to tough theological
00:00:13.260 and pastoral questions.
00:00:14.960 This show is a 100% listener-supported audio ministry of relearn.org.
00:00:20.320 And for those who don't know, our mission at relearn.org is to bring the church back
00:00:24.600 to the Bible.
00:00:25.140 For bold daily encouragements, join the over 500,000 Christians who follow us on social media.
00:00:30.740 You can just do that by searching relearn.org on any platform.
00:00:39.780 All right, we're going to be talking about dress or clothing in the church.
00:00:45.060 And in the West, we have been dressing down for several decades. 0.98
00:00:49.840 Casual culture has infiltrated society and the vast majority of Christians have followed suit. 1.00
00:00:55.140 no pun intended. Some men, you know, on a Sunday I've seen wear sandals and tank tops to church in 1.00
00:01:01.780 the summer, and women wearing miniskirts or even leggings as pants to church. And this trend from
00:01:08.880 formal attire to casual attire really began in the 1960s as a reaction to the, you know,
00:01:15.640 kind of stalwart view of the Orthodox Christian church. And in an effort to attract more visitors,
00:01:21.940 you know, the church began stripping anything, quote, churchy from the gathering and replaced
00:01:29.260 it with something less historical and more consistent with the modern culture. Think about
00:01:35.380 hymns were replaced with, you know, rock bands, and the pulpit was replaced with, you know,
00:01:41.560 the conference stage. And we, you know, obviously changed from suits and Sunday's best to,
00:01:47.920 a giant wide-neck t-shirt and some holy jeans. But what does the Bible say about dress and
00:01:58.080 church? Is there any principles for modifying our outward appearance to reflect our inward
00:02:04.900 reverence? And what about pastors? Should their clothing be a tool to distinguish themselves or
00:02:12.640 dignify themselves in the role that they're in as an overseer, or should they use clothing as a way
00:02:20.160 to make themselves more relatable to their congregations? So we're going to be talking
00:02:23.800 about all of this and more. But before we dive in, I just wanted to make one quick announcement.
00:02:29.500 If you guys haven't heard, we have a church planting training program. It's a school.
00:02:37.220 It used to be called St. Justin's. We actually decided to change the name
00:02:40.380 to reformationseminary.com. And this is a one-year program on how to plant a biblical house church.
00:02:48.020 And we have a current enrollment that's going right now with about 20 men who are getting
00:02:55.320 ready to train and plant a biblical house church later this year. And we have another enrollment
00:03:00.760 period coming in June of 2021. If you're interested in planting a biblical house church and looking
00:03:07.860 for some training. This is a great program. It's a great seminary program. It's a one-year
00:03:13.280 program, a graduate studies level program. And we found out that a lot of people in the seminary
00:03:20.140 world, there's this gap. There was either the people who have read their Bible, and they're
00:03:26.600 a mature Christian, and they're the guy that's leading Bible studies. And then on the continuum
00:03:33.240 of education, the next stop from being the smartest guy in your small group, the next stop
00:03:38.720 is three and a half to four years of seminary. And there's really nothing in between. And in the
00:03:45.720 medical world, you have EMT, nurse, nurse practitioner, doctor, surgeon, brain surgeon,
00:03:54.600 you have all these layers. And it's really helpful. In seminary, it's like you have one
00:04:02.580 stop, and then like 500 miles down the road, you have another stop. And we decided, hey, let's
00:04:07.560 create a one-year program that is taking all of the most important elements of a three-year program
00:04:16.280 and putting it into a one-year program on hermeneutics and exegesis and biblical theology
00:04:22.860 and preaching and ecclesiology and pastoral counseling and putting it all into this beautiful
00:04:29.780 one-year program that's really hands-on, in-person, and online. And that's what we've created at
00:04:37.600 Reformation Seminary. And you can watch a really great video of what we're doing. But if you or
00:04:43.460 somebody you know is interested in planting a biblical house church, I think more and more
00:04:48.300 people in this COVID era are realizing that it's possible that in the future, more and more people
00:04:53.880 might be gathering in home churches. And we would love to help you on that journey. So just go to
00:04:59.000 reformationseminary.com if you're interested in doing that. Okay, today's question is from
00:05:04.120 Franklin from Houston, Texas, and he asks, Pastor Dale, I'm a young adults pastor in the greater
00:05:11.500 Houston area, and our church is a very casual church regarding clothing. There is no church
00:05:18.660 standard for dress, and even our staff isn't the greatest example. In fact, in our young adults
00:05:25.380 group, I often need to remind them about modesty, sloppiness, and the need to not wear t-shirts with
00:05:32.740 worldly phrases printed on them. In many ways, it can feel like our church, especially the young
00:05:38.900 people, are trying harder to fit in with the world than they are trying to look different from it.
00:05:45.940 I know the Bible doesn't specifically teach or speak on how to dress at church, but do you have
00:05:52.320 any principles that may be helpful for me as a pastor? Thank you, Franklin. This is a really
00:05:57.420 good question. I actually think that many pastors and many mature Christians in churches probably
00:06:04.260 struggle with this issue, depending on the type of church that you're a part of. The vast majority
00:06:09.660 of today's churches are plagued with casual culture. Now, again, as you stated in your
00:06:17.220 question. The Bible doesn't speak directly to what people are to wear at church, and that's true. 0.99
00:06:23.240 But the Bible does speak about the principles of modesty, prudence, reverence, respect. You could
00:06:29.200 see some of these things in 1 Timothy 2, 1 Peter 3, 1 Corinthians 6, Romans 12, just this idea of
00:06:35.460 not conforming to the world, but actually being set apart, caring about the way that you look,
00:06:40.640 being respectable, being modest, etc. When we talk about dress with Christians, I often
00:06:46.020 And I hear people say, hey, you know what?
00:06:48.900 What I wear to church doesn't matter because God knows my heart.
00:06:52.200 And, you know, they might even, you know, try to justify their position by reciting 1 Samuel 16, 7, right?
00:06:57.420 The man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
00:07:02.720 But what they miss when they say that passage of Scripture is that the man looks at the outward appearance.
00:07:10.920 That's the reality is that man does look at the outward appearance.
00:07:14.420 Yes, God does look at the heart, and that's something we're not going to neglect as we
00:07:18.000 talk about that today, but man does look at the outward appearance.
00:07:22.460 And regardless of how you view it, the way you dress does affect the way that you are
00:07:26.640 perceived in this world and in the church.
00:07:29.380 And if you don't believe me, just try walking into a grocery store wearing, you know, your
00:07:33.300 long underwear and a purple pillowcase with some holes you put on as a shirt, and I promise
00:07:37.900 you that people will view you differently.
00:07:40.220 The truth is, the culture you live in, wherever you're at in the world, has parameters and boundaries that define what is acceptable or unacceptable regarding clothing or dress.
00:07:53.480 Now, any person who knows anything about history can see that culture is working diligently right now, diligently to make what was historically unacceptable the norm. 0.80
00:08:07.420 And this is why what historical women would only wear in front of their husbands, they now wear to the gym and to the grocery store. 0.67
00:08:17.140 And this is also why what historical men would wear to the factory, they now won't even wear at a wedding.
00:08:24.080 And so, Franklin, because you're the shepherd of these young people, these young adults, and the biblical example to the flock that the Lord has entrusted to you, I believe that this change in dress will actually need to be started or inaugurated with you.
00:08:42.740 And I think your example combined with faithful preaching on this issue, a loving, faithful
00:08:50.060 ministry, I think combined will be an effective strategy for influencing your people toward
00:08:56.560 a more respectful and reverent commitment to dressing appropriately.
00:09:01.700 Now, I'm going to answer this question that you've presented here by really speaking to
00:09:07.280 how I believe you as a pastor, Franklin, should dress.
00:09:11.740 and it's also the convictions that I have upon myself and how I dress as a pastor. And then I'll
00:09:18.380 close with a word to church members regarding dress. And so, like all Christians, pastors are 0.83
00:09:24.980 ambassadors for Christ, right? We are ambassadors of Christ, I should say. We are his servants,
00:09:32.140 you know, servants not greater than his master, right? We are his servants. We are his representatives
00:09:37.160 in the world. So first and foremost, our character needs to be reflective of that position that we
00:09:43.780 hold as children of God, as ambassadors of his kingdom. People should be able to look at us,
00:09:50.300 any Christian, but especially pastors, and see the attributes of Christ in our lives.
00:09:55.400 Now, as a pastor, there is another layer of duty because we hold a spiritual office as an overseer,
00:10:03.220 as an under-shepherd and a preacher of God's Word. And that is to say that, in a very real
00:10:10.340 sense, we are the ones, the pastors and teachers spoke of in the New Testament, who proclaim the
00:10:17.760 words of God to the people of God. Now, this is a weighty role that we sit in here, Franklin.
00:10:25.440 James 3.1 states, not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who
00:10:31.380 teach will be judged with greater strictness. So, you know, let's just think about this just
00:10:38.700 for a minute. And if you're not a pastor, I think this is still an edifying discussion.
00:10:42.500 So please pay attention. As a pastor, you know, who stands before men to represent God
00:10:50.380 and his word, my concern isn't so much with how dress will affect God's view of the pastor,
00:10:57.380 but how dress will affect man's view of the pastor.
00:11:03.000 And furthermore, the gospel is not lighthearted or superficial content,
00:11:09.120 meaning the things a faithful pastor says are very serious things.
00:11:15.920 In fact, because they're God's words, they're the most serious thing on earth.
00:11:22.100 So basically, you know, I want to break this down.
00:11:24.360 We have three points that really lay the groundwork.
00:11:27.380 for this kind of representative position of a pastor. So I'm going to take you through these
00:11:33.680 and I'll kind of wrap up my case here in a second. So number one, a pastor is a man whose
00:11:40.240 central duty is not to relate with the culture, but to most accurately represent God before the
00:11:48.480 culture and to do so in a manner which is respected by the culture in which they live in.
00:11:55.560 For example, 1 Timothy 3 requires that pastors are dignified, orderly, respectable, and thought well of, even by outsiders, is what it says in 1 Timothy 3.
00:12:08.260 So that's point number one.
00:12:09.320 Point number two is a pastor is a man whose duty is to proclaim to the culture the very words of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
00:12:22.040 A pastor is also a man who is sitting in a formal biblical office that has been set apart and appointed to the work of ministry and the spiritual oversight of God's children.
00:12:37.940 So we have really three things that I talked about. We have the physical representation before man, we have the verbal representation before man, and we have the formal office or position representation before man.
00:12:52.120 Now, personally, I believe that a suit or some degree of professional attire in our society best captures the type of dress that reflects not only the seriousness of the role that I'm in as a pastor, but it's also congruent with the seriousness of the words that I speak when I'm in the pulpit.
00:13:19.280 Dr. Steve Lawson actually talks about this in a really great video that I'll link in
00:13:23.240 the show notes, and I agree with him.
00:13:24.520 To proclaim and preach God's word, which again is a very weighty and serious and consequential
00:13:32.400 thing to do in its consequential content, to do so in a casual attire or casual clothing
00:13:41.540 seems to be inconsistent or incoherent with the activity of preaching God's word.
00:13:48.040 And again, this is why, again, government officials wear suits when they gather for Congress. They want their exterior dress to match not only the seriousness of the activity that they're carrying out, but also match the importance of the nation that they represent.
00:14:07.660 The same logic is carried out in the medical field, in the military, in the police, in the business world, right? People understand that dress is representative of and linked to the activity that they're doing. And this is why we don't wear suits when we mow lawns or we don't wear suits when we wash our cars. The degree of dress changes with the activities that we do, right?
00:14:34.160 If I'm going to go, you know, go camping, I'm not going to wear a suit.
00:14:38.220 If I'm going to go preach in the pulpit, I might wear a suit.
00:14:40.460 If I'm going to go to a men's meeting, I might just wear something more like business casual.
00:14:45.280 There's a range depending on the duties and the activities that you're partaking in.
00:14:50.040 Now, let me offer, you know, just maybe one more analogy that might help clarify this
00:14:55.580 point that I'm trying to make.
00:14:57.280 And let's just take Ivanka Trump for a minute as an example.
00:15:02.240 Her father is the president of the United States. 0.86
00:15:05.500 Now, she knows that she can run to her father in casual attire or even in her pajamas, and
00:15:13.160 her father loves her.
00:15:14.880 And that is, she really knows that her clothing doesn't change the relationship between her
00:15:20.120 and her father.
00:15:21.500 However, when she goes out into the public to formally represent her father before the
00:15:28.880 culture, she does so in a manner that's reflective of the respect that she has both for the person
00:15:34.240 her father is and the position that he's in. And again, I think this is true with the Lord
00:15:39.980 as well. I could run to Jesus and whatever, right? If I'm wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt,
00:15:46.200 I could run to Jesus and whatever, and the Lord loves me because I'm his son. So it's not about
00:15:50.780 a representation before the Lord necessarily. But when I go out to represent him before the culture,
00:15:57.820 before an onlooking world, I do modify my dress to best reflect my respect and reverence for my
00:16:06.940 father. So that's just my position. But Franklin, I believe this ultimately begins with you in
00:16:13.120 changing this kind of culture in your church. And I think when you as a pastor work to dress in a
00:16:18.420 way that most accurately reflects the reverence that you have for the one that you represent,
00:16:24.040 which is Christ. I believe this is going to both influence those in your flock and offer you the
00:16:30.100 authority to speak into their lives on this specific issue. Now, before I close with a
00:16:36.560 thought for everyone else regarding clothing at church, I do want to say, you know, I want to
00:16:41.340 speak just briefly about this matter of being kind of set apart as a pastor. You know, I guess
00:16:47.700 you're set apart as a Christian, you know, but even more specifically as a pastor and allowing
00:16:51.880 dress to display the difference of spiritual role or authority that's been given to you.
00:16:59.540 So again, you know, police officers and doctors allow their dress to validate their authority.
00:17:06.480 This is why, you know, getting pulled over by a police officer out of uniform would be very weird.
00:17:11.300 This is not a foreign idea, right? We just totally grasp this concept in our culture.
00:17:16.360 But I do think the pastor should be wearing something that in our culture displays maturity
00:17:23.200 and leadership. Again, I said this earlier, we have way too many hipster pastors with wide-neck
00:17:29.100 t-shirts with their chest hair hanging out and hats and torn up jeans in the pulpit.
00:17:33.060 It's got to stop. These are men who are, again, mimicking the culture in an attempt to attract
00:17:38.360 people to their church. But God's the one that builds the church, right? People build institutions,
00:17:45.380 but the Lord will build the family of God. We don't need to work to attract people. There's
00:17:50.540 a quote that I often say, what you win people with is what you win people to. So you better
00:17:54.240 be winning people with the gospel, with the Bible, and the covenant people of God. And so
00:18:01.280 while these people try to appeal to the culture, God is perfectly okay with distinctions between
00:18:11.880 male and female roles. He's okay with distinctions between young and old, and he's totally good with
00:18:18.560 the distinctions between pastors and church members. Now, we as pastors are called to a
00:18:24.800 high responsibility that requires what I believe is an elevated degree of character. If you read
00:18:30.740 1 Timothy 3 in Titus 1, you will see the character requirements of a pastor. Now, the idea of using
00:18:38.460 dress in some degree to signify authority, that idea is just going to be straight-up hated in
00:18:45.360 our culture. We live in an egalitarian society who wants everyone to be the same. But the truth
00:18:52.060 is, Franklin, you are not in the same position as your congregation. And as I mentioned earlier,
00:18:59.060 God will judge you with a stricter judgment. Acts 20.28 tells pastors,
00:19:04.800 And so bottom line, I just believe that dress may seem small, but it does play an important role in the church and in the society in which we live in.
00:19:29.860 I'm not saying that you have to wear a specific outfit.
00:19:33.460 it. I'm just saying is that it needs to be mature. It needs to be respectable. It needs to be
00:19:37.360 reverent. It needs to be representative of the character that you have. It needs to be something
00:19:45.140 that is reflective of the posture and reverence and respect that you have before the Lord.
00:19:51.940 So that's my point to that, Franklin. Now for everyone else, I'll just close briefly here,
00:19:57.340 is I think that this should, at the very minimum, cause you to ask yourself the question,
00:20:04.180 when I come to church on Sunday to stand before the Lord, to stand with my brothers and sisters
00:20:10.520 in Christ, and to stand with those whom the Lord maybe has caused to join the church as visitors,
00:20:19.340 does my dress rightly display my reverence for the Lord? And this doesn't mean that you have
00:20:26.860 to wear a full suit or a $300 dress to church. That's not what I'm saying. Our clothing just
00:20:31.380 needs to be modest, respectable, put together, representative of, you know, the gratitude that
00:20:40.680 we have from the Lord and the Lord putting us back together in freedom, in glory with him.
00:20:49.860 You know, you might want to ask the question, are you more willing to elevate your dress
00:20:53.860 in your attire for, you know, a dinner with your friends than you are with the gathering of the
00:21:01.420 saints. Now, are you teaching your children that the meeting of the saints on Sunday is really no
00:21:09.400 different than any other activities in your life? Or are you teaching your family that Sunday is the
00:21:15.880 Lord's day? It's the day of resurrection. It's the first day that he created the world.
00:21:23.180 It's an important day.
00:21:26.020 It's a day to be with the Lord's people, and we give our best to the Lord and his church.
00:21:31.920 We know that we're not earning favor by changing our attire.
00:21:35.660 We know that the Lord doesn't love us anymore because of what we wear.
00:21:41.320 We are simply displaying our reverence for him in the way that we come to church in the attire that we wear.
00:21:51.500 We're presenting to others by our attire and by our visual posture to see how important this weekly gathering truly is to us.
00:22:05.620 And so those are just good questions for you to consider.
00:22:08.420 I know so many families, you know, Steve Lawson, I'll put this video here at the end, does a really good job.
00:22:17.700 It talks about how when he was a little boy, his dad would help him get his clothes laid out on the bed, and how his dad would help him tie his tie the night before, and then they would loosen it up and then take it off, and he'd iron his clothes, and he'd shine his shoes that night before, and he knew that tomorrow is the Lord's day, and it's an important day, and we give our best to the Lord, and we stand before the Lord, and we would get dressed up to go see the president.
00:22:44.940 we're going to go and stand before Jesus Christ and worship him. And there was just this posture
00:22:50.840 of, you know, Dr. Lawson remembering that this is a big deal. It's different. It's a set-apart
00:22:58.700 day and a set-apart time. And again, this doesn't need to be a suit. It can just be
00:23:04.900 something that's professionally, you know, it's professional, it's respectable, it's modest,
00:23:11.720 and it doesn't need to cost a lot of money either.
00:23:14.200 I think that, you know,
00:23:15.400 just going to Salvation Army or a thrift store
00:23:17.420 and grabbing some different things is quite all right.
00:23:21.380 I've done that several times
00:23:22.680 in finding my own different ties or different sport coats.
00:23:26.520 And so that's my encouragement to you guys.
00:23:29.200 And hopefully this was helpful, just a discussion.
00:23:31.340 I think a lot of people ask about this
00:23:32.760 or what should we wear.
00:23:34.100 But again, I know I directed a lot of this conversation
00:23:36.180 towards pastors and I hopefully for those that are there,
00:23:39.100 yeah, I mean, maybe pass this episode along to your pastor if you think it's something that
00:23:45.700 would be edifying for him. But as always, I'm going to leave you guys with a few resources
00:23:50.100 that will further your understanding of this topic. The first is a video by Dr. Lawson,
00:24:00.640 and it's, Why Do I Wear a Coat and Tie? And it's a short, like five to six-minute video.
00:24:08.120 that is going to talk a lot about the things that I spoke about here,
00:24:12.120 but it's just from another perspective.
00:24:14.240 The other thing is, it's another video.
00:24:16.860 It's actually an interview, but it's Dr. Lawson.
00:24:19.040 He's saying kind of a similar story,
00:24:20.860 but actually he adds some more color and some more perspective.
00:24:24.720 But it's titled, a video is titled,
00:24:26.560 What You Wear to Church Reflects What You Think About God.
00:24:30.320 And I think it's just a helpful perspective to have.
00:24:34.440 And again, I think it's totally preference
00:24:36.420 because it's not something that's commanded in scripture,
00:24:38.460 but they're very helpful videos.
00:24:41.000 And this is just something that I think would be edifying for many people.
00:24:46.080 So check those out.
00:24:46.960 I'll have those on the post page for this episode.
00:24:49.600 This is episode number 127.
00:24:52.900 And as we close out, I just wanted to remind you guys,
00:24:55.720 if you guys have not left a review for the show,
00:24:58.360 and you guys are a regular listener to the Real Christianity podcast,
00:25:01.880 would you guys consider doing that?
00:25:03.300 You don't even need to write something.
00:25:04.420 You can just tap the stars.
00:25:06.240 But if you do write something, I will read it.
00:25:08.700 I actually read some of the reviews today.
00:25:12.160 And yeah, most of them were positive.
00:25:14.480 We had some people that were really upset about my episode on the Hebrew Roots Movement,
00:25:19.040 but it's the people that are from the Hebrew Roots Movement that were angry about that.
00:25:23.840 But yeah, thank you guys for the feedback, negative or positive.
00:25:27.680 It's good to hear.
00:25:28.520 If you guys also want to follow us on social media, relearn.org.
00:25:32.940 on Instagram. We're putting out daily content there on a regular basis that'll be edifying for
00:25:38.880 you in your journey with Christ. I also am producing and writing out content as often
00:25:43.960 as I possibly can on Twitter, and you can follow me at Dale Partridge. On that note, guys, thank
00:25:50.020 you for joining and being such loyal listeners to this episode or to this show. We really appreciate
00:25:55.640 it, and we will see you next week. Thank you for listening to this episode of Real Christianity.
00:26:02.940 If you're a regular listener to this show, would you prayerfully consider making a donation to
00:26:06.780 support our ministry efforts? Simply visit relearn.org forward slash donate. Again,
00:26:12.220 that's relearn.org forward slash donate. And for those looking to explore the idea of joining or
00:26:17.760 planting a church in your home, you can download our free PDF ebook titled The Basics of Biblical
00:26:22.840 House Church by visiting relearn.org forward slash house. Lastly, do you have a theological
00:26:28.360 question you would like answered on the show, submit your question at relearn.org forward slash
00:26:33.500 question. Thanks for joining us on this episode of Real Christianity. We will see you next Wednesday.