00:00:25.140For bold daily encouragements, join the over 500,000 Christians who follow us on social media.
00:00:30.740You can just do that by searching relearn.org on any platform.
00:00:39.780All right, we're going to be talking about dress or clothing in the church.
00:00:45.060And in the West, we have been dressing down for several decades.0.98
00:00:49.840Casual culture has infiltrated society and the vast majority of Christians have followed suit.1.00
00:00:55.140no pun intended. Some men, you know, on a Sunday I've seen wear sandals and tank tops to church in1.00
00:01:01.780the summer, and women wearing miniskirts or even leggings as pants to church. And this trend from
00:01:08.880formal attire to casual attire really began in the 1960s as a reaction to the, you know,
00:01:15.640kind of stalwart view of the Orthodox Christian church. And in an effort to attract more visitors,
00:01:21.940you know, the church began stripping anything, quote, churchy from the gathering and replaced
00:01:29.260it with something less historical and more consistent with the modern culture. Think about
00:01:35.380hymns were replaced with, you know, rock bands, and the pulpit was replaced with, you know,
00:01:41.560the conference stage. And we, you know, obviously changed from suits and Sunday's best to,
00:01:47.920a giant wide-neck t-shirt and some holy jeans. But what does the Bible say about dress and
00:01:58.080church? Is there any principles for modifying our outward appearance to reflect our inward
00:02:04.900reverence? And what about pastors? Should their clothing be a tool to distinguish themselves or
00:02:12.640dignify themselves in the role that they're in as an overseer, or should they use clothing as a way
00:02:20.160to make themselves more relatable to their congregations? So we're going to be talking
00:02:23.800about all of this and more. But before we dive in, I just wanted to make one quick announcement.
00:02:29.500If you guys haven't heard, we have a church planting training program. It's a school.
00:02:37.220It used to be called St. Justin's. We actually decided to change the name
00:02:40.380to reformationseminary.com. And this is a one-year program on how to plant a biblical house church.
00:02:48.020And we have a current enrollment that's going right now with about 20 men who are getting
00:02:55.320ready to train and plant a biblical house church later this year. And we have another enrollment
00:03:00.760period coming in June of 2021. If you're interested in planting a biblical house church and looking
00:03:07.860for some training. This is a great program. It's a great seminary program. It's a one-year
00:03:13.280program, a graduate studies level program. And we found out that a lot of people in the seminary
00:03:20.140world, there's this gap. There was either the people who have read their Bible, and they're
00:03:26.600a mature Christian, and they're the guy that's leading Bible studies. And then on the continuum
00:03:33.240of education, the next stop from being the smartest guy in your small group, the next stop
00:03:38.720is three and a half to four years of seminary. And there's really nothing in between. And in the
00:03:45.720medical world, you have EMT, nurse, nurse practitioner, doctor, surgeon, brain surgeon,
00:03:54.600you have all these layers. And it's really helpful. In seminary, it's like you have one
00:04:02.580stop, and then like 500 miles down the road, you have another stop. And we decided, hey, let's
00:04:07.560create a one-year program that is taking all of the most important elements of a three-year program
00:04:16.280and putting it into a one-year program on hermeneutics and exegesis and biblical theology
00:04:22.860and preaching and ecclesiology and pastoral counseling and putting it all into this beautiful
00:04:29.780one-year program that's really hands-on, in-person, and online. And that's what we've created at
00:04:37.600Reformation Seminary. And you can watch a really great video of what we're doing. But if you or
00:04:43.460somebody you know is interested in planting a biblical house church, I think more and more
00:04:48.300people in this COVID era are realizing that it's possible that in the future, more and more people
00:04:53.880might be gathering in home churches. And we would love to help you on that journey. So just go to
00:04:59.000reformationseminary.com if you're interested in doing that. Okay, today's question is from
00:05:04.120Franklin from Houston, Texas, and he asks, Pastor Dale, I'm a young adults pastor in the greater
00:05:11.500Houston area, and our church is a very casual church regarding clothing. There is no church
00:05:18.660standard for dress, and even our staff isn't the greatest example. In fact, in our young adults
00:05:25.380group, I often need to remind them about modesty, sloppiness, and the need to not wear t-shirts with
00:05:32.740worldly phrases printed on them. In many ways, it can feel like our church, especially the young
00:05:38.900people, are trying harder to fit in with the world than they are trying to look different from it.
00:05:45.940I know the Bible doesn't specifically teach or speak on how to dress at church, but do you have
00:05:52.320any principles that may be helpful for me as a pastor? Thank you, Franklin. This is a really
00:05:57.420good question. I actually think that many pastors and many mature Christians in churches probably
00:06:04.260struggle with this issue, depending on the type of church that you're a part of. The vast majority
00:06:09.660of today's churches are plagued with casual culture. Now, again, as you stated in your
00:06:17.220question. The Bible doesn't speak directly to what people are to wear at church, and that's true.0.99
00:06:23.240But the Bible does speak about the principles of modesty, prudence, reverence, respect. You could
00:06:29.200see some of these things in 1 Timothy 2, 1 Peter 3, 1 Corinthians 6, Romans 12, just this idea of
00:06:35.460not conforming to the world, but actually being set apart, caring about the way that you look,
00:06:40.640being respectable, being modest, etc. When we talk about dress with Christians, I often
00:06:46.020And I hear people say, hey, you know what?
00:06:48.900What I wear to church doesn't matter because God knows my heart.
00:06:52.200And, you know, they might even, you know, try to justify their position by reciting 1 Samuel 16, 7, right?
00:06:57.420The man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
00:07:02.720But what they miss when they say that passage of Scripture is that the man looks at the outward appearance.
00:07:10.920That's the reality is that man does look at the outward appearance.
00:07:14.420Yes, God does look at the heart, and that's something we're not going to neglect as we
00:07:18.000talk about that today, but man does look at the outward appearance.
00:07:22.460And regardless of how you view it, the way you dress does affect the way that you are
00:07:26.640perceived in this world and in the church.
00:07:29.380And if you don't believe me, just try walking into a grocery store wearing, you know, your
00:07:33.300long underwear and a purple pillowcase with some holes you put on as a shirt, and I promise
00:07:37.900you that people will view you differently.
00:07:40.220The 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.
00:07:53.480Now, 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
00:08:07.420And 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
00:08:17.140And this is also why what historical men would wear to the factory, they now won't even wear at a wedding.
00:08:24.080And 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.
00:08:42.740And I think your example combined with faithful preaching on this issue, a loving, faithful
00:08:50.060ministry, I think combined will be an effective strategy for influencing your people toward
00:08:56.560a more respectful and reverent commitment to dressing appropriately.
00:09:01.700Now, I'm going to answer this question that you've presented here by really speaking to
00:09:07.280how I believe you as a pastor, Franklin, should dress.
00:09:11.740and it's also the convictions that I have upon myself and how I dress as a pastor. And then I'll
00:09:18.380close with a word to church members regarding dress. And so, like all Christians, pastors are0.83
00:09:24.980ambassadors for Christ, right? We are ambassadors of Christ, I should say. We are his servants,
00:09:32.140you know, servants not greater than his master, right? We are his servants. We are his representatives
00:09:37.160in the world. So first and foremost, our character needs to be reflective of that position that we
00:09:43.780hold as children of God, as ambassadors of his kingdom. People should be able to look at us,
00:09:50.300any Christian, but especially pastors, and see the attributes of Christ in our lives.
00:09:55.400Now, as a pastor, there is another layer of duty because we hold a spiritual office as an overseer,
00:10:03.220as an under-shepherd and a preacher of God's Word. And that is to say that, in a very real
00:10:10.340sense, we are the ones, the pastors and teachers spoke of in the New Testament, who proclaim the
00:10:17.760words of God to the people of God. Now, this is a weighty role that we sit in here, Franklin.
00:10:25.440James 3.1 states, not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who
00:10:31.380teach will be judged with greater strictness. So, you know, let's just think about this just
00:10:38.700for a minute. And if you're not a pastor, I think this is still an edifying discussion.
00:10:42.500So please pay attention. As a pastor, you know, who stands before men to represent God
00:10:50.380and his word, my concern isn't so much with how dress will affect God's view of the pastor,
00:10:57.380but how dress will affect man's view of the pastor.
00:11:03.000And furthermore, the gospel is not lighthearted or superficial content,
00:11:09.120meaning the things a faithful pastor says are very serious things.
00:11:15.920In fact, because they're God's words, they're the most serious thing on earth.
00:11:22.100So basically, you know, I want to break this down.
00:11:24.360We have three points that really lay the groundwork.
00:11:27.380for this kind of representative position of a pastor. So I'm going to take you through these
00:11:33.680and I'll kind of wrap up my case here in a second. So number one, a pastor is a man whose
00:11:40.240central duty is not to relate with the culture, but to most accurately represent God before the
00:11:48.480culture and to do so in a manner which is respected by the culture in which they live in.
00:11:55.560For 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.
00:12:09.320Point 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.
00:12:22.040A 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.
00:12:37.940So 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.
00:12:52.120Now, 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.
00:13:19.280Dr. Steve Lawson actually talks about this in a really great video that I'll link in
00:13:24.520To proclaim and preach God's word, which again is a very weighty and serious and consequential
00:13:32.400thing to do in its consequential content, to do so in a casual attire or casual clothing
00:13:41.540seems to be inconsistent or incoherent with the activity of preaching God's word.
00:13:48.040And 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.
00:14:07.660The 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?
00:14:34.160If I'm going to go, you know, go camping, I'm not going to wear a suit.
00:14:38.220If I'm going to go preach in the pulpit, I might wear a suit.
00:14:40.460If I'm going to go to a men's meeting, I might just wear something more like business casual.
00:14:45.280There's a range depending on the duties and the activities that you're partaking in.
00:14:50.040Now, let me offer, you know, just maybe one more analogy that might help clarify this
00:15:21.500However, when she goes out into the public to formally represent her father before the
00:15:28.880culture, she does so in a manner that's reflective of the respect that she has both for the person
00:15:34.240her father is and the position that he's in. And again, I think this is true with the Lord
00:15:39.980as well. I could run to Jesus and whatever, right? If I'm wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt,
00:15:46.200I could run to Jesus and whatever, and the Lord loves me because I'm his son. So it's not about
00:15:50.780a representation before the Lord necessarily. But when I go out to represent him before the culture,
00:15:57.820before an onlooking world, I do modify my dress to best reflect my respect and reverence for my
00:16:06.940father. So that's just my position. But Franklin, I believe this ultimately begins with you in
00:16:13.120changing this kind of culture in your church. And I think when you as a pastor work to dress in a
00:16:18.420way that most accurately reflects the reverence that you have for the one that you represent,
00:16:24.040which is Christ. I believe this is going to both influence those in your flock and offer you the
00:16:30.100authority to speak into their lives on this specific issue. Now, before I close with a
00:16:36.560thought for everyone else regarding clothing at church, I do want to say, you know, I want to
00:16:41.340speak just briefly about this matter of being kind of set apart as a pastor. You know, I guess
00:16:47.700you're set apart as a Christian, you know, but even more specifically as a pastor and allowing
00:16:51.880dress to display the difference of spiritual role or authority that's been given to you.
00:16:59.540So again, you know, police officers and doctors allow their dress to validate their authority.
00:17:06.480This is why, you know, getting pulled over by a police officer out of uniform would be very weird.
00:17:11.300This is not a foreign idea, right? We just totally grasp this concept in our culture.
00:17:16.360But I do think the pastor should be wearing something that in our culture displays maturity
00:17:23.200and leadership. Again, I said this earlier, we have way too many hipster pastors with wide-neck
00:17:29.100t-shirts with their chest hair hanging out and hats and torn up jeans in the pulpit.
00:17:33.060It's got to stop. These are men who are, again, mimicking the culture in an attempt to attract
00:17:38.360people to their church. But God's the one that builds the church, right? People build institutions,
00:17:45.380but the Lord will build the family of God. We don't need to work to attract people. There's
00:17:50.540a quote that I often say, what you win people with is what you win people to. So you better
00:17:54.240be winning people with the gospel, with the Bible, and the covenant people of God. And so
00:18:01.280while these people try to appeal to the culture, God is perfectly okay with distinctions between
00:18:11.880male and female roles. He's okay with distinctions between young and old, and he's totally good with
00:18:18.560the distinctions between pastors and church members. Now, we as pastors are called to a
00:18:24.800high responsibility that requires what I believe is an elevated degree of character. If you read
00:18:30.7401 Timothy 3 in Titus 1, you will see the character requirements of a pastor. Now, the idea of using
00:18:38.460dress in some degree to signify authority, that idea is just going to be straight-up hated in
00:18:45.360our culture. We live in an egalitarian society who wants everyone to be the same. But the truth
00:18:52.060is, Franklin, you are not in the same position as your congregation. And as I mentioned earlier,
00:18:59.060God will judge you with a stricter judgment. Acts 20.28 tells pastors,
00:19:04.800And 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.
00:19:29.860I'm not saying that you have to wear a specific outfit.
00:19:33.460it. I'm just saying is that it needs to be mature. It needs to be respectable. It needs to be
00:19:37.360reverent. It needs to be representative of the character that you have. It needs to be something
00:19:45.140that is reflective of the posture and reverence and respect that you have before the Lord.
00:19:51.940So that's my point to that, Franklin. Now for everyone else, I'll just close briefly here,
00:19:57.340is I think that this should, at the very minimum, cause you to ask yourself the question,
00:20:04.180when I come to church on Sunday to stand before the Lord, to stand with my brothers and sisters
00:20:10.520in Christ, and to stand with those whom the Lord maybe has caused to join the church as visitors,
00:20:19.340does my dress rightly display my reverence for the Lord? And this doesn't mean that you have
00:20:26.860to wear a full suit or a $300 dress to church. That's not what I'm saying. Our clothing just
00:20:31.380needs to be modest, respectable, put together, representative of, you know, the gratitude that
00:20:40.680we have from the Lord and the Lord putting us back together in freedom, in glory with him.
00:20:49.860You know, you might want to ask the question, are you more willing to elevate your dress
00:20:53.860in your attire for, you know, a dinner with your friends than you are with the gathering of the
00:21:01.420saints. Now, are you teaching your children that the meeting of the saints on Sunday is really no
00:21:09.400different than any other activities in your life? Or are you teaching your family that Sunday is the
00:21:15.880Lord's day? It's the day of resurrection. It's the first day that he created the world.
00:21:26.020It's a day to be with the Lord's people, and we give our best to the Lord and his church.
00:21:31.920We know that we're not earning favor by changing our attire.
00:21:35.660We know that the Lord doesn't love us anymore because of what we wear.
00:21:41.320We are simply displaying our reverence for him in the way that we come to church in the attire that we wear.
00:21:51.500We're presenting to others by our attire and by our visual posture to see how important this weekly gathering truly is to us.
00:22:05.620And so those are just good questions for you to consider.
00:22:08.420I know so many families, you know, Steve Lawson, I'll put this video here at the end, does a really good job.
00:22:17.700It 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.
00:22:44.940we're going to go and stand before Jesus Christ and worship him. And there was just this posture
00:22:50.840of, you know, Dr. Lawson remembering that this is a big deal. It's different. It's a set-apart
00:22:58.700day and a set-apart time. And again, this doesn't need to be a suit. It can just be