What Does The Bible Say About How We Should Dress?

Barnabas said:
Jesus tells a parable that the kingdom of heaven is like a wedding for his son. As the wedding was starting, the King saw a man not dressed for a wedding, and so that man was thrown in Hell. Yes, Jesus was speaking of spiritual things, but he used a valid physical analogy. Church is a wedding celebration between Jesus (the son) and the Church.

Immodest dress is not modest dress, as the NT instructs.

I hear people say "It's not what's on the outside that counts, it's what's on the inside that counts" (then explain all the nice cars in the church parking lot, if appearances don't matter, you hypocrites!). But, what's on the outside reflects what's on the inside. Those who dress casually for church are self-centred, not God-centered. They dress casually because that's what's most comfortable. They don't dress with respect or reverence, because they have no respect or reverence. They wouldn't even be allowed to dress in jeans at work, yet they were jeans to God's house.

We have a generation of self-centered Christians who want worship services that resemble concerts. That want to be wowed with miraculous signs. They think biblical eschatology is about them, and their generation. That want a preacher that tells them that God loves them just as they are (unrepentant), and that God wants them to be materially prosperous. So, in a country that uncontestably has a Christian supermajority, the percent of professed Christians is plummeting and the Christian culture that our fathers gave us has been turned into a cesspool of immorality and hostility to Christianity.

Yeah, when you come to church in blue jeans, I'm judging you. I'm judging you as self-centered and useless to God.
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I get to wear jeans to work. So you are saying if I drive a beater car I can wear jeans to church?
 
Barnabas, when you first wrote this, my intention was just to ignore it. But since it has been brought up, I have changed my mind. It is hard for me to conceive that YOU wrote this. Maybe I missed any previous posts you have written like this. I think you have not thought this through, my friend.

Barnabas said:
....But, what's on the outside reflects what's on the inside. Those who dress casually for church are self-centred, not God-centered. They dress casually because that's what's most comfortable. They don't dress with respect or reverence, because they have no respect or reverence. They wouldn't even be allowed to dress in jeans at work, yet they were jeans to God's house.
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I work for a church. Today, as on most days, I went to work in this church's front office wearing jeans. Black. With a red and white striped turtle neck. Black canvas shoes tied with red ribbons, with a bumble bee on each ribbon. My boss, for whom I am the assistant, didn't seem bothered by my clothes. He never does. Admittedly, I work there but do not attend there. However, I wear basically the same clothes to services where I worship.

Here's the thing, Barnabas: I am holding off on buying nicer clothes until we feel more comfortable financially. Over the last five years, I have spent a LOT of money on clothes, just to keep myself clothed, because I have lost a LOT of weight and needed to keep myself covered. I am trying to give our household a little respite. When I feel more comfortable, I will buy nicer pants. In the meantime, I will wear jeans.

Barnabas said:
We have a generation of self-centered Christians who want worship services that resemble concerts. That want to be wowed with miraculous signs. They think biblical eschatology is about them, and their generation. That want a preacher that tells them that God loves them just as they are (unrepentant), and that God wants them to be materially prosperous....
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Your assumption is uncalled for and untrue, Barnabas.

Barnabas said:
Yeah, when you come to church in blue jeans, I'm judging you. I'm judging you as self-centered and useless to God.
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Barnabas, oddly, I was hired to work for G-d at a Wesleyan church, and that is what I do.
 
Charis said:
I get to wear jeans to work. So you are saying if I drive a beater car I can wear jeans to church?
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If you can wear jeans to work, most likely it's a dirty, outside, or physical labor job. Church is none of those things. The vast majority of people who work cannot wear jeans.

Regarding the beater car, I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy of the slobs in church who are driving big, late modal cars. For a guy to throw on a slacks, shirt and tie doesn't take significant money. But, driving a nice car does cost a lot, and is an act of vanity.
 
Barnabas said:
If you can wear jeans to work, most likely it's a dirty, outside, or physical labor job. Church is none of those things. The vast majority of people who work cannot wear jeans.

Regarding the beater car, I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy of the slobs in church who are driving big, late modal cars. For a guy to throw on a slacks, shirt and tie doesn't take significant money. But, driving a nice car does cost a lot, and is an act of vanity.
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Well Mr. Righteousness, I do have one new vehicle mostly because I drive over 40 miles a day to my job. I require a dependable vehicle. I do wear jeans to church because I refuse to buy slacks because they are uncomfortable. I worship God in the spirit not my clothes. I really think you should probably repent your I am better than you attitude.
 
Patricia Dalmadge said:
I'm not sure. Either pull him aside and say it's wrong and he should go home and change then return or leave him till the service is over and tell him next time don't wear a dress cause the bible says it's wrong.
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I think I'd give him a hug and say "You were sent in the nick of time, thanks for coming."

These kinds of people need God more than the old lady who sits in the same part of a pew every Sunday.
 
I wonder why Bible specifically stops at saying wear modestly.. It does not get into greater details.. When we look at these kind of things from Bible for advice, certain things are laid out so clearly. Certain things are not. I wonder if this is a common pattern across Bible. For example, Bible goes into great detail on sexual immorality. However, not so much on dressing. Could be 2 reasons,

1) Certain sins are very gross. So Bible explicitly goes into details
2) Certain things are affiliated to culture. For example, if I go into my Church in India and hug a lady, probably I will be slapped or hit with shoes. I was so uncomfortable initially in US when ladies would hug me.
 
Ravindran said:
I wonder why Bible specifically stops at saying wear modestly.. It does not get into greater details.. .
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The Bible does go into some more detail than just saying "modest" dress. For example, Peter and Paul both say a women shouldn't have braided hair. The OT condemns cross-dressing.

Paul tells women to dress modestly. It's a Greek word that Strong's defines as "well arranged (neat), seemly (fitting, respectful), modest. The casual, and especially ultra-casual dress, in churches today is not modest. And, again, I repeat, I believe it reflects self-centeredness, not God-centeredness, of today's worshipers.
 
Charis said:
Well Mr. Righteousness, I do have one new vehicle mostly because I drive over 40 miles a day to my job.
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Does everyone else at your church with a late-model car also drive 40 miles to work? Do you wear jeans to work?

I do wear jeans to church because I refuse to buy slacks because they are uncomfortable.
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Wouldn't it be more comfortable to sleep in on Sunday?
 
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