OK, so Dan put me up to this. Pick a topic, and just start writing. So this topic came to mind. How did it come to mind, you ask? Well, I was thinking about our church’s service in the park this Sunday. And how much I enjoy it. And how one of the reasons I enjoy it so much is because it’s appropriate to wear a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals, even when leading the music. And that led me to thinking about church attire in general.

So what do you wear to church? I’m talking about Sunday morning, when you attend the regular weekly service. At Noelridge, I usually wear a pair of khaki pants and some sort of collared shirt. If I’m feeling sloppy I’ll wear jeans with the collared shirt. One time I even left the shirt untucked. But usually it’s khakis and a collared shirt.

Now, this isn’t a universal dress code for our church. Our pastor usually wears dress pants, but may match those with a golf shirt in the summer, other times a shirt and tie, and on rare occasion, add the jacket for the full formal look. On any given Sunday you will see lots of folks in jeans, and in the summer you will see a fair number wearing shorts as well. Given that our air conditioning doesn’t keep up very well in the summer, shorts seem like an attractive option at times.

Having said that, I just can’t bring myself to wear shorts to church. Why? I suppose part of it is thanks to my mother, who was firmly against wearing shorts to church, even for Wednesday night activities. Old habits die hard. Another part of it is that if I’m up leading music for the service, I figure not everybody wants to have to look at my bare legs. And I suppose another part of it is that I know there are people in the church who probably are against wearing shorts on Sundays, and as part of the leadership I don’t feel the need to push the point. I’m not caving in to their legalism, I just don’t feel like making an issue of it.

I had a discussion on this topic with my in-laws some time back when they were visiting. They come from the “dress your best to honor the Lord” school of church attire. Interestingly, they were also missionaries in Indonesia for a few years. So I wanted to ask if just going in a loincloth and other similar tribal garb would be OK. They didn’t bite. It’s based on culture, they said. We should look our best to honor God.

But what about that verse that says “man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart?” I asked. Well, yeah, sure, that’s true. But hey, we’d dress nicely if we were going to meet the President, right? So why do we dress sloppily when we go to church? Do we have more respect for the President than for God? At this point I’m shaking my head a little bit.

Then they noted that the youth pastor at their church (a megachurch in Charlotte, NC) got some very bad reactions from older folks in their church because he didn’t wear a tie to their formal service. He was wearing a jacket over a polo shirt for the “informal” service, which had just gotten over, and he just wore that to the “formal” service as well. And they mentioned this to me as an example of people being disrespectful with the dress code. I think about that time I asked how much improved the service would be if the pastor just left on his polo shirt but the old folks started thinking about God instead of worrying about the pastor without a tie. I think the discussion went downhill from there.

So if you happen to be in Noelridge Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 10:30 this Sunday, you’ll probably hear me playing my guitar, leading some singing. Pretty much guaranteed I"ll be wearing cut-off shorts, a t-shirt, and my sandals. And having a lot of fun doing it.

And thanks, Dan, for the suggestion. It’s the most fun I’ve had blogging in quite a while. I’ll have to do it again sometime.