give the impression that they had to dress up to come most would not[ /quote]this would be part of what I mean. Whats more important, dressing up and looking fancy, or getting these kids in church, it sound sliek you have a lo of kids whose families are not in church, therefore not encouraged at home, or taught about God at home, make sit our job if their parents negelect it. if dressing up drives them away we're responsiable.
If as a church we decide to alter our personal dress standards to accomadate those who cannot or will not dress up then do we run the risk of getting on a slippery slope of becoming to accomodating?
Hopefully my first answer helps cover this.
it depends on what accomations, it also depends on the people in the area our 'church' ministers in, for instance, I think it's Ann, whose church is in a more wealthy area (not rich I guess, just not poor) this may not apply to them, I don't know.
We all know that the secular society would love to see the church become just like them.A church that is identical to the world means a church that is not letting it light shine into society around it
They wear clothes,w e wear clothes. I never said we had to wear what the world wears. The world approves of and wears some pretty bad stuff, nearly naked is publically acceptable. I did not endorse this in a 'church' building or by christians at all. If we are modestly covered, we are not the world. One can wear a dress all dressed up, or suit and tie of course, and still not reverence God, still be of the world. I do notice peopel in the world do wear dresses and suit and ties. So if we dress up we're still looking outwardly like the world. All the while ignoring the inward.
Yes if we compromise on various issues
it isn't compromise , scripture does not says we can only wear fancy dress up clothes to 'church', thus purposely eliminating some from the worship service by telling them if they don't look like us they aren't reverencing God. Scripture does warn against playing favoritism of those who do dress well while others can not. And thats exactly what this thread is about.
we have compromised our message
never suggested the message of the gospel be compromised.
Modesty is the key and it applies every day, not just at church. We have people that faithfully attend at the barn that would never set foot in 1st Baptist. If dressing down is compromise I'm guilty. I wear my work clothes every day. I have very few "dress up" clothes. If I'm working on the truck or tractor or something I can wash up and step into church. My nephew might put his horse up and come right into church. Run the rooster out and lets get started. No one cares because we're all there for the same reason: to hear the gospel and worship the Lord. Whether or not I've got a little grease on my pants is irrelevant to the message.
To hear some on this board tell it, your church does not reverence God and your full of compromise.
But I think it sounds alright, God honoring God worshiping.
Sometimes we DO change what we do in non-essentials to reach those who would not otherwise be reached. If dressing to the 9s means that there will be youth or others who will be uncomfortable, what is it to change to a nice button-down shirt and a pair of khakis instead of a suit to show that you're not "above" them? How do you think someone would feel if they walked into a church in a nice pair of jeans and a t-shirt and they looked around and everyone looked like they were going to attend a wedding? God isn't impressed with the outside of us - Scripture is FULL of words to that matter (God looks on the heart while man looks outside, a woman should have her beauty come from good works and not fancy clothing, the richly dressed person and the bum coming to worship, etc.) but He wants a heart that is turned towards Him. We can do that in 3 piece suits and ugly jumpers or we can do that in jeans and a sweatshirt. The question is honestly what is your culture in your church, and who are we trying to draw to Christ? We never compromise the Gospel and we teach the Word of God clearly but if we are to reach others for Christ, we sometimes need to step out of ourselves to be able to share a blessing.
good post Ann.
I wonder how many cheanges of clothes Paul had and if he changed and dressed up oer and above his normal before preaching?
The bottom line here, folks, is that scripture calls for modest apparel. What this thread demonstrates is that some equate "modest" with "formal" and in doing so, incorrectly conclude that "informal" means "immodest".
