One Sunday morning, I got up early to go to our monthly men’s breakfast at church. Not wishing to wake up my wife, I got dressed in the dark and slipped out the door.
When I arrived at the men’s breakfast, I looked down and noticed that my left shoe was burgundy, and my right shoe was black! I had to call my wife to bring me a matching shoe, since I didn’t want to make a new fashion statement. At least my socks matched.
My experience reminded me of a story I heard once about a Methodist pastor who visited a poor man and invited him to church. The man said that he didn’t have any dress shoes to wear. The preacher generously arranged for the man to get a navy blue suit, white cotton shirt, wing-tipped dress shoes and a colorful silk tie. However, the preacher was concerned when the poor man still did not attend his church the following Sunday. He called to ask if the man had received his new outfit. The man said, “Oh yes. In fact, I looked so nice that I decided I could go to the Presbyterian Church.”
Church people have a lot of different opinions about the proper clothes to wear. Some are adamant that we should dress up to honor the Lord. After all, if Esther put on her best clothes to appear before the king of Persia (Esther 5:1), shouldn’t we put on our best clothes to appear before Almighty God? Others insist that the Lord looks on the heart, not the outward appearance (1 Samuel 16:7), and we should not make clothing a barrier to the poor attending worship.
Both sides have a good point. The clothes that we wear to church should be clean, neat, and should not draw attention to ourselves either because they are too immodest or too casual for the occasion. However, God did not call me to be a fashion policeman. If the best that my brother has to wear is a burgundy shoe and a black shoe, then it’s not my job to judge him for wearing it to worship. I’m sure the Presbyterians would agree.
(Copyright 2010 by Bob Rogers. Email: brogers@fbcrincon.com. Read this column each Friday for a mix of religion and humor. For more “Holy Humor,” go to the Web page of First Baptist Church of Rincon at www.fbcrincon.com.)
