July 1, 1997 (Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - The following is excerpted from an article entitled "Modernize or Perish" by Pastor Alan Morrison of Derbyshire, England (The Manse, Market Place, Crich, Nr. Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 5DD, United Kingdom. E-mail: diakrisis@msn.com) --

It is certainly wrong to give the cold shoulder to an unbeliever who comes to our churches dressed inappropriately because he doesn't know any better. But that is a different matter to the universal push among professing Christians towards a contrived informality or, as I heard one Church of England bishop approvingly call it, "leisure-wear Christianity". In my younger Christian days I went through a phase in which I embraced the idea that anyone can wear what they like to church, or what they feel comfortable in, because God looks at the heart rather than the clothing. But I came to realise the fallaciousness of that thinking. If you were invited to Buckingham Palace to a Garden Party there, what would you wear? Old jeans with "designer" slits in the knee? Of course not. You'd mark the occasion out as different to anything else you do and dress specially in the best clothes you had. Now if you'd do that when you were going to meet the Queen of England, why do you deliberately dress down for the King of Kings? "Ah", you may say, "the Queen looks on the outside but God looks on the heart". To which I reply: "God certainly looks on the heart, but doesn't what we wear on the outside make a big statement about what's on the inside?". If we put on our scruffiest clothes to come to worship, or dress as if we were going to play soccer with the lads on the reccy, doesn't that say something about our attitude? Whereas if we mark our worship-times out as being different to anything we do anywhere else, a powerful impression is made both on ourselves and on those around us. A formality born out of deference to the Lord and His presence is not the same as "stuffiness". We have to set the right tone for worship, so that when unbelievers come in they can see that we mark out or worship-time as being different to our leisure-time. Healthy deferential formality makes a massive difference to the sense of dignity which we establish. In fact the very first words which are spoken can make or break a service of worship. Which would you rather hear first in a meeting -- a jolly, Falstaffian "G'morning, everyone", or a profound "My sincere greetings to you; and I welcome you in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ". It may sound formal to those who have "upgraded" to modernisation, but it carries a dignity and grandeur which will pave the way for all that follows.

See also "How to Dress in Church -- Follow-up."