May 08, 2007
Dress Code
I recently had the opportunity to be in the audience during the videotaping for Liz Curtis Higgs’, ‘Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible’ and ‘Embrace Grace’. The dress code for the women only event was, “Sunday attire. Brightly-colored clothes are best. No hats, please, so we can see your beautiful faces.” The audience represented a broad spectrum of ages, but I was surprised to see how casually many of the ladies were dressed. Obviously in today’s church we each have our own interpretation of what constitutes ‘Sunday attire’. One elderly lady walked into the auditorium wearing a hat and taking a seat behind me said to her friend, “I know they said not to wear hats, but I didn’t wash my hair today.” With the way we bend or even ignore instructions, I can see how Scripture falls victim to man’s individual interpretation.
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Gail;
----I am still sorting out my thoughts on the casual/formal debate. I recognize the benefits and detriments of each. But I think I am trying to get a finger on something deeper and below the surface of the issue. Mutually held values are one of several elements that define society. Not too many decades ago there seemed to be no need to ask why one should dress up for church. The answer was quick, simple, and understood: we were at church to worship the most holy and powerful God, the only God in existence, Whose love took time and occasion to desire each of us individually. That should command some respect.
----But I think that answer possibly fell a step short. It is entirely true that dressing up shows respect, and respect is one of many attitudes we should show towards God. But there is also an element of mutual reinforcement involved. People are notorious for not wanting to be seen as differing from the norm. Many young people think they must break from the norm to be who they are. Yet they are still careful to look like the rest of their peers who are doing likewise. Norms are inescapable, and so are the non-verbal messages which they carry. Those who break from the norm of dress up now join the norm of dress down. Unfortunately what is lost in the trade out is the message that was silently spoken to one another by a carefully dressed-up appearance: respect, honor, and reverence.
----I wonder today how many people give honest and deep thought to respect, honor, and reverence. I know several decades ago there was not much deep, honest thought given to tolerate, socialize, and celebrate. Although there should have been, I am having trouble believing that the predominant non-verbal communication we should be giving to one another is that of, “Leave me alone, I (try to) define my own norms, and I am here to emote and enjoy.” This seems to be the substance of less social behavior and personal attachment rather than more. It just seems to me that a non-verbal message that says, “I am beside you, I realize your sensibilities, I am here to learn, acknowledge, and enjoy,” is much more reinforcing to the attributes that make the activities of a group of individuals resemble the life of a body, rather than the party of a crowd.
----So I continue to wonder whether there is some new dimension of spirituality that the church needs to enter into through the non-verbal messages of dressing down. Or whether there was some level of character or personality the church failed to obtain by its formal observance of liturgies and traditional repetition of tunes that had become spiritually meaningful to the people. Or whether there is some new plain of interrelationship to be found in an auditorium rather than in a sanctuary. Or whether there is some new knowledge gained by listening to a sermon delivered over a music stand that could not have been imparted from a pulpit. Has the society of our church stepped up and away from the defining constraints of a restrictive norm, or has it stepped down into the confusing freedom of self-definition?
----We are members of a body, but we are also individuals. Both aspects of the nature of coming together must be acknowledged. Personally, I believe that what I say by what I wear is important. The fact that people are less apt to discriminate upon appearance today is less meaningful to me than the fact that I do not wear slacks and shirt into the swimming pool nor a swimming suit to the office. The messages are just too different. And we do not play Taps to our baby to put it to sleep, nor do we play the tune of Happy Days are Here Again at a funeral. Tune itself carries emotional message. Society is made of these messages. What are we making of the society of our Lord’s church?
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