Wearing the Sunday Best

We’ve discussed before what type of clothing should be worn to church, so that is not necessarily what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about how the culture has affected how we come to church as a person– outwardly and inwardly.

First let’s look at how we come to church outwardly. Here I will briefly touch on what we’ve talked about before, mainly, how we prepare for church means a lot about what is going on inside of us. Personally, I feel that if I’m not giving God at least the respect as far as in how I dress as I would an employer then God really must not have that much of an effect on me. This is separate from the issue of whether women should wear head coverings, because it relates to the amount of effort I put into my external appearance for God.

Certainly I cannot expect to impress Him or wear something that would do the greates justice for being in the presence of the Creator of the Universe, but if I think I can come before Him casually do I fear Him? Do I consider coming together specifically to worship as something that’s different than everyday worship?

But what about my outward demeanor? Do I come to corporate worship weighed down by the things of the world, or expectant of hearing from God and being challanged/encouraged by His Word? Do I look forward to what the preacher will say? Do I rejoice at the fellowship that will be had? Or is it a time to be endured and I wear it with crossed arms and a cross expression on my face? (That’s not what Jesus meant by bearing His cross!)

And internally… Do I come to corporate worship “all prayed up”? Is there something between myself and a brother/sister? Between myself and God? Do I come expecting to get things right there? Have I spent time in the Word myself so I have something to share? Do I think about the ways God has blessed so that I can bless others?

What’s on our minds during the message? Do we focus on the message or on what other things we have to do? With our multitasking society, we are trained to think about many things at once. We do a disservice to any one thing because we cannot pay attention to that one thing exclusively.

Just now, while I’m writing this post, my comment notifier went off telling me that someone has spammed my comments yet again. Instinctively, I mouse-wheel clicked on the Manage Tab in WordPress (in Firefox!) to open the management console in another tab to moderate the comment and blast the spam– you see what I mean?

What do we wear outside and inside? How is our heart? Is God– the occupant– squished or does He reign in the house that is your heart? Does that show?