4. The Biblical case for dressing up

Can a biblical case be made for dressing up for church? Let me take a stab at it. I’m sure there will be some who will disagree. I will still be friends with them. Hopefully they will still be friends with me. My main point in writing this book is to clear away some of the illegitimate arguments and get people to make decisions based upon the Bible alone.

We are indeed commanded to dress up.

My thesis is that God wants us to honor Him in the way we dress for church. There are several commands in the Bible to dress differently for church, and, more specifically, to dress up for public worship. In Isaiah 52:1, God calls the New Covenant Church¹² to “awake” (v. 1a), to “put on your beautiful garments” (v. 1b), and to purify the church (v. 1c). All three admonitions describe ways to honor the greatness of God in worship. In 1 Timothy 2:8-9 Paul tells us what is “proper” in worship in relation to posture (v. 8), clothing (v. 9), and speech (v. 10). Three times the Scripture calls us to “worship the Lord in holy attire.” Each time it is connected to the formal worship of God in the corporate gathering of the saints. In context, the first two references are addressed to “the families of the peoples” (1 Chron. 16:28; Psalm 96:7) and “all the earth” (1 Chron. 16:30; Psalm 96:9). This shows that the command for different clothing was not intended for the priests, but applied to the Gentiles for all time. In context, the third reference is given to the angels of heaven (Psalm 29:1) and shows that the reason is not simply one of modesty, but one of honor for the Lord. The reverence of the earthly worship is patterned after the reverence of the heavenly worship. The commands for holy attire are:

“Give to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the LORD in holy attire!”

1 Chron. 16:29

“Oh, worship the LORD in holy attire! Tremble before Him, all the earth.”

Psalms 96:9

“Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in holy attire.”

Psalms 29:2

Granted, the New King James translates this as “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,” following the tradition of the King James. But as one commentary said, “Suggestive as this rendering is, it can hardly be right; and the true sense is that given in the R.V. margin, ‘in holy array.’ “¹³ However, if you want to take away my ball, I won’t go home that easily. There are more arguments that will be offered later.

Nevertheless, if this translation is correct,¹⁴ it means that we must be “properly dressed for the occasion” of worship (NET marginal note on Psalm 29:2). Since the word “holy” means “to be set apart,” this is a call to have special clothing for church that is different.¹⁵ If this is what God is calling for, then we would expect to see Biblical examples of people who dressed differently for worship. And this is exactly what we find.

There are examples of those commands being fulfilled by priests and non-priests; Jews and Gentiles.

2 Samuel 12:20 says, “So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped.” No grunge styles for David! Instead, we see David concerned with good grooming and proper hygiene (“washed and anointed himself”) and proper clothing (“and changed his clothes”). Nor was this unique to his era. When Jacob was commanded by God to worship, Jacob told his family, “be clean, and change your garments: and let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God” (Gen. 35:2-3). Fortunately his family hadn’t learned the trick of calling this legalism. So Jacob’s family followed the same pattern: concern with good grooming and hygiene (“be clean”) and dressing appropriately for worship (“change your garments”). So God’s concern is not simply with respectful clothing, but also with respectful grooming and hygiene.

Nowhere in the Bible can we find a casual approach to God. Even when God met Moses in his work clothes, out in the wilderness, God still mandated a difference: “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” (Ex. 3:5). When God met the children of Israel to speak to them, God told Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready…” (Ex. 19:10-11). Over and over the priests are told to wash their clothes and to put on special clothes for worship (Numb. 8:21; 19:7; Ex. 28:2,4; 29:29; 31:10; 35:19,21; etc.).

What is interesting about these instructions is that God mandated priestly garments for going into the holy place, but non-priestly garments when they ministered before the people (see Ezek. 42:14; 44:19). So there were holy (i.e., special) clothes that all believing Jews and Gentiles (including priests) wore in the temple and there were holy (i.e., special) garments that the priests alone could wear when they were behind the curtain in God’s presence. Just as there were degrees of holiness in the temple based on proximity to God, there were degrees of holiness in clothing, with the clothing worn into the holy of holies being worn only once a year (Lev. 16:1-34; Ex. 28-29). So there are several examples of laymen and priests who dressed up for church.

Dressing up shows respect for God and worship as we publicly covenant with Him.

The third reason why we should dress up for church is that it shows respect for God and for God’s place of worship. God says to those who worship Him, “if I am a master, where is My respect?” (Mal. 1:6 NASB). It is not enough to say that we respect Him in our hearts. God wants respect shown. Though the priests protested, “In what way have we despised your name?” (v. 6), God was able to demonstrate specific outward actions (vv. 7-14) and body language (v. 13) that showed disrespect for Him in worship. They were not bringing Him their best in worship (v. 8).

Of course, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone says, “But that’s for the Old Testament!” OK, OK. I don’t want to get into a long treatise on the relevance of the Old Testament. It would be beyond the bounds of this little book. But before you go off and become a New Testament Christian, remember four things:

1. The only Bible that the New Testament church had for several years was the Old Testament (Acts 17:2,11; etc).
2. These Old Testament Scriptures were not only “profitable,” but were sufficient to make the man of God “complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:15-17).
3. Paul claims that everything he taught could be proved from the Old Testament (Acts 26:22; 2 Tim. 3:16).
4. He also claimed that all the Old Testament “examples… were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor. 10:11).

So let’s not throw out three quarters of the Bible!

In any case, even if those four points weren’t true, verse 11 prophesies that the Gentiles in the New Covenant would do a better job than those Jews were doing. A good question to ask is, “Why do I wear my best for the governor of my state (see v. 8), but not for God?” Another good question is, “Why do I put on my best dress for a special dinner, but I won’t do it for Sunday worship?” What we wear shows what we think of a place or situation or person.

Elsewhere God commands us, “you shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary” (Lev. 19:30; 26:2). How did people honor the Sabbath in the Bible? By setting it apart. This is the meaning of the term “sanctified” (Gen. 2:3; Neh. 13:22). It was treated as different from other days. The same was true of the sanctuary where people met for worship on the Sabbath. The sanctuary itself was “sanctified” (2 Chron. 30:8) or treated with respect. To sanctify and to reverence are interchangeable.

There were various ways that people treated the time of worship in a special way and showed respect for God. We have already shown how David and Jacob engaged in special hygiene, grooming, and different clothes when they went to worship (2 Samuel 12:20; Gen. 35:2-3). We have also seen how priests washed and put on special clothes when they sought to serve the Lord (Numb. 8:21; 19:7; Ex. 28:2,4; 29:29; 31:10; 35:19,21). It was a sign of respect for God’s greatness.

These garments had the additional purpose of being “for glory and for beauty” (Ex. 28:2). God is not an ascetic. He delights in beauty and He is honored when we present our best to Him. Psalm 45 describes Jesus and His church, and shows the church as being clothed beautifully (vv. 13-14). The narrator says, “So the King will greatly desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, worship Him” (v. 11). There is a mutual respect between husband and bride. The bride worships her divine Husband and the husband greatly desires her beauty. She worships Him because He is worthy. But she worships His beauty, not by dressing down, but by dressing in her best. In the Old Testament temple we find worship being dignified by beauty.

Is this any different than what we do when we take someone out for a special evening at a fancy restaurant, or when we meet with a dignitary? We instinctively recognize that special events require special clothing. And we feel different when we are dressed up. It sets the tone for what we are doing. This is one of the reasons why “Dress for Success” books have been able to demonstrate a tangible difference in the reception employers give to interviewees who dress up and those who do not. Even unconsciously, people feel more respected by those who dress up. It is clear that Jesus dressed up for the last Passover because the garment He wore was a costly seamless robe that was only worn for special occasions (John 19:23). It was definitely not casual wear.¹⁶