[CS-FSLUG] Immodesty in the church

[Ed Hurst]

Brian Derr wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 25, 2004 at 05:55:37PM -0400, l4c wrote:
> 
>>Thou shalt dress according to my standards....?
> 
> I don't think that this is what is meant.  I despise dress codes for
> church, but at the same time the women of today do not dress in
> appropriate attire.  I work in a mall, and I have seen 5 and 6 year old
> girls wearing mid-riff tank tops and shorts that barely cover their
> rear ends, acceptable?  I think not!

Coming from the lower class of American society, I am probably the first
to reject any form of dress code. I hated them in school when I was a
student and when I was a teacher. If you don't like the way I look, turn
your eyes elsewhere.

Church is not the same as the world outside.

I don't want a dress code there, either, but I do want some sanity. I've
seen over-dressing with the crowd who claims self-righteously, "I've got
a date with Jesus." Well, Jesus wore what was common for the lower half
of society in His day, so a tuxedo might not be in His closet today.
Over dressing *because* it is church is phoney. It's the preening and
strutting of those who want to be noticed. However, where that is the
norm, I'm not sure I want to rewrite their rules. I let them go on their
merry way; I won't join them.

Nor am I comfortable in churches that are too much of "what's happenin'
now!" But that's me. I can't write the rules for your church, nor you
for mine. No one wears a tie at my church, much to horror of some. We
sanctify Christ in our hearts by making Him a part of our everyday life.
We are careful to avoid coming to worship at our worst, though.

The reason God prospers so many different churches in the same small
area is because it's not possible to serve all in one monolithic
ediface. To a large degree, what we think of as theological differences
is often more of a cultural difference, and it comes out in how theology
is expressed. As I've said elsewhere, it's only natural that there
should be strong feelings about church and faith, given that they
address matters eternal.

You won't find a path to God in the places I look, and I'm glad of it. I
learn more about God when I see your path, even if I can't follow your
path. I'll ask folks in my church to dress according to our ways, and
you should do the same at yours. A church must have a sense of identity
in service or it cannot prosper, it has not anchor, but that identity
will surely be different than what is found in the next house of worship
down the road.

-- 
Ed Hurst
-----------
Software Freedom Day, 28 August 2004
Got Freedom?
http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/
---
[This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]