Chaz posted the following in his blog the other yesterday:

Matthew 6:5
“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”

He was referring the passage to how we should dress- oh and added this great video:

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=240ad5b9b413aa7346a1

But it got me to thinking- What DOES the bible say about how we should dress for church?

Well this is in the Old Testament:

Deuteronomy 22:5

“A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this.”

There are those that say that we are to dress as a temple: 1 Cor. 3:16-17

“Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.”

The bible gets a little specific for women on how to dress: 1 Timothy 2:9-10 “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” Taken literally then women should leave their jewelry at home and perhaps even their wedding rings huh? Why no braids? I personally think he is stressing beauty for works here. That the inner beauty of the fruit of the spirit should be the important thing and not trying to impress each other. He goes further into this in 1 Peter 3:2-5 :”Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.”

Interestingly in this passage there is no forbidding wearing things but only a reminder of where the true beauty comes from.

Head gear is also mentioned in the New Testament. Men should not wear hats and women should. 1 Corinthians 11:4-7 Any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head disgraces his head, but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head–it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved. For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, she should wear a veil. For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and reflection of God; but woman is the reflection of man.

These reasons seem to be insulting but that is not really intended. (keep in mind it is also warned that women should be under the authority of a man to protect them from the angels that my be tempted by their beauty! 1Cor11:10”Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.”) Lets look at the Corinthian passage in The Message version which digs at the cultural meaning of what was said: 1Cor11:3-9 “In a marriage relationship, there is authority from Christ to husband, and from husband to wife. The authority of Christ is the authority of God. Any man who speaks with God or about God in a way that shows a lack of respect for the authority of Christ, dishonors Christ. In the same way, a wife who speaks with God in a way that shows a lack of respect for the authority of her husband, dishonors her husband. Worse, she dishonors herself—an ugly sight, like a woman with her head shaved. This is basically the origin of these customs we have of women wearing head coverings in worship, while men take their hats off. By these symbolic acts, men and women, who far too often butt heads with each other, submit their “heads” to the Head: God.”

Keep in mind also that in first century culture, it was considered a mark of respect for a man to remove his turban in the presence of a superior. And although Jewish women at the time did not wear veils, reputable Greek and Roman women did. A veil in that culture was a symbol of a wife’s modesty and respect for her husband. For a Corinthian woman to remove her veil in public would have been seen as contemptuous toward her husband and provocative in public.

I do think that mature Christians should dress modestly for church as a practical rule but the only true requirement for dress in the bible is not for church but for the world. We are told to dress up to go into the world not to come to church:

Ephesians 6:14-20

“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”