“The Lord walked in humility and obscurity, …unadorned in dress. Otherwise, He would not have said, ‘Behold! Those who are clad in soft raiment are in kings’ houses.” In short, He was lowly in countenance and appearance, just as Isaiah had also prophesied… He shrank back from being made a king, for He was conscious of His own kingdom. Therefore, He in the fullest manner gave us the example of turning completely from all the pride, dignity, and garments of power.” – Tertullian (200 A.D.)
Participating in the idolatrous institutions of man yields fruit of little value or substance for the Kingdom of God. One such example of such deceptive and hollow fruit, is the concept that believers are to dress up when they gather in their “churches.” To believe that dressing up for “church” shows respect and reverence of God, is not only an insult to Him, but is a pagan tradition derived from the sinful contrivances of man. It is an ungodly concept birthed straight out of Satan’s playbook, yet many Christians think it demonstrates respect for God. To believe that our God is so shallow and vain, that He would even value the things of man, is not only deception, but it is idolatry. It is the idolatry of clothing and the things valued by this world. “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight (Luke 16:15).
You cannot utilize some thing (clothing, jewelry, perfume, etc.) that man esteems, and make the mistake in believing that God is honored by it. Let’s be completely truthful here, we want others to see us dress up, and we feel proud of ourselves for it. It makes us feel spiritual, and it is something our flesh can easily engage in. “Church leaders” encourage this. They know by believers dressing up, they will not only feel more righteous about themselves, but it is also part of the mystery “church” leadership wish to convey behind attending “church.” It helps indemnify the mystique surrounding the “church” itself, the pastor, and its culture. It is just one more work of the law, that helps attendees feel engaged and more spiritual about the whole “church” process.
For those who believe in dressing up for man’s idolatrous institution, I’m going to get a little rough here to some, but let’s be brutally honest. You like how dressing up for “church” make you feel about yourself. It makes you feel more spiritual, and you want others to see you as such. You want people to see you dressed up and you desire them to acknowledge you. You even enjoy when others outside the “church” environment see you dress up. You convince yourself that you are dressing up for God, and want other people to know that Sunday is a special day. Not only is Sunday NOT a special day set aside by God as the world believes (which we address in another article later), but let’s look at the heart of the matter. Very little of this has anything to do with God. It has to do with your own self-aggrandizement and your desire for others to think of you as a spiritual person.
What does God’s Word say about dressing up? Did He ever instruct Jesus, the apostles, or anyone else to dress up in the New Testament? Did Christ ever say that believers are to dress up in worldly garments, special clothes or jewelry, before picking up their cross to follow Him? No, but man tells us to do so, and we oblige them by picking up our wallets and tossing our Bibles out the window for their interpretation. 1 Samuel 16:7 – (God speaking) “People judge others by what they look like, but I judge people by what is in their hearts.” Sadly, most are so spiritually dull that they actually believe God is impressed with their idolatrous garments. Most believers simply accept religious practices without any question, and choose to follow men over God’s Word. Virtually all ancient religious practices before the birth of Jesus, required participants to dress up in some fashion before entering designated places of worship.
Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God (1 Peter 3:3-4).
In our society and culture, as in most, we admire a “well-dressed man or woman.” But to God it is meaningless. God gets no glory by you and your fellow “churchgoers” dressing up, which only signifies to the world that He is not only a “superficial god,” but it conveys that we are still under the law. Attending “church” is a work of a law. Dressing up for church is a work of the law. They are contrivances birthed out the motives and ambitions of man. The only thing the world sees is our doctrine, our traditions, and believers who are knee deep in bondage to the devices and rules of man. God gets no glory from it – it indicates to the world that our God is like all the other gods in religions of the world.
As all “church” tradition can be traced back to the first church in today’s vernacular, the Catholic Church – so does the origin of dress. Well, that is dressing up as far as believers go. Long before Christ walked the earth, pagans were dressing up for their gods thousands upon thousands of years ago. Dressing up for the gods was birthed completely out of paganism. When Constantine Emperor of Rome, decreed believers attend this system he orchestrated and called “church”, no one ever knew which “church” he would show up in. So as a result, churchgoers started dressing up, not for God, but to show their respect to the Emperor in case he showed up. Hence, the idolatrous tradition for dressing up for this worldly monstrosity we call “church” was born.
To say the garments we wear show reverence towards God is to perceive Him in our own fleshly terms. That even goes for women who sport tightly wounded hair buns, dresses, long skirts, plain tops, etc., to achieve a certain “look” of spiritual chastity. God looks at the heart, and although some believers will say that very same thing, they believe God still feels honored by the things of the world. Clothing is a thing of the world. It is something esteemed by people, and it is idolatry when any form of spirituality is attributed to it. You might as well walk into a “church” with goat’s blood smeared on your body, incense, or a ram’s horn. The minute you deem inanimate objects as reverential, honorable, respectful, holy, you have committed IDOLATRY. And the minute you attribute spirituality to clothing – including your own, you have opened the door to deception and have invited Satan and his demonic principalities in. The demonic crowd grows, as it always does whenever a work of the flesh and our sin nature is involved. Satan is delighted.
“If anyone thinks that vestments, jewels, and other things that are considered precious [by men] are valued by God, he is altogether ignorant of what God is.” – Lactantius (304-313 A.D.)