Is it simply my clothing choice for worship or something more? This year, I have preached in a tie on one Sunday morning all year. It is intentional. For many years, I caved to the pressure to "dress the part" when delivering God's Word. To look my best in my "Sunday go to meetin'" suit and shoes.
But is God's ability to speak his message through me affected by my clothing? Is God's message through his messengers somehow weakened because of the clothing choice of his spokesmen?
Frankly, when you consider it honestly, dressing up in expensive clothing as an expression of "giving our best to God" is purely the influence of our American culture and tradition. Christians in third-world countries worship God reverently without the trappings of high-dollar clothing. Christians in agricultural settings often forsake the suit and tie for overalls.
In fact, if all the Christians in America would eliminate all high-dollar clothing reserved for worship and donate the money spent on such clothing for third-world missions, what difference would it make? Could additional water wells be dug in Ghana? Could support for the flood ravaged in Guyana be readily available? Could orphaned children in third-world countries be cared for?
I don't want to submit to the trappings of tradition that are an expression of less than ideal stewardship. The best I have to give God is something far superior and far more eternally impacting than clothes.
