One word of caution from experience. I have seen someone who works as an auto mechanic get cleaned up, change into clean clothes that are better than he wears any other time of the week, and then get criticized for not wearing a coat and tie. There is an economic class element in this issue. When I was young and men wore a coat and tie to every office job 5 days a week, they naturally thought everyone should do the same for church. Ironically, they were wearing the SAME clothes to church as they wore all week, while the mechanic was wearing BETTER clothes than he wore all week, and it was the mechanic who was being criticized. This attitude was a source of friction in the congregation.
That same mechanic invited a neighbor to church. The neighbor's immediate concern was that he did not own a coat nor a tie. Perhaps that is unimaginable to some! The mechanic told him not to worry.
I'm not going to condone wearing your jogging shorts to church. But people need to be aware of the class issues.
Thank you for your thoughts on this topic and I agree with what you mentioned. Does a dress code apply to Sunday evening and Wednesday evening services also? Just curious as I have thought about this.
One word of caution from experience. I have seen someone who works as an auto mechanic get cleaned up, change into clean clothes that are better than he wears any other time of the week, and then get criticized for not wearing a coat and tie. There is an economic class element in this issue. When I was young and men wore a coat and tie to every office job 5 days a week, they naturally thought everyone should do the same for church. Ironically, they were wearing the SAME clothes to church as they wore all week, while the mechanic was wearing BETTER clothes than he wore all week, and it was the mechanic who was being criticized. This attitude was a source of friction in the congregation.
That same mechanic invited a neighbor to church. The neighbor's immediate concern was that he did not own a coat nor a tie. Perhaps that is unimaginable to some! The mechanic told him not to worry.
I'm not going to condone wearing your jogging shorts to church. But people need to be aware of the class issues.
Thank you for your thoughts on this topic and I agree with what you mentioned. Does a dress code apply to Sunday evening and Wednesday evening services also? Just curious as I have thought about this.