Tim Gender’s Zulu Pants
April 30, 2012
Dear Friends,
What is appropriate dress for meeting? Some will argue that a more casual dress is appropriate while others would argue that it is important to wear your best. Who is right?
The brethren who argue for more formal dress often pull out a couple of rhetorical questions. One question is “if you were meeting the President, wouldn’t you wear your best? How much more should we be concerned with our dress if we are coming before God?” My own answer to this is that I would try to dress appropriate to the circumstances. For example, if I were asked to have a formal state dinner with the President, I would wear a tuxedo. Does this mean I should wear a tux to meeting? If I were asked to play golf with the President, I would wear golf clothes. Should I wear golf clothes to meeting? I would look kind of silly if Barack and Michelle invited me to go swimming and I showed up in a Brooks Brothers suit.
If we ignore all cultural norms and just go with Biblical precedent, a case can be made that in coming before God, we should definitely be barefoot. The priests wore no shoes while serving in the temple or tabernacle. Also, several other non-priests were asked to remove their shoes when they stood on holy ground. Should we be barefoot at meeting? We could also debate what types of robes should we wear? A linen ephod? How about a toga?
The point is that dress is circumstantial and varied. This is, in my opinion, the answer to this perennial question. There are times when dressing up would be out of place and times when being casual would be inappropriate. Let us demonstrate.
I have been to very poor developing countries and preached to people quite literally living in shanties. As we asked these people to come to Sunday services knowing they would arrive in rags, would it be fitting for me to dress in my best suit? Certainly not. It would make these unfortunate people feel bad and out of place. It would create an even wider gulf between us. On the other end of the spectrum, I have visited conservative meetings knowing that they have an expectation of a certain dress code. Would it be appropriate for me to show up in jeans and a t-shirt knowing it would disrupt the service? Absolutely not. Coming together to worship in both cases has little to do with dress and everything to do with your spirit. We should dress appropriate for the circumstances which will vary and do our best not to let our dress detract from the purpose of our gathering. I don’t think God cares nearly as much about what is on the outside of us as He does with what is on the inside of us. If we are honestly trying to dress in a way that brings honor and glory to Him, this is the most important thing.
There is a brother that bears mentioning here named Tim Genders, an English brother living in South Africa. Tim, who is white, has been very instrumental in the creation of a new ecclesia in a black township called Mariannhill. If you know anything about South Africa’s history of apartheid, you know that this is remarkable (as is the whole story of the preaching going on in South Africa). One Sunday I was going to meeting in Marianhill with Tim and he was wearing these wild, colorful patchwork shorts. These were the wildest shorts I had ever seen. If Tim had shown up in these shorts at most ecclesias in his native England on a Sunday, they would have probably called the mental health services to have him picked up. These shorts, however, were a handmade gift lovingly prepared for Tim by the brethren in Marianhill. They were Zulu pants given as a sign of honor and respect. While it might have been wildly inappropriate for Tim to wear these shorts in certain situations, it was absolutely the right call for Tim to wear them to Mariannhill. Tim was bringing honor and glory to God while wearing these colorful Zulu shorts to meeting.
On the other end of the spectrum, I am told of a visiting missionary in Africa who believed it was important for men to wear ties to Sunday services. In order to encourage this practice, this brother brought a batch of ties with him. Unfortunately, since none of locals had anything but t-shirts to their name, they had to tie these neckties directly around their necks above their t-shirts. The mental picture I have of these locals parading around with neckties tied around their bare necks makes me laugh, but it is also sad to think that someone was shortsighted enough to insist on this in the first place.
So what is appropriate dress for Sunday? I think Paul said it best.
I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. (1 Cor. 9:22-23 NIV)
Have a great week,
